# Install ios-class-guard with Homebrew

Objective-C obfuscator for Mach-O executables. Version 0.8 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-17.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:ios-class-guard
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install ios-class-guard
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:ios-class-guard
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.8
- **Source summary:** Objective-C obfuscator for Mach-O executables
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/Polidea/ios-class-guard/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/Polidea/ios-class-guard>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-17T18:17:01+09:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- ios-class-guard (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.8
## Project history and usage

iOS Class Guard is a command-line Objective-C obfuscator for Mach-O executables. Its README describes it as an extension of class-dump that renames Objective-C classes, protocols, properties, methods, and ivars by generating symbol maps used during compilation.

### Project history

Polidea's repository was created for an iOS-specific obfuscation workflow built on top of the class-dump lineage. The README documents version 0.8, Homebrew installation, CocoaPods support, XIB and storyboard rewriting, JSON symbol maps, crash-report reversal, and dSYM symbol restoration workflows.

The repository notes that it is no longer maintained. That status matters historically because the tool belongs to an older Objective-C-heavy iOS security era, before Swift and newer Apple build-system conventions changed many app-hardening workflows.

### Adoption history

The package has a narrower adoption profile than the other tools in this batch. Homebrew packages it from the 0.8 tag, while the upstream README itself recommends Homebrew as the simple installation path and a HEAD install for development snapshots.

### How it is used

The intended workflow is to run the tool against a compiled app, generate a symbols header and JSON map, include the generated header during compilation, and preserve the JSON map so crash reports and dSYMs can be translated back when needed. The README stresses that the result is not a complete security solution, only a way to make runtime inspection and code analysis harder.

### Why package nerds care

For package catalogs, ios-class-guard is interesting because it packages a fragile intersection of reverse-engineering technique, Mach-O parsing, Xcode project mutation, CocoaPods integration, and mobile-app release process. It is not a general-purpose security layer; it is a snapshot of how Objective-C metadata exposure shaped iOS tooling.

### Timeline

- 2014: GitHub repository created for Polidea's iOS Class Guard project.
- 2015: Version 0.8 tag used by Homebrew as the stable source archive.
- After 2015: Repository README marked the project as no longer maintained.

### Related projects

- The upstream README names class-dump as the base project and links an ios-class-guard-example repository for demonstrating obfuscated and non-obfuscated app headers. The workflow also intersects with CocoaPods, Xcode precompiled headers, crash-reporting tools, and dSYM handling.

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/ios-class-guard>
- <https://github.com/Polidea/ios-class-guard>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Polidea/ios-class-guard/master/README.md>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/ios-class-guard.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/ios-class-guard.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph