AppCode FAQ

General

Is there an AppCode Community edition?

No, AppCode is a commercial product. However, you can try AppCode by using a free 30-day trial or Early Access Program (pre-release) versions as long as they are available. In some cases, AppCode, along with other JetBrains desktop products, can be used for free or at 50% discount, for example, for university students, open source contributors, startups, and more. Check out all special offers on our website or contact our sales support for more details.

How to leave feedback or submit bugs and support requests?

To report a bug or suggest a new feature, add an issue in Youtrack: log in to your JetBrains account and click New issue. To submit a support request, select Help | Contact Support from the main menu. Mind collecting all necessary product logs before sending the request. To leave feedback, select Help | Contact Support from the main menu.

Is AppCode available on macOS only?

Yes. The point is that AppCode strongly relies on Xcode toolchain and build system. Apple doesn't port its iOS/macOS toolchain to Windows, thus, AppCode also can't do it. However, you can use CLion to work with Swift Package Manager projects on Linux — just install the Swift plugin to enable the Swift language support.

Is AppCode available as a plugin for IntelliJ IDEA?

No, AppCode requires separate licensing.

AppCode and Xcode

Do I need Xcode to work with AppCode and why?

Yes, AppCode cannot run without Xcode. AppCode uses SDKs, simulators, LLDB, and SourceKit that are bundled in Xcode and cannot be used separately. Before you start working with AppCode, make sure that you have a supported Xcode version installed.

Can I edit the Xcode-specific settings in AppCode?

Yes, select File | Project Settings from the main menu or press ⌘;. Here you can configure build settings, build phases, and more. However, for some settings (for example, entitlements or provisioning profiles) Xcode provides more convenient tools for editing. You can open your project in Xcode by selecting File | Open Project in Xcode from the main menu and change the necessary settings there. The changes will appear in AppCode as soon as you apply them in Xcode.

Which Xcode features are not supported in AppCode?

AppCode currently doesn’t support such features as Interface Builder, SwiftUI preview, certificate management, running and debugging WatchOS applications. Find the full list here.

Are there any tools for designing user interfaces in AppCode, like Interface Builder in Xcode?

No, currently AppCode doesn’t support Interface Builder, and there are no plugins for editing UI available. If you double-click a storyboard file in AppCode, it will be opened in Xcode and you will be able to edit your view layouts there.

Is SwiftUI preview supported?

Currently not, but we have a feature request you can vote for. There’s no estimated time frame yet, but in the meantime, you can use the InjectionIII application as a workaround.

Keymaps and shortcuts

Can I use Xcode keymap in AppCode and vice versa?

You can use Xcode keymap in AppCode, but not the other way around. To use Xcode keymap in AppCode, go to AppCode | Preferences | Keymap and select the Xcode keymap from the list.

A shortcut is not working. What should I do?

This may happen if an AppCode shortcut conflicts with some global system actions or shortcuts for third-party software. To fix it, reassign or disable the conflicting shortcut. You can see the list of all conflicting shortcuts in the warning that appears at the bottom of the Keymap page of the Preferences dialog.

There is no shortcut for an action. How can I add it?

Go to AppCode | Preferences | Keymap, find a necessary action in the list, right-click it, and select Add Keyboard Shortcut. See more in Configure keyboard shortcuts.

How to memorize AppCode shortcuts?

While working in the IDE, you can use the Key Promoter X plugin that shows a popup notification with the corresponding keyboard shortcut for any action that you perform. You can also use the IDE Features Trainer plugin to learn useful AppCode features shortcuts for them. Moreover, you can print a keymap to keep it on your desk and consult it as needed. If you don’t remember a shortcut for an action, you can quickly find any action available in the IDE using the Search Everywhere dialog — just press ⇧ twice, go to the Actions tab start typing the action name.

Performance

What to do in case of AppCode performance or memory issues?

Sometimes, performance slowdowns may be caused by the lack of memory. Enable memory indicator to understand if it is your case. If so, try to increase the memory heap by adjusting the -Xmx JVM option. If it doesn’t help, report an issue to our support team.

How can I speed up code analysis?

Code analysis is a memory-consuming process that may significantly influence the IDE performance. To lighten up this process, you can switch off unnecessary code inspections, tune the analysis options for a current file, and turn on the power save mode. See more details in Performance tuning tips.

How to speed up indexing?

To speed up the indexing process you can exclude some files or folders from indexing. See more details in Performance tuning tips.

UI and Appearance

How to quickly find an action and its shortcut?

Press ⇧⌘A and start typing the action name in the dialog that opens. See more details in Search everywhere.

Where can I find more UI themes for AppCode?

In addition to standard dark, light, and high contrast themes, you can choose one from the plenty of other themes available in our plugin repository.

Running and debugging

Which build system and debugger are used in AppCode?

AppCode uses the build system bundled in Xcode to build your project and the LLDB distribution bundled in Xcode to debug it. This guarantees that the binary compiled by AppCode is the same as the one you can create in Xcode.

Is debugging view hierarchies available in AppCode?

No, but AppCode supports integration with Reveal — a tool that allows debugging view layouts. While debugging in AppCode, click the Debug in Reveal button to open your application in Reveal. See more in Reveal integration.

Integrations

In addition to Swift and Objective-C, which other languages/technologies are supported in AppCode?

Out-of-the-box, AppCode supports C/C++, CocoaPods dependency manager, database tools, HTML, XML, an HTTP client for testing web services, Git (or gitHub) and other version control systems, Markdown, and more. See the full list in Plugins and integrations. Moreover, there is a great variety of plugins for AppCode that you can install for free. They extend AppCode functionality in many aspects, for example, enable support for bash scripts, AppleScript, Docker, Vim, and more. You can install plugins from the Plugins page of the Preferences dialog. For more details, go to Manage plugins.