iOS: Access app-info.plist variables in code

Question

I am working on a Universal app & would like to access the values stored in app-info.plist file in my code.

Reason: I instantiate a UIViewController dynamically from a storyboard using:

UIStoryboard* storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:@"MainStoryboard_iPhone" bundle:nil];
self = [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:@"ExampleViewController"];

Now, having the storyboard name @"MainStoryboard_iPhone" above is ugly.

I want to do something like:

UIStoryboard* storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:appInfo.mainStoryboardBaseNamePhone bundle:nil];
self = [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:@"ExampleViewController"];

where appInfo can perhaps be an NSDictionary of all values in app-info.plist

score 263 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 02 '12 at 08:24

263

Attributes from the info.plist for your project are directly accessible by the following...

[[NSBundle mainBundle] objectForInfoDictionaryKey:key_name];

For example to get the version number you might do the following

NSString *appVersion = [[NSBundle mainBundle] objectForInfoDictionaryKey:@"CFBundleVersion"];

There is a gotcha in that the version number now has two attributes in the info.plist - but you get the idea? If you view your info.plist as source code (right click the info.plist - select Open As) then you will get to see all the various key names you can use.

answered Mar 02 '12 at 08:24

Damo

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As mentioned by @Answerbot in this post:http://stackoverflow.com/a/4059118/1210822 : "CFBundleVersion has been repurposed to be Build and Version is CFBundleShortVersionString", so now for retrieving the version number from plist, we need to use: NSString *version = [[NSBundle mainBundle] objectForInfoDictionaryKey:@"CFBundleShortVersionString"]; – sonoshin Oct 30 '12 at 14:38
for 11.3 it doesn't work, because NSBundle was renamed and the new Bundle has it not included yet. Do xou have a Update? – Yvonne Marggraf Aug 15 '18 at 14:00
If I have an Enterprise iOS app that is distributed via the web, can I add key/value pairs in the PLIST file, and subsequently read those values from the app at the time of download? – Brant Nov 08 '19 at 19:24
how we can update value of CFBundleVersion from the AppDelegate.m? – Pragnesh Jun 24 '20 at 09:45

Maverick · Answer 2 · 2018-02-09T10:11:11.023

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Swift 4+ syntax for Damo's solution

Bundle.main.object(forInfoDictionaryKey: "KEY_NAME")

Example

let appVersion = Bundle.main.object(forInfoDictionaryKey: "CFBundleVersion")

edited Feb 09 '18 at 10:11

answered Nov 01 '17 at 08:03

Maverick

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For beginners like me, `Bundle` requires `import SystemConfiguration` – Pavlo28 Nov 14 '19 at 22:26

score 12 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 02 '12 at 08:26

12

Well you can acces the info.plist very easly :

Getting the name of the storyboard:

NSString *storyboard  = [[NSBundle mainBundle].infoDictionary objectForKey:@"UIMainStoryboardFile"];

Not sure wether it will detect if it is in a iPad and it should use the UIMainStoryboardFile~ipad key instated.

answered Mar 02 '12 at 08:26

rckoenes

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XCode automatically populates the key 'UIMainStoryboardFile' with the iPhone / iPad Storyboard files, depending on the device :) – sherlock Mar 16 '12 at 10:19

score 9 · Answer 4 · edited Dec 10 '13 at 04:16

9

NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource: @"YOURPLISTNAME" ofType: @"plist"]; 
NSMutableDictionary *dictplist =[[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:path];

edited Dec 10 '13 at 04:16

Stunner

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answered Feb 07 '13 at 12:06

James Lobo

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You can also use NSDictionary: `NSDictionary *dict = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:path];` – Darius Miliauskas Mar 07 '15 at 01:04

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 23 '15 at 16:03

6

You can also use the infoDictionary method on NSBundle:

NSDictionary *infoPlistDict = [[NSBundle mainBundle] infoDictionary];
NSString *version = infoPlistDict[@"CFBundleVersion"];

answered Nov 23 '15 at 16:03

svth

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iOS: Access app-info.plist variables in code

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