# CocoaPods Reviews **Vendor:** CocoaPods **Category:** [Other Development Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/other-development) **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 21 ## About CocoaPods CocoaPods is a dependency manager for Swift and Objective-C Cocoa projects. ## CocoaPods Reviews ### 1. It is nearly as good as Swift packages **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Tibor H. | CTO, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 24, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** It is easy to use and most of the extra package available. It is straightforward to impement and use packages. It is like it is part of your own code base and you don't have to worry about keeping up to date. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Now it is not as relevant after swift packages but it is stil the easiert and the most common way to impement and distribute packages. **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** It is the most easiest to implement and maintain iOS packages this is what swift packages should be. It is just a few line of code and it is working like part of your code. It is easier than you think, and the more people are using it the more packeges will be available and more developers using to maintain and distribute they packages. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is easiest way to maintain third party dependencies and a quick way to implement third party packages ### 2. CocoaPods necessary for iOS development and fast development **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jose Alejandro B. | Medellín Chapter Director, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 27, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Very simple to add/update without having to do anything manually. Its the most easy way to include a lot of functionality to your project. here is a pod for that. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Had to improve the swift approach now that Swift Packages exist **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** Try not to find a pod for small things, there are a lot of them and you could create very simple task without pods **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** add/update dependencies with 3rd party packages. ### 3. CocoaPods review - usage in iOS mobile dev (Swift) **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Aldin K. | Software Engineer, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 19, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Setup is easy (and I was a beginner with iOS) and version control as well. Its Swift compatibility is on point, and is pretty much used by that community. A lot of open-sourced libraries. Overall - quite a nice tool for handling your dependencies when you are a beginner with iOS development. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Slow-ish on installation and updates, could probably improve that. Maybe a bit messy when creating your own pods/dependencies for publishing. You don't get a notice when someone removes a dependency you used to use and cannot install it. Not sure if I can tell whether the pod is functional before actually installing it. At times there are backwards compatibility issues. **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** When you are a beginner with iOS development (especially when we are talking about Swift), then your options in terms of ease of use are a bit limited. CocoaPodcs comes quite handy because of the ease of the setup and usage. If you are not a beginner then, well, you probably either used this already or are using something else, but in that case just do a little research on what are your needs in terms of dependency management compared to what CocoaPods offers vs their direct competitors. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** Handling project 3rd party dependencies and their versioning. Also the other obvious one, creating a libraries of others to use as dependency in thier projects. It helps you code less in terms of providing you with solutions someone already created and published on CocoaPods repository. We created a corporate product API SDK and a showcase project on top of it that used the given API SDK (which is published on CocoaPods repo) as a "3rd party" dependency. Also, in terms of having that showcase project looking pretty and running smoothly we used a several of other dependencies which also contributed in having less code that is better formatted and more easily written with less boilerplate logic. It allows you to define other specifics of your configuration such as format of debugging, config/target related specifics etc. ### 4. Helpful Tool to manage dependencies' implementation on iOS projects. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Frosina D. | iOS Developer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 10, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** It saves time and effort in implementing dependencies. It has an ease of use. Saves time, many things are automatically done. There is no need that you do it manually. Ease of deletion, Light repo Folder. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Sometimes, different versions of Xcode create difficulty in implementation and the instalment or update of the pods becomes difficult. **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** Great usage, ease of implementation, it saves times, some manual implementations are done automatically, great documentation, it is centralised and very helpful. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** Many benefits of using cocoa pods.Like having a light repo, since it creates the possibility for the user to install the pods anytime the user pulls the code. It offers centralisation when wanting to implement a new feature. It has a very well specified documentation, and has an ease of deletion which saves a lot of time. ### 5. Complete framework/dependency management without all the fluff. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Nathan K. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 23, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Repos can have a lot of files and content that are not necessary to build and include a framework. Travis and CircleIO configurations, test files and data, and old left over code are but a few examples of unnecessary files and clutter that tend to come with a majority of package/dependency managers. The primary reason being that they download the entire repo. With Cocoapods the developers of frameworks specify the exact files needed to build each release. With a larger project this can make a major difference when searching during debugging. Additionally Cocoapods offers submodule like behavior. Where Carthage and Swift Package Manager only allows one framework per source. Cococapod allows many sub targets/frameworks. This is great for creating a core API SDK and adding sub-frameworks that, for instance, may add authentication specific code for a specific project. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Cocoapods has a very large and active open source community that constantly is improving and updating. The only downside is that sometimes with so many cooks they can make changes for a new macOS version or subversion. This means they sometimes can break compatibility with an older version and not notice due to not having a paid QA constantly checking. While they do fix bugs fast, occasionally you'll be at the mercy of their git issue tracker to find out whats going on. **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** When it comes to native development(Swift/Objective-C) of large projects for Apple platforms there is simply no other choice. The ability to specify platform/release specific code keeps source light weight. Private/Local pods and framework sub-modules make it configurable and able to cut back on overhead when developing and testing. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** From sub-modules and platform-specific targets/releases, to private pods and framework submodules and you can use cocoapods for a lot of tasks. For instance creating a private corporate API SDK and adding sub-frameworks that, for instance, may add authentication specific code for a specific project. This also can increased speed with automated testing by only having to build the code you need for each test suite. For very very large projects, this can help compartmentalize what would be absolute chaos otherwise. ### 6. I prefer not to use it unless there is no option else **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Apparel & Fashion | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 27, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Actually, the only thing for me is that we have a lot of libraries open-source that added to Cocoapods. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** - My git changes will be +1000 files - I am forced to work with workspace not just staying with xcodeproj - I can't know if a pod is working or not till I download it and build the project, why not having like CI to build the pod on the server and tell us if there is a problem with the pod or not. - It's unsafe, sometimes the user removes the pod and I keep gussing what is the problem, why I can't install this pod anymore. **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** GO TO SPM **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** - Split the pods needed between targets is very important - easy to update every pod ### 7. Recently CocoaPods increase the stability of the dependencies, and it's more convenient than ever. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 24, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Implementation of the CocoaPods is straight-forward, and my personal opinion: CocoaPods is way better then Carthage and other dependency managers. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** In the past, I have dozens of problems with compatibility of the iOS version with particular libraries. So, I need additional time to figure it out, which library should be updated or not, regarding on iOS version. **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** I could easily recommend for all iOS developers, which have problems with efficiency and productivity. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have worked on many different iOS projects, so almost in everyone, I am using CocoaPods. It's a mandatory part of every iOS project because the CocoaPods offers many useful libraries and frameworks. ### 8. Simple to use **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Yefga T. | iOS Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 27, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Cocoapods is simple to use and setup even for beginners. You can just import the library after the installation without any special tweak or configuration on you project. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Sometimes it takes a lot ot times when build tasks of project, it also install almost whole folder project include example at repository **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** This is the best and simple things to use for every developer to maintain libraries when start a project **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** It helps a lot When building a modular framework. ### 9. The (once) missing iOS dependency manager... **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Vasilis A. | Senior iOS Developer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 03, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Almost every iOS library out there supports CocoaPods. Great community & active development. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** So much configuration (albeit managed) when compared with SPM. **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** Honestly, is the next best thing after SPM. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** The obvious one... maintain a managed way to handle project dependencies. ### 10. Cocoapods: The iOS Dependency Standard **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consumer Electronics | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 14, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Makes it easy to use and manage libraries from GitHub. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Can be a little confusing for new developers who haven't used something like it before. **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** Make sure you think about using swift package manager instead as that is what Apple wants new apps to use going forward. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** We manage dependencies with Cocoapods, allows us to share code between teams easier. ### 11. I recommend it because there it’s a a lot of custom libraries that save your time in development. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 20, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** The best things it’s provide detailed level installation process for how to use library in project.Easier to use. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** there it’s take some to update libraries accordingly to new Swift version issues a lot of issue face for compatibility. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** I solved a lot of problems not specific one problem but in terms of benefits there it’s an a lot of advantages like I solved rich notification problem by using cocoa pods. ### 12. Ideal dependency manager for small projects **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Financial Services | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 11, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Almost all dependencies are available on CocoaPods. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Have to maintain pod specs. Initial installation and subsequent updates takes time. **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** Keep using it for small projects or when dependencies are few. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** To manage dependencies which are not available on Carthage and Swift Package Manager. ### 13. very helpful **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Program Development | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 30, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Easy to install, I use it in all my swift projects **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** There is nothing I don’t like about cocoapods **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** I can fix the keyboard while typing and use pods for login users, maps and navigation it even help me with the design. ### 14. It’s so easy to add new frameworks and manage them with CocoaPods. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 11, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Very easily maintainable and frameworks are easy to add to Xcode using this wonderful framework manager. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** I believe git is great to use but would like a Graphical User Interface that would help if one does not already exist. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** I mainly use it for User interfaces that are custom made. Not having to reinvent the wheel is perfect. ### 15. esay and fast **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Retail | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 28, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** losts of libraries. control version. development pods **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Time to compile project, Configuration via podfile **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** Time to develop apps Tested and smart libraries ### 16. Essential iOS development tool **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Financial Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 11, 2020 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** The sheer amount of pods that community submits to this service **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Version updating and all the hussel jnvolved **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** Try doubt it will make your life very easy **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** Finding suitable library’s that already have implemented the things and code I need for my own ### 17. An imperfect must-have ios/macos dependency manager **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 28, 2019 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Very simple to add/update dependencies to an xcode projects without having to do anything manually. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** In some cases, it might create mess in the project. In the worst case, it even doesn't allow to compile the project anymore unless upgrading/downgrading xcode or cocoapod. It is not very practical to use Cocoapod to create my own libraries, it is not straightforward at all. As soon as one need more than the standard dependency management, as soon as some customisation is needed, it gets quickly messy. Some article on internet also shows than Cocoapod makes the compile time slower but more importantly, the launch of the app slower. This should be tested more in depth before using cocoapod for big application, in which case, Carthage might be better. **Recommendations to others considering CocoaPods:** [Updated] Since xcode 11, it is possible to add dependencies in ios using the Swift Dependency Manager! ___ For small projects with a lot of dependencies, the use of cocoapod might makes the addition of dependencies easier and faster. Especially if you use google apis that are not easy to add to a project without cocoapods. For bigger projects, one might to seriously consider if going with carthage is a better idea and consider testing if it might slow down the startup of the application. In case of application that uses libraries compatible with a previous version of swift, it is not trivial to manage dependencies using different version of swift. (Although in theory you shouldn't, it is possible and might be necessary for some old crappy projects). In conclusion, take some time to compare the different solutions. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** It provides an easy way to add dependencies to an ios project, without having to deal with the build configuration and build scripts like with Carthage. ### 18. The first option when we need to add dependencies to our iOS project **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Alex J. | Android & iOS Developer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 21, 2019 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** It work great and easy to install dependencies. It's the standard in iOS community. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** No direct control over project configuration. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** Reuse code of my projects or third party code. ### 19. Review for Cocoapods **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Logistics and Supply Chain | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 17, 2019 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Cocoapods makes development a lot easier **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Backward compatibility is not good for most of the pods **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** The development time decreased a lot, easier to implement and switch. ### 20. Most useful dependencies management tool for iOS developers **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 19, 2019 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** Easy to use, very well supported by the community, rock solid. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** Depends on ruby to work. Expecting more XCode integration. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** Short third party software integration in my projects, easy update management. ### 21. CocoaPods necessary for iOS **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Retail | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 10, 2019 **What do you like best about CocoaPods?** It works amazing, easily usuable with Homebrew. I love how almost every company uses it. It makes it very easy for dev. **What do you dislike about CocoaPods?** There’s too much pod updated and pod numbers to change, especially working with updating apps. **What problems is CocoaPods solving and how is that benefiting you?** You don’t have to do a lot of code, it’s good for code reuse ability and using company’s functions. 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