Xcode Cloud Feedback from leboncoin
Article Summary
Pierre Abi-aad from leboncoin took Xcode Cloud for a test drive with a 28-developer iOS team. His verdict? Not ready for complex architectures, but Apple's onto something.
leboncoin runs an in-house CI/CD with 20 Mac minis serving 28 iOS developers across a modular codebase. When Xcode Cloud beta arrived, they tested it on a greenfield macOS tooling app to evaluate if Apple's managed solution could replace their infrastructure without risking production.
Key Takeaways
- Tested Xcode Cloud on side project to avoid risking complex production architecture
- Smart workflow design: only run unit tests on modified Swift packages per PR
- External dependencies reinstall every pipeline, significantly increasing build times
- Workflow configuration in Xcode works well but lacks yaml-based versioning
- Verdict: great for indies and startups, not ready for architecturally complex apps
Critical Insight
Xcode Cloud shows promise as a turnkey CI/CD solution for smaller teams, but compute costs and architectural limitations make it impractical for complex, modular codebases like leboncoin's.
