Introducing XCRemoteCache: The iOS Remote Caching Tool that Cut Our Clean Build Times by 70%

Spotify just open-sourced the tool that slashed their iOS build times by 70%. For teams drowning in long compile times, this is a game-changer.

Spotify Engineering released XCRemoteCache, a remote caching solution for iOS builds. Built to handle their 400+ module iOS app, it uses Git-based fingerprinting to share compiled artifacts across developer machines and CI systems.

Key Takeaways

• Median clean build times dropped 70%, incremental builds improved 6%
• Target-level caching balances network overhead with cache hit rates
• Producer mode on CI uploads artifacts, consumer mode on dev machines reuses them
• Handles path normalization for .swiftmodule files and debug symbols across machines
• Works with CocoaPods, Carthage, and any HTTP server including S3 and GCS

The article reveals how Spotify solved the tricky portability challenges that make sharing build artifacts across different machines actually work.