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Want a click-to-install app instead? The desktop app does the same thing with no terminal.

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What you need

  • A Mac with Node 18+.
  • An iPhone or Android phone and a USB cable (keep the phone unlocked while it’s plugged in).
  • iPhone only: an Apple developer identity, a free Apple ID in Xcode is enough. New to this? See First-time signing below.
  • Android only: USB debugging turned on, see Android setup below. No signing needed.

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Install

roveflow setup gets everything ready in one step, it detects whether an iPhone or an Android phone is plugged in. The first time, you’ll approve one prompt:
  • iPhone: click Allow once on a Mac popup, then type your passcode when the iPhone asks.
  • Android: tap Allow USB debugging on the phone.
That’s it, no files to edit, nothing to configure. Run roveflow doctor any time to check everything’s connected.

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First-time signing (iPhone)

If you’ve never built an app on this iPhone before, do this once:
  1. Open Xcode → Settings → Accounts and add your Apple ID (free works).
  2. Plug in the iPhone, pick it as the run target, and Run any sample app to it once. Xcode sets up your phone automatically.
  3. Re-run roveflow setup.
Your signing key never leaves your Mac, Roveflow uses it in place and never copies it out.

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Android setup

On Android there’s no signing, you just turn on USB debugging once:
  1. Settings → About phone → tap Build number seven times to unlock Developer options.
  2. Settings → System → Developer options → turn on USB debugging.
  3. Plug in via USB and run roveflow setup; tap Allow USB debugging when the phone asks.
Testing on an emulator? Launch it with -gpu host (e.g. emulator -avd <name> -gpu host) so screenshots capture correctly, the default headless software GPU produces black frames. Everything else behaves exactly like a real device.