Clone the repo to a working directory
To build and configure the libraries Signal uses, just run:
make dependencies
If the above fails to run, or you just want to know more about our dependency management systems, read the next section, Dependency Details. Else if the above completed without error - jump ahead to step 3.
We have a couple of dependency management tools. We us Carthage for managing frameworks, but because some of our dependencies are not yet framework compatible, we use Cocoapods to manage the remainder in a static library.
2.1) CocoaPods is used to manage the dependencies in our static library. Pods are setup easily and are distributed via a ruby gem. Follow the simple instructions on the website to setup. After setup, run the following command from the toplevel directory of Signal-iOS to download the dependencies for Signal-iOS:
pod install
If you are having build issues, first make sure your pods are up to date
pod repo update
pod install
Occasionally, CocoaPods itself will need to be updated. Do this with
gem update cocoapods
pod repo update
pod install
2.2) Framework dependencies are built and managed using Carthage. Our prebuilt WebRTC.framework also resides in the Carthage/Build directory.
If you don't have carthage, here are the install instructions.
Once Carthage is installed, run:
// DO NOT run: `carthage update` or `carthage checkout`.
git submodule update --init
carthage build --platform iOS
A prebuilt version of WebRTC.framework resides in our Carthage submodule and should be installed by the above steps. However, if you'd like to build it from source, see: https://github.com/signalapp/signal-webrtc-ios
Open the Signal.xcworkspace in Xcode.
open Signal.xcworkspace
In the TARGETS area of the General tab, change the Team drop down to your own. You will need to do that for all the listed targets, for ex. Signal, SignalShareExtension, and SignalMessaging. You will need an Apple Developer account for this.
On the Capabilities tab, turn off Push Notifications and Data Protection, while keeping Background Modes on. The App Groups capability will need to remain on in order to access the shared data storage. The App ID needs to match the SignalApplicationGroup string set in TSConstants.h.
If you wish to test the Documents API, the iCloud capability will need to be on with the iCloud Documents option selected.
Build and Run and you are ready to go!
Features related to push notifications are known to be not working for third-party contributors since Apple's Push Notification service pushes will only work with Open Whisper Systems production code signing certificate.
If you have any other issues, please ask on the community forum.