Flutter is an open-source system development kit used mainly for UI creation for multiple platforms such as Web, iOS, Mac, Android, Windows, Linux, and embedded devices. It’s backed by Google, and ever since its release, it has gained popularity far and wide among the developers, especially in the startup culture. It is mainly used to develop cross-platform apps for android and ios, but in addition to that, it also supports application development for platforms like macOS, Windows, & Web. This article will teach you the process of testing flutter apps on a real iOS device i.e. iPhone.
Prerequisites:
- The first thing that we require in hand is a test flutter app on our Mac.
- Before we start testing our flutter app on the iPhone you need to make sure that our phone trusts us as a developer on that device. To do that follow this path go:
Settings > General > Device Management or Profile > (Tap On) Trust “Your Developer Name”
To test or deploy our flutter app to a physical device we first need to enable physical device deployment in Xcode using Apple ID or an Apple Developer account. And we also need to set up a package manager to manage flutter plugins that are to be used in the project.
Step by Step Implementation
Step 1:
First, we are going to install a third-party package manager called CocoaPods to manage flutter plugins that our project might depend on. To install and set up cocoapod the below command needs to be executed successfully in the terminal.
$ sudo gem install cocoapods
Step 2:
After we are done with the cocoapod installation we will proceed to locate the Runner.xcworkspace file inside the ios folder in our project directory. Then we need to open this file on the Xcode with a double click.
Step 3:
When it’s done loading we need to make sure we are on the Runner file which is listed first on the left menu bar.
Step 4:
After that, we need to be inside the Signing & Capabilities page. In this page we will click on the button which says ‘Add an Account’.
And add your Apple ID, put your password and select your account.
Step 5:
Now, go back to the General tab and change the Bundle Identifier to something unique. (In place of “example” put something else).
Step 6:
So, if you haven’t already connected your iPhone you will see “No device” in the search bar shown below.
Go ahead and connect your phone with the PC and when it’s done you will see a phone icon in place of “No device”. Select your phone which will take a few seconds to load.
Step 7:
And once that is done you need to press the play button on the left menu bar, which will start building the app on the iPhone.
This process will take some time and once it’s done you will see a message appear that says the build process was completed successfully.
Now you can test your installed flutter app on your iPhone.