[Bug]: Running application on 17.5 Simulator from Xcode 16.2 is crashing due to missing SwiftUICore.framework

[codeRa1n]

Capacitor Version

"@capacitor/cli": "^7.1.0",
"@capacitor/core": "^7.1.0",
"@capacitor/android": "^7.1.0",
"@capacitor/ios": "^7.1.0",

Xcode : 16.2
iOS : 17.5

Other API Details

node : v23.11.0
npm : 10.9.2
pod : 1.16.2

Platforms Affected

• iOS
• Android
• Web

Current Behavior

Summary
Apps built with Xcode 16+ that use SwiftUI or link to frameworks built with SwiftUI (like OwnIDCoreSDK) may crash on launch when run on iOS 17.x. The crash occurs because the app tries to load SwiftUICore.framework, which is only available in iOS 18 and later.

Crash Details
Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)

Termination Reason: DYLD 1 Library missing

Missing Library: /System/Library/Frameworks/SwiftUICore.framework/SwiftUICore

Error Message:

Code
Library not loaded: /System/Library/Frameworks/SwiftUICore.framework/SwiftUICore
Reason: tried: ... (no such file, not in dyld cache)
Root Cause
SwiftUI code or third-party SDKs (like OwnIDCoreSDK) built with Xcode 16 may use new SwiftUI APIs introduced in iOS 18.

These APIs implicitly link to SwiftUICore.framework.

On iOS 17, this framework doesn't exist, causing a dynamic linker crash at launch.

Expected Behavior

App Launches Successfully on iOS 17 and iOS 18

The app should no longer crash at launch on iOS 17.4.1.

It should continue to function normally on iOS 18+.

No Runtime Linker Errors

The dynamic linker (dyld) should not attempt to load SwiftUICore.framework on iOS 17.

The app should gracefully skip loading unavailable frameworks due to the weak linking.

SwiftUI Features Work Where Supported

Any SwiftUI features that rely on SwiftUICore should:

Work on iOS 18+

Be conditionally excluded or gracefully degraded on iOS 17

No Build-Time Errors

Xcode should compile the app without errors related to SwiftUICore, assuming:

-weak_framework SwiftUICore is added correctly

No direct imports or hard dependencies exist on SwiftUICore.framework

Project Reproduction

https://github.com/github-samples

Additional Information

This issue occurs in my app because I'm using the ownid-core-ios-sdk CocoaPod (version 3.8.3), which internally uses SwiftUI and implicitly links to SwiftUICore.framework. While this framework is available in iOS 18 and later, it does not exist in iOS 17, causing the app to crash at launch on devices running iOS 17.4.1.

Even though I don’t directly import or use SwiftUICore in my own code, the SDK’s internal usage of SwiftUI APIs introduced in iOS 18 triggers a dynamic link to SwiftUICore.framework, which fails on older OS versions.

[codeRa1n]

In my case, the crash was caused by the ownid-core-ios-sdk CocoaPod (version 3.8.3), which internally uses SwiftUI. When building with Xcode 16+ and running on iOS 17.x, the app crashes at launch due to a missing system framework:

Library not loaded: /System/Library/Frameworks/SwiftUICore.framework/SwiftUICore
Termination Reason: DYLD 1 Library missing

✅ Fix that worked for me:
In Xcode, go to your App target > Build Settings > Other Linker Flags and add the following as two separate entries:

-weak_framework
SwiftUICore

⚠️ Be sure to enter them as separate lines or Xcode may treat SwiftUICore as a file path and throw a build error.
After applying this fix, the app runs correctly on both iOS 17 and iOS 18.