(draft) (feat) Migrate to SPM (Swift Package Manager)

[fabiomartino]

(DRAFT)

Description

This pull request migrates the iOS portion of the Capacitor plugin from CocoaPods to Swift Package Manager (SPM) while preserving all previous functionality.
No breaking changes have been introduced.

Why?

• Simplifies dependency management by using the native Swift Package Manager.
• Reduces external dependency on CocoaPods.
• Aligns with modern best practices for iOS development.

Let me know if further changes or testing are required!

[diachedelic]

I noticed you closed this PR. Do you not want it merged?

[diachedelic]

Thanks for doing this work. Please feel under no obligation to implement this review, I can take it from here if necessary.

I just have one concern. Will this PR break support for the Capacitor versions listed here? I am assuming yes, because previous versions of Capacitor used the Objective-C bridging files that have been deleted as part of this PR.

[diachedelic]

Is it necessary to specify a Swift version?

[fabiomartino]

Probably yes (but not sure) due to the new SPM structure.

[fabiomartino]

I noticed you closed this PR. Do you not want it merged?

I opened this PR as a Work in Progress (WIP) or a draft because the proposed feature is not yet complete. I closed it to avoid confusion, but I plan to reopen it once it's ready for review. Let me know if you have any concerns!

[fabiomartino]

Thanks for doing this work. Please feel under no obligation to implement this review, I can take it from here if necessary.

I just have one concern. Will this PR break support for the Capacitor versions listed here? I am assuming yes, because previous versions of Capacitor used the Objective-C bridging files that have been deleted as part of this PR.

Yes, this PR would likely break support for the listed Capacitor versions, which is one of the reasons I decided to close it.

Additionally, this plugin has an atypical structure. Specifically, it includes a precompiled definitions.d.ts instead of the more common src/ folder with definitions.ts, web.ts, and index.ts. If you’re interested, I have locally recreated this structure.

I initially attempted to convert the plugin using the official Capacitor Plugin Converter, but it didn’t work. So, I rebuilt the entire plugin structure using Create Capacitor Plugin and then manually adjusted the iOS implementation accordingly.

Additionally, several expected files were missing from the original structure.

Let me know if you’d like more details or if you have any suggestions!

[fabiomartino]

I re-open as a Draft.

[diachedelic]

Additionally, this plugin has an atypical structure.

I attempted to strip it down to the bare minimum, to reduce its dependencies and make it easier to understand.

Specifically, it includes a precompiled definitions.d.ts instead of the more common src/ folder with definitions.ts, web.ts, and index.ts.

This plugin does not require a JS component at all, and I only added the TypeScript definitions at the request of TypeScript users.

Yes, this PR would likely break support for the listed Capacitor versions.

The changes to Plugin.swift look backwards compatible. It should be possible to reintroduce the Objective-C and project files to avoid breakage. What do you think?

[fabiomartino]

To verify whether the older versions of Capacitor (prior to version 6) require these changes, we need to test on those specific versions. This is because the new SPM already has its methods (for the JavaScript part) declared directly in BackgroundGeolocation.swift (CAPBridgedPlugin):

    public let pluginMethods: [CAPPluginMethod] = [
        CAPPluginMethod(name: "addWatcher", returnType: CAPPluginReturnCallback),
        CAPPluginMethod(name: "removeWatcher", returnType: CAPPluginReturnPromise),
        CAPPluginMethod(name: "openSettings", returnType: CAPPluginReturnPromise)
    ]

[diachedelic]

If CAPPluginMethod was available in prior Capacitor versions, the addition of the pluginMethods might be benign and the Objective-C bridge can simply be introduced. Otherwise we might have a problem. I am happy to try reimplementing support for older Capacitor versions after merging this PR, if you don't have the time or inclination.