iOS - detect if app is running from Xcode [duplicate]

Question

I'm trying to enable/disable parts of my code based on whether or not the code be being run via USB/Xcode (debug), or in production mode downloaded from the app store (release). I'm aware of checking if it is running in DEBUG or RELEASE mode like this:

#ifdef DEBUG

// Stuff for debug mode

#else

// Stuff for release mode

#endif

but the problem is that an obvious loop-hole I see is you can change the Build Configuration for the 'Run' build scheme from 'Debug' to 'Release'. A better way would be if I can simply detect if it is running from Xcode or not. I haven't found a way to check for this.

Is there a way to check if an iOS app is running from Xcode or not?

Answer 1

You can check if a debugger is attached (probably, but not definitely, Xcode) using sysctl. Here's how HockeyApp does it:

#include <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#include <sys/sysctl.h>

/**
 * Check if the debugger is attached
 *
 * Taken from https://github.com/plausiblelabs/plcrashreporter/blob/2dd862ce049e6f43feb355308dfc710f3af54c4d/Source/Crash%20Demo/main.m#L96
 *
 * @return `YES` if the debugger is attached to the current process, `NO` otherwise
 */
- (BOOL)isDebuggerAttached {
  static BOOL debuggerIsAttached = NO;

  static dispatch_once_t debuggerPredicate;
  dispatch_once(&debuggerPredicate, ^{
    struct kinfo_proc info;
    size_t info_size = sizeof(info);
    int name[4];

    name[0] = CTL_KERN;
    name[1] = KERN_PROC;
    name[2] = KERN_PROC_PID;
    name[3] = getpid(); // from unistd.h, included by Foundation

    if (sysctl(name, 4, &info, &info_size, NULL, 0) == -1) {
      NSLog(@"[HockeySDK] ERROR: Checking for a running debugger via sysctl() failed: %s", strerror(errno));
      debuggerIsAttached = false;
    }

    if (!debuggerIsAttached && (info.kp_proc.p_flag & P_TRACED) != 0)
      debuggerIsAttached = true;
  });

  return debuggerIsAttached;
}