How to create multiple apps from same shared code in Xcode?

Question

I'm developing 2 different apps that share 95% of the same code and views. What is the best way to go about this using Xcode?

Answer 1

Use targets. That's exactly what they are for.

Learn more about the concept of targets here.

Typically, the majority of projects have a single Target, which corresponds to one product/application. If you define multiple targets, you can:

• include some of your source code files (or maybe all) in both targets, some in one target and some in the other
• you can play with Build Settings to compile the two targets using different settings.

---

For example you may define Precompiler Macros for one target and other macros for the other (let's say OTHER_C_FLAGS = -DPREMIUM in target "PremiumVersion" and OTHER_C_FLAGS = -DLITE to define the LITE macro in the "LiteVersion" target) and then include similar code in your source:

-(IBAction)commonCodeToBothTargetsHere
{
   ...
}

-(void)doStuffOnlyAvailableForPremiumVersion
{
#if PREMIUM
   // This code will only be compiled if the PREMIUM macro is defined
   // namely only when you compile the "PremiumVersion" target
   .... // do real stuff
#else
   // This code will only be compiled if the PREMIUM macro is NOT defined
   // namely when you compile the "LiteVersion" target

   [[[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Only for premium" 
       message:@"Sorry, this feature is reserved for premium users. Go buy the premium version on the AppStore!"
       delegate:self
       cancelButtonTitle:@"Doh!"
       otherButtonTitles:@"Go buy it!",nil]
   autorelease] show];
#endif
}

-(void)otherCommonCodeToBothTargetsHere
{
   ...
}