Theos

A cross-platform build system for creating iOS, macOS, Linux, and Windows programs.

Features

Below is a list of features implemented since the original Theos by Dustin Howett. Said features are sorted in ascending order by their implementation date (where the latest additions are at the bottom).

(To do: These features should be properly documented and this file removed.)

  • Fallback/last resort headers can be placed at include/_fallback; this can be used to provide drop-in replacements for missing SDK headers. (rpetrich)
  • make update-theos, predictably enough, updates Theos to the latest commit. (rpetrich)
  • make package FINALPACKAGE=1 will optimise assets (runs pincrush on PNG images, and converts plists to binary format) and generate a package with a “clean” version (ie, no build number). Recommended when building a package you’re about to release. (rpetrich/kirb)
  • INSTALL_TARGET_PROCESSES = Preferences MobileMail is a shortcut for killing a process. (Previously TWEAK_TARGET_PROCESS) (rpetrich)
  • Unlike rpetrich’s fork, the internal generator (using Objective-C runtime functions directly) is changed back to the Substrate generator (using Substrate’s wrappers around the runtime functions to assure future compatibility).
  • make do is a shortcut for make package install. (rpetrich)
  • Each architecture is compiled separately, rather than all being compiled at once. This avoids some issues with the original design of Theos. (rpetrich)
  • Different SDKs can be used for different architectures, making it possible to for instance use Xcode 4.4 for armv6 compilation alongside a newer Xcode for armv7/arm64. (rpetrich)
  • All generated files are stored in .theos, rather than many different directories in the root of the project. (rpetrich)
  • make clean-packages removes non-final packages. (rpetrich)
  • Makes dpkg-deb use lzma compression, because the current format dpkg-deb uses (xz) is not supported by Telesphoreo’s old dpkg build. (kirb)
  • Packages are output to a subdirectory called packages. (kirb)
  • Use hbang/headers as a submodule. (kirb)
  • Supports the iOS 7 simulator. (kirb)
  • Adds a %property directive that allows for creating a property on a hooked class. (eswick)
  • File.m_CFLAGS support, to have compiler flags on one particular file. (rpetrich)
  • Provides IS_IPAD and IN_SPRINGBOARD macros in the prefix header. (kirb)
  • Imports Cocoa and AppKit when targeting OS X. (kirb)
  • When using iOS SDK 7.0 or newer, and deploying to iOS 5 or newer, Theos defaults to building for armv7 and arm64. (rpetrich/kirb)
  • Adds simbltweak.mk to help in the building of SIMBL tweaks for OS X. (kirb)
  • Adds modern app and preference bundle templates. (kirb)
  • Adds %dtor { ... } directive to run code when the process is deconstructing. (uroboro)
  • Improves error handling when an SDK isn’t found. (uroboro)
  • Adds %hookf for hooking functions. Example (uroboro)
  • Supports building rpm packages. (rpetrich)
  • Adds STRIP=0 to not strip on release builds. (rpetrich)
  • Adds a stub libsubstrate.dylib binary so you don’t need to get one yourself. (kirb)
  • Fixes lack of a symlink that allows Theos to work on arm64. (kirb)
  • Supports Swift compilation and linking. Incomplete as it is uncertain whether Swift libraries are allowed to be distributed via Cydia. (kirb)
  • Deprecates NSLog in favor of more detailed log macros, HBLogDebug, HBLogInfo, HBLogWarn, and HBLogError. (kirb)
  • Makes debug builds the default. Use make DEBUG=0, FOR_RELEASE=1 or FINALPACKAGE=1 to build without debug. (kirb)
  • Bumps default deployment target to iOS 4.3 when using iOS SDK 6.0 and iOS 5.0 when using iOS SDK 7.0. (kirb)
  • Includes NIC templates from DHowett, conradev, WillFour20; uroboro; and bensge, kirb.
  • Supports building for iOS on Windows. (coolstar)
  • Theos symlinks are no longer made within projects. The $THEOS environment variable is used instead. (kirb)
  • instance_USE_SUBSTRATE = 0 can be used to switch tweaks to the internal generator and not link against Substrate. (kirb)
  • make show opens the operating system’s file manager and highlights the latest package. (kirb)
  • A THEOS_INSTANCE_NAME constant is passed to the compiler so the current instance’s name can be used in the code. (kirb)
  • PREINSTALL_TARGET_PROCESSES and INSTALL_TARGET_PROCESSES can be set to a list of processes to kill before and after installation respectively. (rpetrich)
  • instance_LIBRARY_EXTENSION can be set to a custom file extension when building a library/tweak, or - for no extension. (kirb)
  • Output is colored so it’s easier to read at a glance. (kirb)
  • instance_WEAK_FRAMEWORKS and instance_WEAK_LIBRARIES allow you to weak link against frameworks/libraries. (kirb)
  • Enables clang modules. Note that C++ modules are only enabled with iOS 8.4 and OS X 10.10 or newer, when building on OS X. (kirb)
  • Allows int argc, char **argv, char **envp arguments to be utilised in %ctor and %dtor. (uroboro)
  • Third party frameworks can be placed inside $THEOS/lib, and utilised with instance_EXTRA_FRAMEWORKS. (kirb)
  • Adds backwards compatibility for nullability keywords when building with older versions of clang that don’t support it. (kirb)
  • Building for iOS Simulator now disables linking Substrate by default, allows linking against OS X binaries, and builds for only x86_64 by default (rather than both i386 and x86_64) when building for iOS 8.0 or newer. (kirb)
  • Integrates the fix needed for tweaks to work in 32-bit processes on iPhone 6s. (saurik)
  • Adds make troubleshoot, for getting quick links to troubleshooting info and uploading the make output to GitHub Gist for sharing. (kirb)
  • Adds support for building for watchOS and tvOS. (kirb)