Xcode 26 running Mac catalyst app crashes on dynamic loading with failure to find _LocationEssentials framework

Still seeing this with Beta 2.

To repro, I just build and run my Mac Catalyst app on macOS 15.5. My minimum deployment target is macOS 14 / iOS 17. Crashes immediately with dylib unable to find the framework.

My app uses CoreLocation and MapKit.

Thanks!

I have a Mac Catalyst app that uses CoreLocation and MapKit (along with many others) and it builds and runs fine on macOS 15.5 using Xcode 26 beta 2. I do not have the same issue you are reporting. Though my minimum deployment target is iOS 15/macOS 12. Not sure if that makes a difference.

Thank you for letting me know.

I'm just assuming it is perhaps related to CoreLocation or MapKit.

The underscore in _LocationEssentials indicates private or pre-release perhaps?

Using OTool, here's the list of framework dependencies my app has:

Line 20 has the _LocationEssentials framework

	@rpath/SuperToDos.debug.dylib (compatibility version 0.0.0, current version 0.0.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/CloudKit.framework/Versions/A/CloudKit (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 2300.141.0)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/MapKit.framework/Versions/A/MapKit (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 14.0.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/Foundation.framework/Versions/C/Foundation (compatibility version 300.0.0, current version 4032.1.0)
	/usr/lib/libobjc.A.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 228.0.0)
	/usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1356.0.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/AppIntents.framework/Versions/A/AppIntents (compatibility version 0.0.0, current version 254.0.255)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/AppKit.framework/Versions/C/AppKit (compatibility version 45.0.0, current version 2670.3.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/Combine.framework/Versions/A/Combine (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 3023.0.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreData.framework/Versions/A/CoreData (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1510.0.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/A/CoreFoundation (compatibility version 150.0.0, current version 4032.1.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreGraphics.framework/Versions/A/CoreGraphics (compatibility version 64.0.0, current version 1948.0.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreLocation.framework/Versions/A/CoreLocation (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 3055.0.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreTransferable.framework/Versions/A/CoreTransferable (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/DeveloperToolsSupport.framework/Versions/A/DeveloperToolsSupport (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 23.0.4)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/Intents.framework/Versions/A/Intents (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/Photos.framework/Versions/A/Photos (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 800.19.240)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/QuartzCore.framework/Versions/A/QuartzCore (compatibility version 1.2.0, current version 1192.2.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/UserNotifications.framework/Versions/A/UserNotifications (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0)
	/System/Library/Frameworks/_LocationEssentials.framework/Versions/A/_LocationEssentials (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/LinkPresentation.framework/Versions/A/LinkPresentation (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 285.0.0)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/MessageUI.framework/Versions/A/MessageUI (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 3856.100.4)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/PhotosUI.framework/Versions/A/PhotosUI (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 800.19.240)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/QuickLook.framework/Versions/A/QuickLook (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1011.0.0)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/SafariServices.framework/Versions/A/SafariServices (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/StoreKit.framework/Versions/A/StoreKit (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/SwiftUI.framework/Versions/A/SwiftUI (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 7.0.71)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/UIKit.framework/Versions/A/UIKit (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 9075.0.0)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/WatchConnectivity.framework/Versions/A/WatchConnectivity (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 221.0.0)
	/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/Frameworks/WidgetKit.framework/Versions/A/WidgetKit (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 642.0.0)
	/System/iOSSupport/usr/lib/swift/libswiftMapKit.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 13.20.5, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftAVFoundation.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 2360.66.3, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftAccelerate.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 74.0.0, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftCore.dylib (compatibility version 0.0.0, current version 0.0.0)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftCoreAudio.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 407.0.0, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftCoreFoundation.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 120.100.0)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftCoreImage.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 2.2.0, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftCoreLocation.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 51.0.0, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftCoreMIDI.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 6.0.0, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftCoreMedia.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 3255.66.6, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftDarwin.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 347.0.3, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftDispatch.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 56.0.0)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftIOKit.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftIntents.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 12.0.0)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftMetal.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 370.54.0, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftOSLog.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 8.0.0, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftObjectiveC.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 948.0.0)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftObservation.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 0.0.0)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftQuartzCore.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 5.0.0, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftSpatial.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftUniformTypeIdentifiers.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 866.255.0)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftXPC.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 105.0.12, weak)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswift_Concurrency.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 0.0.0)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftos.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1076.0.0)
	/usr/lib/swift/libswiftsimd.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 23.0.0, weak)

What is the full command line you are using to generate that output? When I use otool -L MyApp.app/Contents/MacOS/MyApp I only get 2 lines of output and my app links dozens of libraries.

I had to go one level deeper: otool -L SuperToDos.app/Contents/MacOS/SuperToDos.debug.dylib

Comparing your list to mine, your app is using the following libraries that mine is not using. Maybe this will help you figure out which is the issue:

• SafariServices.framework
• WatchConnectivity.framework
• WidgetKit.framework
• libswiftMapKit.dylib
• _LocationEssentials.framework
• AppIntents.framework
• Combine.framework
• CoreTransferable.framework
• DeveloperToolsSupport.framework
• Intents.framework
• libswift_Concurrency.dylib
• libswiftAccelerate.dylib
• libswiftAVFoundation.dylib
• libswiftCoreAudio.dylib
• libswiftCoreMedia.dylib
• libswiftCoreMIDI.dylib
• libswiftIntents.dylib
• libswiftObservation.dylib

My app has quite a few that yours doesn't but those would be irrelevant to your issue. My app is also more Objective-C based so I'm using fewer Swift libraries.

libswiftMapKit would be my first guess. I use MapKit.framework but not that Swift-specific MapKit library.

Did you find the solution? I just changed my app's deployment target to iOS 17/macOS 14 and I'm now seeing the same issue as you.

I found the cause of the issue. Hopefully Apple can get this resolved in an upcoming beta release.

I filed a bug report: FB18649885

Create a new iOS app project using Swift/Storyboard or Objective-C/Storyboard (I imagine a SwiftUI app would have the same issue). Edit the resulting ViewController.swift or ViewController.m. Import CoreLocation. Then in viewDidLoad, add one line:

let coord = CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(40, 40)

or

CLLocationCoordinate2D coord = CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(40, 40);

depending on your chosen language. These are just one of many possible lines of CoreLocation code that will cause the crash.

Set the app's iOS deployment target to iOS 16, 17, or 18. Add a Mac Catalyst destination. Build and run the Mac Catalyst destination with Xcode 26 on a Mac with macOS 15 (or earlier I would think). The issue disappears if you have an iOS deployment target of iOS 15.

The app will crash on startup due to the missing _LocationEssentials.framework.

This issue appears to be resolved with Xcode 26 beta 3. Thank you.