Cordova WKWebVIew plugin does not work on simulator

[stripathix]

Created a new project using Cordova commands:

cordova create testapp
Then added following lines in config.xml to install cordova-plugin-wkwebview-engine:

<allow-navigation href="http://localhost:8080/*" />
<feature name="CDVWKWebViewEngine">
    <param name="ios-package" value="CDVWKWebViewEngine" />
</feature>
<preference name="CordovaWebViewEngine" value="CDVWKWebViewEngine" />
<engine name="ios" spec="^4.4.0" />
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-whitelist" spec="^1.3.2" />
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-wkwebview-engine" spec="git+https://github.com/driftyco/cordova-plugin-wkwebview-engine.git" />

Then Executed:

cordova platform add ios
cordova build ios

Now if I run this application on simulator then I get this screen:

*Note: This works on real devices but on the simulator it always fails. No Idea what's going on.

Ref: https://github.com/ionic-team/cordova-plugin-wkwebview-engine

cordova: 7.0.1 cordova-ios: 4.4.0

[troyanskiy]

You should execute:

ionic cordova platform add ios
ionic cordova build ios

[mlynch]

Works fine on xcode 9/ios 11 simulators. Closing as can't reproduce

[mlynch]

Yea on second glance it just looks like the build didn't happen so www/index.html wasn't created

[stripathix]

@mlynch I am not able to run the app on the simulator. Using xCode9 and iOS11. It showed build succeeded :-( .

[troyanskiy]

@stripathix what exact command did you execute to build?

[stripathix]

I am using:

cordova platform add ios
cordova build ios

Because my project is Cordova directory. Whenever I run ionic cordova build ios command I get error [ERROR] Sorry! ionic cordova build can only be run in an Ionic project directory.

[troyanskiy]

So you can't use the plugin cordova-plugin-wkwebview-engine from Ionic-team.
There are 2 options for you.

1. Switch you project to ionic project
2. Use the plugin from apache https://github.com/apache/cordova-plugin-wkwebview-engine

[troyanskiy]

By executing just cordova build ios it just copies files from www folder to the platform and adding cordova.js + plugin js files.
And if you do ionic cordova build ios ionic compiles everything from src to www and then executes cordova build ios

[stripathix]

But still, don't understand why it works on a real device but not on simulator.

Is there any difference in WkWebview plugin from ionic team and plugin by apache? Will it affect performance wise?

Will it be the big task to convert Cordova project directory to ionic directory?

[troyanskiy]

Is there any difference in WkWebview plugin from ionic team and plugin by apache? Will it affect performance wise?

No difference in performance

Will it be the big task to convert Cordova project directory to ionic directory?

Depends on your project

I think its easier to switch to the plugin from apache.

[stripathix]

thanks @troyanskiy I will work on that and get back if face any issue.

[mlynch]

This should work, are you sure there's a www/index.html?

[stripathix]

Yes, there is an index.html file once build is completed platforms/ios/www/index.html

[stripathix]

Also, I can confirm this was working with the following environment:

a) Xcode 8.x
b) iOS 10.x
c) Plugin version: git+https://github.com/driftyco/cordova-plugin-wkwebview-engine.git#8409dbb

Now when I have updated to Xcode 9 and using the latest version of the plugin it's breaking in the simulator.

[manucorporat]

I can't reproduce this issue. Can you try:

rm -rf plaftorms
rm -rf plugins
ionic cordova build ios

?

[kgeoir]

Hello,
I am using Xcode 9 and IOS11, when I plug the wkwebview plugin, the browser is enable to load index.html.

I did rm -rf platform and plugin then build and still breaking. On my side it breaks on Xcode simulator and device BUT works perfectly when launching with cordova!
Any hint?

[stripathix]

Finally, I found the reason for this. I think its the PORT localhost:8080 on which application is served inside WkWebView.

I am having a docker node container running, listening on 8080. So if I stop my docker container then application starts working on the simulator.

Is there any way to handle this situation. Like if we can change the PORT# for WkWebView?