We're seeing the same issue - even though we're using top spec'd MacBook Pro Retina's with Core i7's and 16gb of memory. To us it looks like a refresh/display issue as things are very slow to redraw, even with a storyboard with not much on it (if we go to the layout panel, mouse over the preview area, it takes a full 12 seconds to cycle from small to expanded and back again for instance).
Do remember though that this is a very early alpha of the iOS designer - I am sure it will improve as Xamarin work on it and get much more useful and fast.
In the meantime, what we are doing is using XCode Interface Builder to build the majority of the storyboards, then flipping over to Xamarin iOS designer when it's time to wire up outlets/events, page segues etc. The iOS designer is fully compatible with XCode IB, so it's simple to switch between them as needed.
This was a regression from a few days before we branched for release. The next release (4.1.1) will contain a fix for this and performance will be significantly better.
Is the following part of the regression and do you have time frame on the 4.1.1 release?
System.AggregateException: One or more errors occured ---> System.Exception: Siminstaller could not launch app (didn't exit)
at MonoTouch.Hosting.SpringBoardApplication.Launch (MonoTouch.Hosting.IosApplication app) [0x00151] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Hosting/SpringBoardApplication.cs:85
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.EnsureServerRunning (Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x001c4] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:300
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.SendRequest[DesignSession] (System.String path, System.IO.Stream requestData, System.Action1 setupRequest, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00002] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:210 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.Get[DesignSession] (System.String path, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:183 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.CreateSession () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:123 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.<CreateSessionAsync>m__107 () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:128 at System.Threading.Tasks.TaskActionInvoker+FuncInvoke1[MonoTouch.Design.DesignSession].Invoke (System.Threading.Tasks.Task owner, System.Object state, System.Threading.Tasks.Task context) [0x00000] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/TaskActionInvoker.cs:241
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke () [0x00028] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:519
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ThreadStart () [0x00097] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:418
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
--> (Inner exception 0) System.Exception: Siminstaller could not launch app (didn't exit)
at MonoTouch.Hosting.SpringBoardApplication.Launch (MonoTouch.Hosting.IosApplication app) [0x00151] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Hosting/SpringBoardApplication.cs:85
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.EnsureServerRunning (Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x001c4] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:300
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.SendRequest[DesignSession] (System.String path, System.IO.Stream requestData, System.Action1 setupRequest, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00002] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:210 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.Get[DesignSession] (System.String path, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:183 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.CreateSession () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:123 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.<CreateSessionAsync>m__107 () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:128 at System.Threading.Tasks.TaskActionInvoker+FuncInvoke1[MonoTouch.Design.DesignSession].Invoke (System.Threading.Tasks.Task owner, System.Object state, System.Threading.Tasks.Task context) [0x00000] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/TaskActionInvoker.cs:241
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke () [0x00028] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:519
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ThreadStart () [0x00097] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:418
We've had reports of that error and have hit it ourselves on some machines. We've put in some fixes in 4.1.1 and think the issue has been dealt with completely so do let us know if you still hit the issue after 4.1.1 is released.
I seem to still be getting the above error. I have version 4.1.2(build 2) installed.
System.AggregateException: One or more errors occured ---> System.Exception: Siminstaller could not launch app (didn't exit) at MonoTouch.Hosting.SpringBoardApplication.Launch (MonoTouch.Hosting.IosApplication app) [0x00151] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Hosting/SpringBoardApplication.cs:85 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.EnsureServerRunning (Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x001c4] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:300 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.SendRequest[DesignSession] (System.String path, System.IO.Stream requestData, System.Action1 setupRequest, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00002] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:210
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.Get[DesignSession] (System.String path, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:183
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.CreateSession () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:123
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.m__111 () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:128
at System.Threading.Tasks.TaskActionInvoker+FuncInvoke1[MonoTouch.Design.DesignSession].Invoke (System.Threading.Tasks.Task owner, System.Object state, System.Threading.Tasks.Task context) [0x00000] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/TaskActionInvoker.cs:241 at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke () [0x00028] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:519 at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ThreadStart () [0x00097] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:418 --- End of inner exception stack trace --- --> (Inner exception 0) System.Exception: Siminstaller could not launch app (didn't exit) at MonoTouch.Hosting.SpringBoardApplication.Launch (MonoTouch.Hosting.IosApplication app) [0x00151] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Hosting/SpringBoardApplication.cs:85 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.EnsureServerRunning (Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x001c4] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:300 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.SendRequest[DesignSession] (System.String path, System.IO.Stream requestData, System.Action1 setupRequest, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00002] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:210
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.Get[DesignSession] (System.String path, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:183
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.CreateSession () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:123
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.m__111 () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:128
at System.Threading.Tasks.TaskActionInvoker+FuncInvoke1[MonoTouch.Design.DesignSession].Invoke (System.Threading.Tasks.Task owner, System.Object state, System.Threading.Tasks.Task context) [0x00000] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/TaskActionInvoker.cs:241 at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke () [0x00028] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:519 at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ThreadStart () [0x00097] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:418
We found and fixed a few more causes of this issue in the last few days. These fixes are all in the upcoming release. It should be out later today if all goes well.
System.AggregateException: One or more errors occured ---> System.Exception: Siminstaller could not launch app (didn't exit) at MonoTouch.Hosting.SpringBoardApplication.Launch (MonoTouch.Hosting.IosApplication app) [0x001b9] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop-lion-monodevelop-4.1.9-branch/123fc693/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Hosting/SpringBoardApplication.cs:93 at...
This is from a project created with XS 4.1.7. Do you have an idea as to what could be causing this? Is there a specific XCode dependency?
Sometimes this issue can be caused by us not tearing down some processes correctly. When you experience this, can you open Activity Monitor and see if there are any 'Springboard' processes lying around. If there are, kill all of them. That will allow the iOS designer to recover.
The problem does not seem to be a left over SpringBoard processes. I have found that the DesignServer is not being launched. Debugging the app in the simulator, seems to resolve the problem, as once the simulator is up and running, a DesignServer process is launched and the Storyboard gets loaded for editing.
I am using Xamarin 5.2.1 and I am working on a MacBook Pro with 16 gigs and I am running Parallels with Windows 8.1 and Visual Studio 2013. Using the Storyboard designer is just awful. I drag something out and try to position it and it moves somewhere else. I find I have to mess with each element 3 or 4 minutes to get it close to where I want it but never exactly where I want it. Is there any hope for knowing what is wrong or better yet, a fix for it?
I agree with John. I'm on 5.5.2 and performance in the iOS designer on a Macbook Pro with 16 gigs on MacOS is atrocious. I'll see a progress indicator for 10-15 seconds opening a storyboard, and then again at random spots. Fortunately properties are still editable, but the main display thread is locked for way too long. Additionally, moving things around via the mouse when in a zoomed out state is an exercise in frustration. I always have to resort to manually entering values to position a control.
As an aside, I have a view embedded in another view and connected with an embed segue. I then have another push segue out from the embedded view and I cannot resize the view/view controller to be landscape full screen. It is always constrained to the size of the parent view in the designer, even though it behaves fine at run-time.
This is my first experience with the iOS designer in MacOS and I must say, it is rather rough.
I'm I'm running 5.5.4 and it's frankly unusable. I just needed to add constraints so my storyboard would work ok on both iPhone and iPad on around 20 UI elements. I've been at it for hours now, and periodically I have to throw away what I've done because it can no longer render the storyboard! I've tried fixing in xcode and then reopening, that worked once thankfully, I didn't have to start again. But really, this seems to have been a issue for months now with no improvement in site. Terrible.
Echoing everything James Waletzky and Joseph Narai said! Macbook Air from 2011, 1.7GHz Core i5, 4GB RAM, Xamarin Studio 5.5.4 stable.
Editing a storyboard with 11 UIViewControllers and no segues, with Autolayout, 1 custom control being rendered, a bunch of constraints, views etc. Here is a list of observed issues:
Performance related:
1) 23 seconds to open the storyboard, with loading spinner (!!!!!)
2) Sometimes clicking on something (for example in the Document Outline) results in random beachballs (locking up main thread). Sometimes the beachballs happen when I'm just scrolling through lists like the Document Outline! Is this garbage collection happening or something??
3) Clicking on most things takes ~1 second to "register" (makes the entire designer feel sluggish)
4) When clicking on a view with it all the way zoomed out so I can see all 11 view controllers, it freaked out. It selected the view I clicked on, but then acted as if I was still holding down the mouse and started to drag the view. Then a couple of seconds later, it realized the mouse button was up and it dropped the view somewhere random. Sounds like this is possibly a known issue, I will keep things at 100% zoom for now.
Other:
1) For constraint editing, in the Widget inspector, sometimes it has "Error while creating this entry" for Second item. However, it appears the constraint works fine and there are no constraint warnings.
2) Sometimes moving a view with drag and drop results in the view being placed somewhere completely different than where I dropped it (may be related to the drag and drop bug under Performance related). Sounds like this may be a known issue... I'll keep it at 100% zoom for now.
3) Sometimes custom controls completely randomly failed to appear in the Toolbox. When I restarted the IDE, they showed up (in other words, no code changes in between). Sometimes, doing random code changes to a class like commenting out certain lines in a method would trigger this bug and the control stopped showing up in the Toolbox. Appears to be intermittent and random.
4) When right-clicking on something on the design surface or the document outline, I see a bunch of generic "View" menu items. I named my views (such as "viewOuter", "viewInner", etc). Why don't these names show up in the context menu so I know what I'm selecting? Sometimes I click on a view that's 4 UIViews deep (i.e. UIView -> UIView -> UIView -> UILabel), and it only lists 2 views. Shouldn't it list all 3 UIViews, the UILabel, and the outer UIViewController, all with names if existing?
5) When switching to a different tab, for example a C# code editor, and then back into the designer, the current selected item isn't persisted in the Document Outline.
Xcode's Interface Builder is instant and feels fast in all its operations.
I realize my machine isn't exactly latest and greatest, but 23 seconds to parse/load/whatever you're doing to open the designer is pretty bad. I love being able to edit my UI using the designer and not flipping back and forth between Xcode, please improve this! It feels like a beta product.
Also feeling the pain here. And same working on Visual Studio on Windows with connection to an iOS Build Host. Seems to be worse with auto constraints than without. Storyboard support and this designer have been out for a while now, so this should be getting a high priority to be resolved...
Agreed, absolutely unusable at this point. I have ended up syncing via git, switching machines and doing all storyboard editing on XS on mac, then sync back for coding.
Please improve the VS storyboard editor, it is the only way we can hope to have a VS-only editing workflow!
I seem to have huge problems when I change component names and then navigate to the view controller...
I am on McBook Pro, it's not a very powerful machine, but still - processor is stuck at 100% activity for over 5 minutes...
I end up killing Xamarin after each time I change a label name and try re-using it in code-behind. Please fix this !!!!!!!
One thing I have noticed when using the iOS designer is that it is slow and hangs when the views class is not checked out in TFS. Especially check if the .designer.cs is checked out (expand your class in solution explorer). Once this file is checked out the designer is workable, although it could be a lot quicker to load (I am using a Mac Mini).
@AlanMcGovern: Maybe this is something to address and give a warning about, I only saw this when looking at the log details.
I also just noticed that when I start editing MyController.cs, the MyController.cs is checked out in TFS, but the underlaying MyController.designer.cs is not checked out so I have to do this manually, otherwise the iOS designer hangs and crashes VS.
Can you share a copy of the VS logs from a session where you triggered the crash?
Can you also share a copy of the logs from a session where it was really slow? We have timestamping in many of the key codepaths which should help us figure out why it was slow.
I second this. It's been a pain to work with for over 10 months. I have a setup with a mac mini (wifi 5ghz/801n) and 1gbit connection on the same router. Dragging UI elements (views) doesn't work. Half of the time the elements "pop" back after they have been moved. It's so slow that it's nearly unbearable to work with. One of my colleagues owns a MacBook pro (quadcore i7) which he uses with Windows in a bootcamp setup. His experience: a bit faster, but still unresponsive to say the least.
Have you tried the new Alpha (Cycle 6)? The Build Host has been rebuilt from the ground, the experience is way better! Well, I have to admit I haven't used it intensively but it's definitively faster This version is a few months away from a stable release, still have to wait a little bit...
The issue seems to be related to the way XS invokes XCode's SpringBoard
Application Specific Information:
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInternalInconsistencyException', reason: 'main display bounds are empty'
terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException
abort() called
CoreSimulator 191.4 - Device: com.xamarin.MTHosting.339f91e1 - Runtime: iOS 9.1 (13B137) - DeviceType: iPhone 5s
The hang launching the designer is simply that the Xamarin Studio you are using is too old - it only supports up to Xcode 7.0 and you are using Xcode 7.1 You need to upgrade to 5.9.8 or newer for Xcode 7.1 support.
I'm finding on my iMac and MBP (and on VS) that opening the designer on 5.10.2 (build 55) it is still taking an age to open. I'm on El Capitan beta 3, using whatever the current stable Xcode version is out there. If I tell XS to use Xcode, the storyboard is opened instantly.
I am on Octa core Xeon, 32 GB RAM, nVidia Quadro 4000, 2 x 240 GB SSD in RAID, and I need 7 seconds to refresh when I move one image from one place to another ?! Great ! At this rate I will finish design of my app in next 2000 years..
@KingChrisCole and others I will be slow because its upto your connection between Mac Device, You should connect them via Ethernet cable, even your wifi active.
But you must figure out that, Your windows connection must be over the cable network IP addres.
This will fix the problem.
turn off wifi,
connect two device with cable , (internet not important when turn on wifi it will work over wifi)
then go to Windows Xamarin agenct select Mac device over there
Then connect.
This will make it faster it takes max 20 second to render storyboard. Mine is 12 second first load of Storyboard.
@RahmiTugrulAltin said: @KingChrisCole and others I will be slow because its upto your connection between Mac Device, You should connect them via Ethernet cable, even your wifi active.
But you must figure out that, Your windows connection must be over the cable network IP addres.
This will fix the problem.
turn off wifi,
connect two device with cable , (internet not important when turn on wifi it will work over wifi)
then go to Windows Xamarin agenct select Mac device over there
Then connect.
This will make it faster it takes max 20 second to render storyboard. Mine is 12 second first load of Storyboard.
Now you can turn on wifi and contrinue to work.
Best Regards.
Thanks for the reply, but I'm running OSX Sierra on a virtual machine - so network connectivity should not be a factor.
There probably is nothing else I can do to speed up iOS development.
@KingChrisCole;
Hi King you cannot work like this beacuse virtual machine will not observe all soruce of machine. But Best for you download parallel desktop application for mac. it has also 14 day trail if ok for you can buy.
Now,
1. install windows operation system
2. after that install visual studio in to windows which has been installed in parallel desktop.
3. just select from Xamarin mac connection also it will appear automatically.
this so fast and works perfect. you will leave working on pc.
if any problem let me know . i am working like this perfect.
Posts
Hi there,
We're seeing the same issue - even though we're using top spec'd MacBook Pro Retina's with Core i7's and 16gb of memory. To us it looks like a refresh/display issue as things are very slow to redraw, even with a storyboard with not much on it (if we go to the layout panel, mouse over the preview area, it takes a full 12 seconds to cycle from small to expanded and back again for instance).
Do remember though that this is a very early alpha of the iOS designer - I am sure it will improve as Xamarin work on it and get much more useful and fast.
In the meantime, what we are doing is using XCode Interface Builder to build the majority of the storyboards, then flipping over to Xamarin iOS designer when it's time to wire up outlets/events, page segues etc. The iOS designer is fully compatible with XCode IB, so it's simple to switch between them as needed.
This was a regression from a few days before we branched for release. The next release (4.1.1) will contain a fix for this and performance will be significantly better.
Hi @AlanMcGovern
Is the following part of the regression and do you have time frame on the 4.1.1 release?
at MonoTouch.Hosting.SpringBoardApplication.Launch (MonoTouch.Hosting.IosApplication app) [0x00151] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Hosting/SpringBoardApplication.cs:85
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.EnsureServerRunning (Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x001c4] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:300
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.SendRequest[DesignSession] (System.String path, System.IO.Stream requestData, System.Action
1 setupRequest, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00002] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:210 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.Get[DesignSession] (System.String path, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:183 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.CreateSession () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:123 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.<CreateSessionAsync>m__107 () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:128 at System.Threading.Tasks.TaskActionInvoker+FuncInvoke
1[MonoTouch.Design.DesignSession].Invoke (System.Threading.Tasks.Task owner, System.Object state, System.Threading.Tasks.Task context) [0x00000] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/TaskActionInvoker.cs:241at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke () [0x00028] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:519
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ThreadStart () [0x00097] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:418
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
--> (Inner exception 0) System.Exception: Siminstaller could not launch app (didn't exit)
at MonoTouch.Hosting.SpringBoardApplication.Launch (MonoTouch.Hosting.IosApplication app) [0x00151] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Hosting/SpringBoardApplication.cs:85
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.EnsureServerRunning (Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x001c4] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:300
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.SendRequest[DesignSession] (System.String path, System.IO.Stream requestData, System.Action
1 setupRequest, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00002] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:210 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.Get[DesignSession] (System.String path, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:183 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.CreateSession () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:123 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.<CreateSessionAsync>m__107 () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/33f01126/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:128 at System.Threading.Tasks.TaskActionInvoker+FuncInvoke
1[MonoTouch.Design.DesignSession].Invoke (System.Threading.Tasks.Task owner, System.Object state, System.Threading.Tasks.Task context) [0x00000] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/TaskActionInvoker.cs:241at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke () [0x00028] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:519
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ThreadStart () [0x00097] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:418
We've had reports of that error and have hit it ourselves on some machines. We've put in some fixes in 4.1.1 and think the issue has been dealt with completely so do let us know if you still hit the issue after 4.1.1 is released.
Hi Alan,
I seem to still be getting the above error. I have version 4.1.2(build 2) installed.
System.AggregateException: One or more errors occured ---> System.Exception: Siminstaller could not launch app (didn't exit) at MonoTouch.Hosting.SpringBoardApplication.Launch (MonoTouch.Hosting.IosApplication app) [0x00151] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Hosting/SpringBoardApplication.cs:85 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.EnsureServerRunning (Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x001c4] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:300 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.SendRequest[DesignSession] (System.String path, System.IO.Stream requestData, System.Action
1 setupRequest, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00002] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:210at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.Get[DesignSession] (System.String path, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:183
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.CreateSession () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:123
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.m__111 () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:128
at System.Threading.Tasks.TaskActionInvoker+FuncInvoke
1[MonoTouch.Design.DesignSession].Invoke (System.Threading.Tasks.Task owner, System.Object state, System.Threading.Tasks.Task context) [0x00000] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/TaskActionInvoker.cs:241 at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke () [0x00028] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:519 at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ThreadStart () [0x00097] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:418 --- End of inner exception stack trace --- --> (Inner exception 0) System.Exception: Siminstaller could not launch app (didn't exit) at MonoTouch.Hosting.SpringBoardApplication.Launch (MonoTouch.Hosting.IosApplication app) [0x00151] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Hosting/SpringBoardApplication.cs:85 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.EnsureServerRunning (Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x001c4] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:300 at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.SendRequest[DesignSession] (System.String path, System.IO.Stream requestData, System.Action
1 setupRequest, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00002] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:210at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.Get[DesignSession] (System.String path, Boolean throwIfNotRunning) [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:183
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.CreateSession () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:123
at MonoTouch.Design.Client.ServerProcessConnection.m__111 () [0x00000] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop_private-lion-splash2/0fb88a5b/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Design.Client/Connection/ServerProcessConnection.cs:128
at System.Threading.Tasks.TaskActionInvoker+FuncInvoke
1[MonoTouch.Design.DesignSession].Invoke (System.Threading.Tasks.Task owner, System.Object state, System.Threading.Tasks.Task context) [0x00000] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/TaskActionInvoker.cs:241 at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke () [0x00028] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:519 at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ThreadStart () [0x00097] in /private/tmp/source/bockbuild-crypto-mono/profiles/mono-mac-xamarin/build-root/mono-3.0.10/mcs/class/corlib/System.Threading.Tasks/Task.cs:418
We found and fixed a few more causes of this issue in the last few days. These fixes are all in the upcoming release. It should be out later today if all goes well.
Hi @AlanMcGovern
I am experiencing the error as above in XS 4.1.9:
System.AggregateException: One or more errors occured ---> System.Exception: Siminstaller could not launch app (didn't exit) at MonoTouch.Hosting.SpringBoardApplication.Launch (MonoTouch.Hosting.IosApplication app) [0x001b9] in /Users/builder/data/lanes/monodevelop-lion-monodevelop-4.1.9-branch/123fc693/source/md-addins/Xamarin.Designer.iOS/MonoTouch.Hosting/SpringBoardApplication.cs:93 at...
This is from a project created with XS 4.1.7. Do you have an idea as to what could be causing this? Is there a specific XCode dependency?
Thanks
Hi,
Sometimes this issue can be caused by us not tearing down some processes correctly. When you experience this, can you open Activity Monitor and see if there are any 'Springboard' processes lying around. If there are, kill all of them. That will allow the iOS designer to recover.
If this does not help, let me know!
@AlanMcGovern
Thank you. I'll have a look.
@AlanMcGovern
The problem does not seem to be a left over SpringBoard processes. I have found that the DesignServer is not being launched. Debugging the app in the simulator, seems to resolve the problem, as once the simulator is up and running, a DesignServer process is launched and the Storyboard gets loaded for editing.
I am using Xamarin 5.2.1 and I am working on a MacBook Pro with 16 gigs and I am running Parallels with Windows 8.1 and Visual Studio 2013. Using the Storyboard designer is just awful. I drag something out and try to position it and it moves somewhere else. I find I have to mess with each element 3 or 4 minutes to get it close to where I want it but never exactly where I want it. Is there any hope for knowing what is wrong or better yet, a fix for it?
I agree with John. I'm on 5.5.2 and performance in the iOS designer on a Macbook Pro with 16 gigs on MacOS is atrocious. I'll see a progress indicator for 10-15 seconds opening a storyboard, and then again at random spots. Fortunately properties are still editable, but the main display thread is locked for way too long. Additionally, moving things around via the mouse when in a zoomed out state is an exercise in frustration. I always have to resort to manually entering values to position a control.
As an aside, I have a view embedded in another view and connected with an embed segue. I then have another push segue out from the embedded view and I cannot resize the view/view controller to be landscape full screen. It is always constrained to the size of the parent view in the designer, even though it behaves fine at run-time.
This is my first experience with the iOS designer in MacOS and I must say, it is rather rough.
I'm I'm running 5.5.4 and it's frankly unusable. I just needed to add constraints so my storyboard would work ok on both iPhone and iPad on around 20 UI elements. I've been at it for hours now, and periodically I have to throw away what I've done because it can no longer render the storyboard! I've tried fixing in xcode and then reopening, that worked once thankfully, I didn't have to start again. But really, this seems to have been a issue for months now with no improvement in site. Terrible.
Echoing everything James Waletzky and Joseph Narai said! Macbook Air from 2011, 1.7GHz Core i5, 4GB RAM, Xamarin Studio 5.5.4 stable.
Editing a storyboard with 11 UIViewControllers and no segues, with Autolayout, 1 custom control being rendered, a bunch of constraints, views etc. Here is a list of observed issues:
Performance related:
1) 23 seconds to open the storyboard, with loading spinner (!!!!!)
2) Sometimes clicking on something (for example in the Document Outline) results in random beachballs (locking up main thread). Sometimes the beachballs happen when I'm just scrolling through lists like the Document Outline! Is this garbage collection happening or something??
3) Clicking on most things takes ~1 second to "register" (makes the entire designer feel sluggish)
4) When clicking on a view with it all the way zoomed out so I can see all 11 view controllers, it freaked out. It selected the view I clicked on, but then acted as if I was still holding down the mouse and started to drag the view. Then a couple of seconds later, it realized the mouse button was up and it dropped the view somewhere random. Sounds like this is possibly a known issue, I will keep things at 100% zoom for now.
Other:
1) For constraint editing, in the Widget inspector, sometimes it has "Error while creating this entry" for Second item. However, it appears the constraint works fine and there are no constraint warnings.
2) Sometimes moving a view with drag and drop results in the view being placed somewhere completely different than where I dropped it (may be related to the drag and drop bug under Performance related). Sounds like this may be a known issue... I'll keep it at 100% zoom for now.
3) Sometimes custom controls completely randomly failed to appear in the Toolbox. When I restarted the IDE, they showed up (in other words, no code changes in between). Sometimes, doing random code changes to a class like commenting out certain lines in a method would trigger this bug and the control stopped showing up in the Toolbox. Appears to be intermittent and random.
4) When right-clicking on something on the design surface or the document outline, I see a bunch of generic "View" menu items. I named my views (such as "viewOuter", "viewInner", etc). Why don't these names show up in the context menu so I know what I'm selecting? Sometimes I click on a view that's 4 UIViews deep (i.e. UIView -> UIView -> UIView -> UILabel), and it only lists 2 views. Shouldn't it list all 3 UIViews, the UILabel, and the outer UIViewController, all with names if existing?
5) When switching to a different tab, for example a C# code editor, and then back into the designer, the current selected item isn't persisted in the Document Outline.
Xcode's Interface Builder is instant and feels fast in all its operations.
I realize my machine isn't exactly latest and greatest, but 23 seconds to parse/load/whatever you're doing to open the designer is pretty bad. I love being able to edit my UI using the designer and not flipping back and forth between Xcode, please improve this! It feels like a beta product.
Also feeling the pain here. And same working on Visual Studio on Windows with connection to an iOS Build Host. Seems to be worse with auto constraints than without. Storyboard support and this designer have been out for a while now, so this should be getting a high priority to be resolved...
Agreed, absolutely unusable at this point. I have ended up syncing via git, switching machines and doing all storyboard editing on XS on mac, then sync back for coding.
Please improve the VS storyboard editor, it is the only way we can hope to have a VS-only editing workflow!
I seem to have huge problems when I change component names and then navigate to the view controller...
I am on McBook Pro, it's not a very powerful machine, but still - processor is stuck at 100% activity for over 5 minutes...
I end up killing Xamarin after each time I change a label name and try re-using it in code-behind. Please fix this !!!!!!!
Niklaus, nothing should hang for 5+ minutes. If this happens again, can you send us the associated log files from the Log directory?
We are working on general performance improvements for both VS and XS, but have no firm timeline on when they'll be complete.
One thing I have noticed when using the iOS designer is that it is slow and hangs when the views class is not checked out in TFS. Especially check if the .designer.cs is checked out (expand your class in solution explorer). Once this file is checked out the designer is workable, although it could be a lot quicker to load (I am using a Mac Mini).
@AlanMcGovern: Maybe this is something to address and give a warning about, I only saw this when looking at the log details.
I also just noticed that when I start editing MyController.cs, the MyController.cs is checked out in TFS, but the underlaying MyController.designer.cs is not checked out so I have to do this manually, otherwise the iOS designer hangs and crashes VS.
Can you share a copy of the VS logs from a session where you triggered the crash?
Can you also share a copy of the logs from a session where it was really slow? We have timestamping in many of the key codepaths which should help us figure out why it was slow.
Are you unable to reproduce the issue I mentioned?
August and it still is very slow to open storyboard on visual studio
I second this. It's been a pain to work with for over 10 months. I have a setup with a mac mini (wifi 5ghz/801n) and 1gbit connection on the same router. Dragging UI elements (views) doesn't work. Half of the time the elements "pop" back after they have been moved. It's so slow that it's nearly unbearable to work with. One of my colleagues owns a MacBook pro (quadcore i7) which he uses with Windows in a bootcamp setup. His experience: a bit faster, but still unresponsive to say the least.
This is still an issue! When do we get this fixed? It's painful....
Have you tried the new Alpha (Cycle 6)? The Build Host has been rebuilt from the ground, the experience is way better! Well, I have to admit I haven't used it intensively but it's definitively faster
This version is a few months away from a stable release, still have to wait a little bit...
It seems my XS suffers from the same issue: hangs when trying to launch the UI Designer.
I have to force kill XS and I get this error:
XCode is 7.1 and XS is
The issue seems to be related to the way XS invokes XCode's SpringBoard
The hang launching the designer is simply that the Xamarin Studio you are using is too old - it only supports up to Xcode 7.0 and you are using Xcode 7.1 You need to upgrade to 5.9.8 or newer for Xcode 7.1 support.
I'm finding on my iMac and MBP (and on VS) that opening the designer on 5.10.2 (build 55) it is still taking an age to open. I'm on El Capitan beta 3, using whatever the current stable Xcode version is out there. If I tell XS to use Xcode, the storyboard is opened instantly.
xib still loading very slow. I am using mac mini 8 gb ram and latest xamarin studio version "6.0.1".
I am on Octa core Xeon, 32 GB RAM, nVidia Quadro 4000, 2 x 240 GB SSD in RAID, and I need 7 seconds to refresh when I move one image from one place to another ?! Great ! At this rate I will finish design of my app in next 2000 years..
It's the year 2017... This issue was raised 4 years ago and still the iOS Designer in VS is horribly slow....
Why isn't this the number 1 priority for Xamarin iOS development?
Or am I missing another way that I am supposed to be building my iOS UI?
@GVx Use Xcode to edit your UI, it saves you a lot of time and frustration.
Oh awesome... I will give that a go..... thanks!
I assume the story board is still in beta, still slow
@KingChrisCole and others I will be slow because its upto your connection between Mac Device, You should connect them via Ethernet cable, even your wifi active.
But you must figure out that, Your windows connection must be over the cable network IP addres.
This will fix the problem.
This will make it faster it takes max 20 second to render storyboard. Mine is 12 second first load of Storyboard.
Now you can turn on wifi and contrinue to work.
Best Regards.
Thanks for the reply, but I'm running OSX Sierra on a virtual machine - so network connectivity should not be a factor.
There probably is nothing else I can do to speed up iOS development.
@KingChrisCole;
Hi King you cannot work like this beacuse virtual machine will not observe all soruce of machine. But Best for you download parallel desktop application for mac. it has also 14 day trail if ok for you can buy.
Now,
1. install windows operation system
2. after that install visual studio in to windows which has been installed in parallel desktop.
3. just select from Xamarin mac connection also it will appear automatically.
this so fast and works perfect. you will leave working on pc.
if any problem let me know . i am working like this perfect.