Xcode is a mess!

Developer Tools & Services Xcode
chps67 OP
Created 1w
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After having used Obj-C and C++ for years, I recently (~6 months) moved to Swift, which is hard for me but most often sends less obscure error messages (not always). My trouble is 1- why is it soooooo long (sometimes up to 20s - that's horrible) to get an object's variables accessible in the debugger? 2- In Xcode 16 why is it no longer possible to arrange my files as I did before (organised into folders from within Xcode - horrible when you get a bigger and bigger project)? 3- Why has it become impossible to see the retention cycles and retaining objects from with the memoryGraph (it's worth ~nothing) now !

Answered by DTS Engineer in 867958022

If you have multiple issues, it’s generally best to put them in different threads. That’s because different folks have different expertise, and it’s unlikely that any one person will be able to help you with all of your issues at once.

In this case, I can address your second question:

In Xcode 16 why is it no longer possible to arrange my files as I did before

I’m not 100% sure I understand this, but I suspect it’s because Xcode now has two ways to organise items in the Project navigator:

  • Groups, as used by older versions of Xcode
  • Folders, which are new [1]

With groups you can explicitly manage the position and order of items in the Project navigator. With folders, Xcode does that implicitly, replicating the file system hierarchy and showing all the items alphabetically.

Folders have some really important advantages — most notably, they radically reduce the number of project file merge conflicts — but if you don’t like them you can always stick with groups:

  • To create a group, select a location in the Project navigator and choose File > New > Group (or Group from Selection).
  • To create a folder, choose File > New > Folder.
  • To convert a folder to a group, select it and choose Edit > Convert > To Group.
  • To convert a group to a folder, select it and choose Edit > Convert > To Folder.

For questions 1 and 3, I recommend that you start a new thread for each of them.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

[1] Well, new-ish. Older versions of Xcode supported folders but you typically didn’t use them for source code.

Replies  2
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darkpaw OP
1w

Well, that's your opinion. I've managed to release a number of Swift apps without seeing the issues you describe.

I've got no idea why you can't organise your folders properly. What's the problem? You ask why it's no longer possible to do something, but you haven't really explained what it is that you're missing. You can still right-click a file or folder and create a new group, new group from selection, new folder, and new folder from selection. And you can drag files and folders onto the Project pane and choose how they're added. I don't understand what it is that you're having a problem with?

Rather than posting here, why not raise feedback tickets and explain where you're seeing issues? Give Apple a record of the problems and a chance to fix them. You can do that at: https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/ then post the FB number(s) here.

Also, Xcode 26 is out, so you could try that out and see if any of your issues are fixed.

0
DTS Engineer OP
Apple
1w
Recommended

If you have multiple issues, it’s generally best to put them in different threads. That’s because different folks have different expertise, and it’s unlikely that any one person will be able to help you with all of your issues at once.

In this case, I can address your second question:

In Xcode 16 why is it no longer possible to arrange my files as I did before

I’m not 100% sure I understand this, but I suspect it’s because Xcode now has two ways to organise items in the Project navigator:

  • Groups, as used by older versions of Xcode
  • Folders, which are new [1]

With groups you can explicitly manage the position and order of items in the Project navigator. With folders, Xcode does that implicitly, replicating the file system hierarchy and showing all the items alphabetically.

Folders have some really important advantages — most notably, they radically reduce the number of project file merge conflicts — but if you don’t like them you can always stick with groups:

  • To create a group, select a location in the Project navigator and choose File > New > Group (or Group from Selection).
  • To create a folder, choose File > New > Folder.
  • To convert a folder to a group, select it and choose Edit > Convert > To Group.
  • To convert a group to a folder, select it and choose Edit > Convert > To Folder.

For questions 1 and 3, I recommend that you start a new thread for each of them.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

[1] Well, new-ish. Older versions of Xcode supported folders but you typically didn’t use them for source code.

0
Xcode is a mess!
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