# Install ios-deploy with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix

Install and debug iPhone apps from the command-line. Version 1.12.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#ios-deploy.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:ios-deploy
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install ios-deploy
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install ios-deploy
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: devel/ios-deploy/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#ios-deploy
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/io/ios-deploy/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:ios-deploy
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.12.2
- **Source summary:** Install and debug iPhone apps from the command-line
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/ios-control/ios-deploy>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/ios-control/ios-deploy>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- ios-deploy (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.12.2
## Project history and usage

ios-deploy is a command-line tool for installing, launching, debugging, and inspecting iOS apps on physical devices. The upstream README positions it as a way to install and debug apps from the command line, especially for un-jailbroken devices before the iOS 17 tooling shift.

### Project history

The repository dates to 2013 and the package.json names Greg Hughes as author. The project historically gave non-Xcode workflows a scriptable bridge to Apple device deployment and LLDB debugging, with a binary exposed as ios-deploy for npm and package-manager installs.

The README records an important later transition: Apple changed the system frameworks used for device communication in iOS 17 and supplied command-line tools that can largely replace ios-deploy. It also notes that the old 1.x branch was archived and that planned 2.x restructuring was abandoned in favor of simpler master-branch development.

### Adoption history

ios-deploy became part of the Cordova/PhoneGap-style and CI-friendly iOS developer-tool chain because it made device install/debug operations addressable from scripts. npm registry metadata shows npm distribution beginning in 2013, and Homebrew, MacPorts, and Nix packaging in the input metadata show broader package-manager adoption.

### How it is used

Typical invocations install an app bundle, launch it under LLDB, list connected devices, upload and download files from an app container, inspect installed bundle IDs, manage provisioning profiles, and emit JSON output for scripts. The README requires macOS, Xcode, and a valid iOS development certificate.

### Why package nerds care

ios-deploy is a package-nerd landmark because it turned a GUI-centered Apple workflow into a composable CLI. It became the sort of package CI scripts and hybrid-app toolchains could depend on, while also exposing how sensitive these packages are to private or shifting Apple device-communication frameworks.

### Timeline

- 2013: GitHub repository created and npm package publication began.
- 2013: Version 1.0 tag appears in the Git history.
- 2023: Version 1.12.2 tag used by Homebrew as the stable source archive.
- 2023: iOS 17 changed the underlying Apple frameworks, and the README points users toward Apple command-line replacements for many workflows.

### Related projects

- The README links SDMMobileDevice as a source for error-code handling and points to PhoneGap milestones, reflecting the tool's relationship to hybrid mobile development. It overlaps functionally with Xcode, LLDB, Apple device tools, and higher-level build systems that need command-line deployment.

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/ios-deploy>
- <https://github.com/ios-control/ios-deploy>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ios-control/ios-deploy/master/README.md>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ios-control/ios-deploy/master/package.json>
- <https://registry.npmjs.org/ios-deploy>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - ios-deploy: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/io/ios-deploy/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- MacPorts - ios-deploy: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: devel/ios-deploy/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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