iOS – Symbolicate crash logs from published application

A simple memo on how to symbolicate and read the crash logs from Apple in order to identify where your crash happened.

When you download a crashlog from iTunes Connect (.txt or .crash file), you receive something like this:

Incident Identifier: F92C4FEF-9A35-E8C23D7E6D20
CrashReporter Key:   74725efae7b9a59c25df22db0bbe934c
Hardware Model:      xxx
Process:             AppName [19645]
Path:                /private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/2260797C-8492-41C0-9A88-6DF237806065/AppName.app/AppName
Identifier:          it.appname
Version:             9 (1.0)
AppStoreTools:       11E146
Code Type:           ARM-64 (Native)
Role:                Foreground
Parent Process:      launchd [1]
Coalition:           it.appname [1932]
[...]
Exception Type:  EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x0000000104b351a8
Termination Signal: Trace/BPT trap: 5
Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 0x5
Terminating Process: exc handler [19645]
Triggered by Thread:  0

Thread 0 name:  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Thread 0 Crashed:
0   AppName                	        0x0000000104b351a8 0x104b24000 + 70056
1   AppName                	        0x0000000104b38edc 0x104b24000 + 85724
2   AppName                	        0x0000000104b3c458 0x104b24000 + 99416
3   AppName                	        0x0000000104b3f464 0x104b24000 + 111716
4   libdispatch.dylib             	0x00000001b32089a8 0x1b31ae000 + 371112
5   libdispatch.dylib             	0x00000001b3209524 0x1b31ae000 + 374052
6   libdispatch.dylib             	0x00000001b31bb5b4 0x1b31ae000 + 54708
7   CoreFoundation                	0x00000001b34c1748 0x1b3419000 + 689992
8   CoreFoundation                	0x00000001b34bc61c 0x1b3419000 + 669212
9   CoreFoundation                	0x00000001b34bbc34 0x1b3419000 + 666676
10  GraphicsServices              	0x00000001bd60538c 0x1bd602000 + 13196
11  UIKitCore                     	0x00000001b75ee22c 0x1b6bc2000 + 10666540
12  AppName                	        0x0000000104b28e00 0x104b24000 + 19968
13  libdyld.dylib                 	0x00000001b3343800 0x1b3342000 + 6144
[...]

But you are unable to read the file because you need to symbolicate the file…

---

Retrieve the DSYM file

The DSYM file can be founded in the XCode -> Organizer, selecting your build and next “Show in finder“.

Symbolicate the crash log

XCode has an integrated tool that helps you with symbolication. You can find it in the XCode folder:

/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/SharedFrameworks/
  DVTFoundation.framework/Versions/A/Resources/symbolicatecrash

Basically you should run it with your unsymbolicated file as input parameter:

[~/Desktop]$ 
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/SharedFrameworks/
 DVTFoundation.framework/Versions/A/
 Resources/symbolicatecrash unsymb-crashlog.crash > symbolicated.crash

[~/Desktop]$

*Remember to export the DEVELOPER_DIR in your .bash_profile or .zshrc that you have before.

export DEVELOPER_DIR="/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer"

---

Symbolicated!

Now your file is read and symbolicated!

Open it, you should see something like this:

Incident Identifier: F92C4FEF-9A35-E8C23D7E6D20
CrashReporter Key:   74725efae7b9a59c25df22db0bbe934c
Hardware Model:      xxx
Process:             AppName [19645]
Path:                /private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/2260797C-8492-41C0-9A88-6DF237806065/AppName.app/AppName
Identifier:          it.appname
Version:             9 (1.0)
AppStoreTools:       11E146
Code Type:           ARM-64 (Native)
Role:                Foreground
Parent Process:      launchd [1]
Coalition:           it.appname [1932]
[...]

Exception Type:  EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x0000000104b351a8
Termination Signal: Trace/BPT trap: 5
Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 0x5
Terminating Process: exc handler [19645]
Triggered by Thread:  0

Thread 0 name:  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Thread 0 Crashed:
0   AppName               	        0x0000000104b351a8 specialized Enemy.randomVirus(position:actions:) + 70056 (EnemyModel.swift:82)
1   AppName               	        0x0000000104b38edc GameViewController.drawEnemy(x:y:z:) + 85724 (GameViewController.swift:272)
2   AppName               	        0x0000000104b3c458 partial apply for closure #1 in GameViewController.addEnemies(total:) + 99416 (:0)
3   AppName               	        0x0000000104b3f464 thunk for @escaping @callee_guaranteed () -> () + 111716 (:0)
4   libdispatch.dylib             	0x00000001b32089a8 _dispatch_call_block_and_release + 24
5   libdispatch.dylib             	0x00000001b3209524 _dispatch_client_callout + 16
6   libdispatch.dylib             	0x00000001b31bb5b4 _dispatch_main_queue_callback_4CF$VARIANT$mp + 904
7   CoreFoundation                	0x00000001b34c1748 __CFRUNLOOP_IS_SERVICING_THE_MAIN_DISPATCH_QUEUE__ + 12
8   CoreFoundation                	0x00000001b34bc61c __CFRunLoopRun + 1724
9   CoreFoundation                	0x00000001b34bbc34 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 424
10  GraphicsServices              	0x00000001bd60538c GSEventRunModal + 160
11  UIKitCore                     	0x00000001b75ee22c UIApplicationMain + 1932
12  AppName               	        0x0000000104b28e00 main + 19968 (LevelModel.swift:21)
13  libdyld.dylib                 	0x00000001b3343800 start + 4
[...]

Of course, it remains complex to read but is a little bit more clear.

Enjoy symbols!