The app uses the public iOS Documents directory as its LÖVE save directory. There is no pokemon-love2d subdirectory and the app does not create a README file there. When browsing On My iPhone > gen1recomp in Files, the directory contains the app's runtime data directly, including:

installed mods and downloaded ROMs
save files and save-state data
options, caches, logs, and other files created by the game

The build enables UIFileSharingEnabled and LSSupportsOpeningDocumentsInPlace, so the same directory is available in Files and Finder. Files copied into the app's Documents directory are used by the game on its next activation.

Existing installations are migrated automatically. Files from the old private Application Support/pokemon-love2d directory are merged into Documents on launch; conflicts are retained with a .legacy suffix.

Build

Run these commands from the repository root:

scripts/build_ios.sh --fetch
scripts/build_ios.sh

--fetch downloads the pinned LÖVE source and matching Apple dependencies into the gitignored love-src/ directory. It is only needed when that tree is missing. The default build targets the iOS Simulator in Debug configuration.

For a physical device or a release build:

scripts/build_ios.sh --device --install
scripts/build_ios.sh --device --release --install

Device builds require a paired, unlocked device and a valid Apple signing identity. Set DEVELOPMENT_TEAM or CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY when automatic signing cannot select the intended account. Add --ipa to create dist/ios/gen1recomp.ipa.

The script verifies the final app before packaging it:

the public Documents plist settings are present
the native picker bridge is present
game.love exists and is non-empty

If the payload is missing, the build fails instead of producing a blank app.

Useful options

Option	Purpose
`--fetch`	Fetch LÖVE 12.0 and Apple dependencies when `love-src/` is missing
`--device`	Build for `iphoneos` instead of the Simulator
`--release`	Use the Release configuration
`--install`	Install a device build on the first connected device
`--ipa`	Create an IPA after a device build
`--version X.Y.Z`	Stamp the engine and app version
`--package-only`	Package `game.love` and apply the iOS plist overlay without Xcode

scripts/build.sh ios delegates to this script and forwards the iOS release option.

Output

Simulator and device app bundles are copied to:

dist/ios/Debug-iphonesimulator/gen1recomp.app
dist/ios/Release-iphonesimulator/gen1recomp.app
dist/ios/Debug-iphoneos/gen1recomp.app
dist/ios/Release-iphoneos/gen1recomp.app

The intermediate Xcode products are under mobile/ios/build/. Both locations are gitignored.

The bundled game payload is staged at love-src/platform/xcode/ios/resources/game.love and copied into the final app bundle. The payload contains the game, not user-generated ROMs, mods, or saves; those are created at runtime in Documents.

App identity

Field	Default
Display name	`gen1recomp`
Product name	`gen1recomp`
Bundle identifier	`com.theboisclub.gen1recomp`
Save directory	Public `Documents` root
Orientation	Portrait

Set GEN1_BUNDLE_ID to use a different bundle identifier for local device builds.

Prerequisites

macOS with Xcode and xcodebuild
the iOS and iOS Simulator platforms installed in Xcode
a fetched love-src/ tree, or the --fetch option
the matching iOS libraries and SDL3 framework under love-src/

Use xcodebuild -showsdks to confirm that the required SDKs are installed.