Embedding Cordova WebView on iOS

Beginning with Cordova 1.4, you can use Cordova as a component in your iOS applications. This component is code-named 'Cleaver'.

New Cordova-based applications created using the Xcode template provided in Cordova 1.4 or greater use Cleaver. (The template is Cleaver's reference implementation.)

Cordova 2.0.0 and subsequent versions only support the sub-project based Cleaver implementation.

Prerequisites

1. Cordova 2.3.0 or greater
2. Xcode 4.5 or greater
3. config.xml file (from a newly created Cordova project)

Adding Cleaver to your Xcode project (CordovaLib sub-project)

1. Download and extract the Cordova source to a permanent folder location on your hard drive (say to ~/Documents/Cordova)
2. Quit Xcode if it is running.
3. Navigate to the directory where you put the downloaded source above, using Terminal.app.
4. Copy the config.xml file into your project folder on disk (see Prerequisites above)
5. Drag and drop the config.xml file into the Project Navigator of Xcode
6. Choose the Create groups for any added folders radio button and press Finish
7. Drag and drop the CordovaLib.xcodeproj file into the Project Navigator of Xcode (from the permanent folder location above, and it should be in the CordovaLib sub-folder)
8. Select CordovaLib.xcodeproj in the Project Navigator
9. Type the Option-Command-1 key combination to show the File Inspector
10. Choose Relative to Group in the File Inspector for the drop-down menu for Location
11. Select the project icon in the Project Navigator, select your Target, then select the Build Settings tab
12. Add -all_load and -Obj-C for the Other Linker Flags value
13. Click on the project icon in the Project Navigator, select your Target, then select the Build Phases tab
14. Expand Link Binaries with Libraries

15. Select the + button, and add these frameworks (and optionally in the Project Navigator, move them under the Frameworks group):

    AddressBook.framework
    AddressBookUI.framework
    AudioToolbox.framework
    AVFoundation.framework
    CoreLocation.framework
    MediaPlayer.framework
    QuartzCore.framework
    SystemConfiguration.framework
    MobileCoreServices.framework
    CoreMedia.framework
    

16. Expand Target Dependencies - the top box labeled like this if you have multiple boxes!

17. Select the + button, and add the CordovaLib build product
18. Expand Link Binaries with Libraries - the top box labeled like this if you have multiple boxes!
19. Select the + button, and add libCordova.a
20. Set the Xcode preference Xcode Preferences → Locations → Derived Data → Advanced... to Unique
21. Select the project icon in the Project Navigator, select your Target, then select the Build Settings tab

22. Search for Header Search Paths. For that setting, add these three values below (with quotes):

    "$(TARGET_BUILD_DIR)/usr/local/lib/include"        
    "$(OBJROOT)/UninstalledProducts/include"
    "$(BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR)"
    

    With Cordova 2.1.0, CordovaLib has been upgraded to use Automatic Reference Counting (ARC). You don't need to upgrade to ARC to use CordovaLib, but if you want to upgrade your project to use ARC, please use the Xcode migration wizard from the menu: Edit → Refactor → Convert to Objective-C ARC..., de-select libCordova.a, then run the wizard to completion.

Using CDVViewController in your code

1. Add this header:

   #import <Cordova/CDVViewController.h>
   

2. Instantiate a new CDVViewController, and retain it somewhere (e.g. to a property in your class):

   CDVViewController* viewController = [CDVViewController new];
   

3. (OPTIONAL) Set the wwwFolderName property (defaults to www):

   viewController.wwwFolderName = @"myfolder";
   

4. (OPTIONAL) Set the start page in your config.xml, the <content> tag.

   <content src="index.html" />
   

   OR

   <content src="http://apache.org" />
   

5. (OPTIONAL) Set the useSplashScreen property (defaults to NO):

   viewController.useSplashScreen = YES;
   

6. Set the view frame (always set this as the last property):

   viewController.view.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 320, 480);
   

7. Add Cleaver to your view:

   [myView addSubview:viewController.view];
   

Adding your HTML, CSS and JavaScript assets

1. Create a new folder in your project on disk, www for example.
2. Put your HTML, CSS and JavaScript assets into this folder.
3. Drag and drop the folder into the Project Navigator of Xcode.
4. Choose the Create folder references for any added folders radio button.

5. Set the appropriate wwwFolderName and startPage properties for the folder you created in (1) or use the defaults (see previous section) when you instantiate the CDVViewController.

   /*
    if you created a folder called 'myfolder' and
    you want the file 'mypage.html' in it to be
    the startPage
   */
   viewController.wwwFolderName = @"myfolder";
   viewController.startPage = @"mypage.html"