Fixing Apple Watch XCode symbols syncing speed
This is a short overview of how to significantly speed up the XCode symbols copying speed for your Apple Watch.
Motivation
As you probably know, Apple Watch development is a pain in the ass. One of the biggest pains is the procedure in which XCode copies debug symbols from your Apple Watch to your Mac.
This normally is so you can have proper crash logs and debugging sessions with tracebacks. However, Apple also made it so you can't build whatsoever without waiting out the copying.
Due to not being able to hook up Apple Watches series 7, and newer to your Mac via a cable, due to the lack of the diagnostic port (and due to the lack of commercial availability of the wireless radio dock they've replaced the debug port for series 7+), you're forced to rely on WiFi / Bluetooth.
Title
I jogged what I did down to a sticky note the last time I had to do this. Said notes are what you'll find below. I tried manually triggering a shared symbol copy to verify, however I don't think that's possible, so this warning will stay here until the next time I have to copy these goddam symbols, so I can double-check this actually works.
If this solved the slowness for you: please send feedback via the form at the bottom of the page so I can take this off. Thanks!
The solution
Once you've paired your Apple Watch & iPhone to XCode on your Mac, do these: 0. Pair your Apple Watch to XCode. (see this guide if you're struggling)
- Plug in your iPhone to your Mac via USB. (trust computer on iPhone if haven't already)
- Wait for XCode to sync symbols from your iPhone. (if needed)
- (you can check the status at
XCode >Window > Devices and Simulators)
- (you can check the status at
- Wait for XCode to start syncing symbols from your Apple Watch.
- (you can check the status at
XCode >Window > Devices and Simulators)
- (you can check the status at
The reason we're waiting for it to start is because the following state won't allow your Apple Watch to negotiate the initial connection with XCode.
So, once it has started (0% progress is fine), set your device up like this:
| Connection | Mac | iPhone | Apple Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wired connection | to iPhone | to Mac | N/A |
| WiFi | on | off (fully, in settings too) | off |
| Bluetooth | off | on | on |
Result
This resulted in a 10 minute transfer for me. Maybe not even that much.
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