Bitbucket Pipelines: Build iOS for CI CD without external dependency

Question

In Android, you can easily build an APK as long as you have Android SDK image. Then create a release (internal, beta, production) automatically on PlayStore. However Apple uses different licensing thus you will need a Mac and XCode in order to build an IPA file. But recently I found out that it seems possible to build one and deploy it to TestFlight using GitHub Action here (Please verify). We want to avoid setting up physical Mac device, runner and third party when building a release. Is this possible now for Bitbucket Pipeline as well? What could be the easiest way to make the setup work just like on Android? Thanks

Answer 1

Yes, It is possible

you can use "GitlabCi" and "Fastlane" https://fastlane.tools/

In Github, you can use Build Actions And even Test with Script

these days Apple launches a new approach named is Xcode Cloud, which is a beta version.

https://developer.apple.com/xcode-cloud/beta/

Answer 2

As of right now Bitbucket Pipelines does not have support for cloud hosted iOS builds. See the following link for the limitations of Bitbucket Pipelines.

https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/limitations-of-bitbucket-pipelines/

Currently we don't support building Windows, macOS, or iOS applications (watch the linked issues to receive updates).

You can watch the linked Jira issue to receive updates as they work on this feature:

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/BCLOUD-13719

The only way to build iOS on Bitbucket Pipelines, without relying on other third party tools is by using your own physical Mac hardware, but I know you mentioned that you are trying to avoid that. Just for the sake of completeness, here are the instructions for how to do that in case anyone else finds it helpful:

https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/set-up-runners-for-macos/