Building LÖVE for iOS

In order to run LÖVE for iOS, it must first be compiled and installed. To do that, you’ll need macOS and Xcode.

	•	If the include and libraries folders are not present in the love/platform/xcode/ios folder and there’s no love/platform/xcode/shared/ folder, download them and place them there. They contain the third-party library dependencies used by LÖVE.

	•	Open the Xcode project found at love/platform/xcode/love.xcodeproj, and select the “love-ios” target in the dropdown menu at the top of the window.

	•	You may want to change the Build Configuration from Debug to Release mode for better runtime performance, by opening the “Edit Scheme…” menu from the same dropdown selection.

	•	Choose either an iOS Simulator device or your plugged-in iOS device from the dropdown selection to the right of the previous one, and click the Build-and-Run ▶︎ button to the left, which will install and run LÖVE on the target device after compiling it.

Running Games on iOS

LÖVE on iOS includes a simple list interface of games that are installed (until you fuse a .love to it for distribution.)

	•	To put a .love file on the iOS Simulator after LÖVE is installed, drag the file onto the iOS Simulator’s window while it’s open. LÖVE will launch if it’s not running already. If another game is currently active you may need to quit LÖVE for the new game to show up (press Shift-Command-H twice to open the App Switcher menu on the iOS Simulator.)

	•	To put a .love file or game folder on your iOS device after LÖVE is installed, you can either download it with the Safari, or transfer it from your computer through iTunes when your device is connected: open iTunes, go to the iOS device which has LÖVE installed, go to the ‘Apps’ section and scroll down and find LÖVE, and add the .love file or game folder to LÖVE’s Documents section.

Distributing a Game on iOS

Refer to the Game Distribution LÖVE wiki page.