OS X 10.11 bitcode support for Dropbox Sync API?

[Brendan D.]

Hi,

I know that the Dropbox Sync API is deprecated, but would you be able to make a build for OS X 10.11 which has the bitcode flag enabled?

I'm getting the following error (and lots of them) when I compile with Xcode 7 now:

ld: warning: URGENT: all bitcode will be dropped because '/Users/brendan/Projects/tapforms-ios/Pods/Dropbox-Sync-API-SDK/dropbox-ios-sync-sdk-3.1.2/Dropbox.framework/Dropbox(value.o)' was built without bitcode. You must rebuild it with bitcode enabled (Xcode setting ENABLE_BITCODE), obtain an updated library from the vendor, or disable bitcode for this target. Note: This will be an error in the future.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Vincent C.5]

WatchOS2 is mandatory to have Bitcode enabled, yes, we do need DropBox SDK with bitcode enabled. Thanks!

[Brendan D.]

If you guys aren't going to enable Bitcode support, could you perhaps open source the Dropbox Sync framework? Then we could at least compile it ourselves to add Bitcode support.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Steve M.]

Keep in mind this thread is about the deprecated Sync API, which won't be supported past October.

You can use the Core API (which is open source), and the new Swift SDK we're building for API v2 already has a sample running on the Watch.

Presumably the only people who need Bitcode support in the Sync API are developers who are maintaining existing apps and intend to keep using the API even after its support has ended.

[Brendan D.]

Yes but I still need to be able to support the existing Sync API while I work on a new version of my Mac and iOS apps. But in the meantime, I need a compiled Sync framework that has bitcode support. I can't rewrite my entire app overnight because you deprecated the Sync API. I'm trying, but I need more time.

[Steve M.]

Yes, Brendan, I think you're in the group I described.

Some others chiming in on the thread may not be in that group and are just confused about whether they need this.

[Brendan D.]

Yes that's correct. Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh there. I just don't know if you are going to re-compile with bitcode or not. All we've heard so far is "looking into it".

[Steve M.]

Yes, sorry about that. We are genuinely still looking into it. Part of the reason we deprecated this particular SDK is that it's complex and hard to build. (Most of the code is in C++.) Given that we haven't done a build in quite a while, it's more difficult than you'd expect to get this built again with Bitcode support.

[Brendan D.]

Now that iOS 9 is right around the corner, any chance of getting a version of the framework compiled with Bitcode support? I realize it might be hard to build, but you've done it before obviously 🙂

[Steve M.]

I'm having trouble figuring out when bitcode is required. I know that it's required for watchOS apps, but it looks like it's optional for iOS apps. Is it actually required for OS X 10.11? I'd love a pointer to an official source saying that it will be required for OS X. Otherwise it's going to be hard to justify adding support.

[Brendan D.]

Steve, from Apple's docs on App Thinning:

"Note: For iOS apps, bitcode is the default, but optional. If you provide bitcode, all apps and frameworks in the app bundle need to include bitcode. For watchOS apps, bitcode is required."

https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/watchos/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/AppDistribution... 

Yes, it's optional, but all frameworks have to support it if I want to support it in my app and Dropbox Sync is the only framework preventing me from supporting it.

Thanks,

Brendan