Tauri mobile for iOS

I've been recently experimenting with Tauri alpha to try out mobile app development. By following the official guide and resolving problems, this is how I managed to set up a basic project utilising web view.

Fast forward template solution

It's highly recommended to follow this simplified guide including the project template.
You can find it here https://github.com/Adimac93/tauri-mobile-apple-ecosystem
Also, an android version (based on my template) is available here https://github.com/casey-SK/tauri-mobile-android
You may read along with this post if you are interested in particular set-up steps.

MacOS

XCode

I've tried to set up XCode both with the latest stable release (14.3.1) and the beta release (for IOS 17). However, only a stable release worked for me.

⚠️ Warning
XCode from AppStore is known for notorious problems with downloading.
Instead download it from Apple website XCode 14.3.1 download.

You will need to make sure you have command line tools installed on your machine:

$ xcode-select --install

If you have multiple XCode CLI tool versions installed, you can set CLI version in XCode Settings... > Locations > Command Line Tools.

You should log in in XCode with your Apple ID to sign apps with a personal certificate. This will enable you to test your apps directly on your device.

Settings... > Accounts > + > Apple ID

Rust

Next dependency is Rust which can be downloaded by following command:

$ curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh

If you have it already installed, make sure it's up to date:

$ rustup update

iOS targets

$ rustup target add aarch64-apple-ios x86_64-apple-ios aarch64-apple-ios-sim

App setup

Using Tauri scaffolding utility it's easier to set up a new project with desired frontend framework.
In this example I'll use the following options:

• Frontend language: TypeScript
• Package manager: pnpm
• UI template: Svelte
• UI flavour: TypeScript

$ cargo install create-tauri-app

$ cargo create-tauri-app

Install frontend dependencies:

$ cd tauri-mobile
$ pnpm add -D internal-ip
$ pnpm i

Update tauri CLI:

$ pnpm update @tauri-apps/cli@next @tauri-apps/api@next

and if you'd like to use CLI with cargo

$ cargo install tauri-cli --version "^2.0.0-alpha"

Vite

Default Vite config for Svelte generated by create-tauri-app.
vite.config.ts

import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import { svelte } from "@sveltejs/vite-plugin-svelte";

// https://vitejs.dev/config/
export default defineConfig(async () => ({
  plugins: [svelte()],
  clearScreen: false,
  server: {
    port: 1420,
    strictPort: true,
  },
  envPrefix: ["VITE_", "TAURI_"],
}));

We need to change it to the following:
vite.config.ts

import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import { svelte } from "@sveltejs/vite-plugin-svelte";
import { internalIpV4 } from 'internal-ip'

// https://vitejs.dev/config/
export default defineConfig(async () => ({
  plugins: [svelte()],
  clearScreen: false,
  server: {
    host: "0.0.0.0",
    port: 5173,
    strictPort: true,
    hmr: {
      protocol: 'ws',
      host: await internalIpV4(),
      port: 5183,
    },
  },
  envPrefix: ["VITE_", "TAURI_"],
}));

Tauri

1. Remove allowlist
2. Match devPath port (same as vite.config.ts > server > port)
3. Change bundle identifier (use only alphanumeric characters because other chars are bugged right now)

💡 Tip
A bundle ID uniquely identifies a single app throughout the system. The bundle ID string must contain only alphanumeric characters (A–Z, a–z, and 0–9), hyphens (-), and periods (.). Typically, you use a reverse-DNS format for bundle ID strings. Bundle IDs are case-insensitive.
Apple docs

src-tauri/tauri.conf.json

{
  "build": {
    "beforeDevCommand": "pnpm dev",
    "beforeBuildCommand": "pnpm build",
-   "devPath": "http://localhost:1420",
+   "devPath": "http://localhost:5173",
    "distDir": "../dist",
    "withGlobalTauri": false
  },
  "package": {
    "productName": "tauri-mobile",
    "version": "0.0.0"
  },
  "tauri": {
-   "allowlist": {
-     "all": false,
-     "shell": {
-       "all": false,
-       "open": true
-     }
-   },
    "bundle": {
      "active": true,
      "targets": "all",
-     "identifier": "com.tauri.dev",
+     "identifier": "com.<YOUR ID>.dev"
      "icon": [
        "icons/32x32.png",
        "icons/128x128.png",
        "icons/[e-mail]",
        "icons/icon.icns",
        "icons/icon.ico"
      ]
    },
    "security": {
      "csp": null
    },
    "windows": [
      {
        "fullscreen": false,
        "resizable": true,
        "title": "tauri-mobile",
        "width": 800,
        "height": 600
      }
    ]
  }
}

Install iOS codegen dependencies:

$ brew install cocoapods

Install core Cargo dependecies:

$ cargo add tauri@2.0.0-alpha.<VERSION>
$ cargo add tauri-build@2.0.0-alpha.<VERSION> --build

If you'll get the following error:

➜ cargo add tauri@2.0.0-alpha.10

    Updating crates.io index

      Adding tauri v2.0.0-alpha.10 to dependencies.

error: unrecognized feature for crate tauri: shell-open

all you do is
src-tauri/Cargo.toml

[package]

name = "tauri-mobile"

version = "0.0.0"

description = "A Tauri App"

authors = ["you"]

license = ""

repository = ""

edition = "2021"



# See more keys and their definitions at https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html



[build-dependencies]

tauri-build = { version = "1.4", features = [] }



[dependencies]

- tauri = { version = "1.4", features = ["shell-open"] }

serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }

serde_json = "1.0"



[features]

# this feature is used for production builds or when `devPath` points to the filesystem

# DO NOT REMOVE!!

- custom-protocol = ["tauri/custom-protocol"]

after upgrading dependencies put this line back
custom-protocol = ["tauri/custom-protocol"]

Include embedded library
src-tauri/Cargo.toml

[lib]
crate-type = ["staticlib", "cdylib", "rlib"]

Then you set up rest of the project files.
Library
src-tauri/src/lib.rs

use tauri::App;

#[cfg(mobile)]
mod mobile;
#[cfg(mobile)]
pub use mobile::*;

pub type SetupHook = Box<dyn FnOnce(&mut App) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> + Send>;

#[derive(Default)]
pub struct AppBuilder {
  setup: Option<SetupHook>,
}

impl AppBuilder {
  pub fn new() -> Self {
    Self::default()
  }

  #[must_use]
  pub fn setup<F>(mut self, setup: F) -> Self
  where
    F: FnOnce(&mut App) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> + Send + 'static,
  {
    self.setup.replace(Box::new(setup));
    self
  }

  pub fn run(self) {
    let setup = self.setup;
    tauri::Builder::default()
      .setup(move |app| {
        if let Some(setup) = setup {
          (setup)(app)?;
        }
        Ok(())
      })
      .run(tauri::generate_context!())
      .expect("error while running tauri application");
  }
}

Entry point
src-tauri/src/mobile.rs

#[tauri::mobile_entry_point]
fn main() {
  super::AppBuilder::new().run();
}

Main
src-tauri/src/main.rs

#![cfg_attr(
  all(not(debug_assertions), target_os = "windows"),
  windows_subsystem = "windows"
)]

pub fn main() {
  app::AppBuilder::new().run();
}

That's all you need!
Now run ios dev and test your app with an emulator or connected iOS device.