Xcode: how to include build number in app name - xcode

Question

I'm rolling out beta releases of a Mac app, and would like to include the current build number in the app name, e.g. what the users see as app name in the dock etc.
if my app is named The App, I want it to show The App Beta 1234
so in the target's build config, there is "Product Name" which has a value of $(TARGET_NAME)
now, on a debug build, I would like to add the build number there. This should be possible using $(TARGET_NAME) Beta $(????).
what do I put there instead of the ????? Or is it not so simple?
e.g. there's this: Getting CFBundleVersion from within Jenkins to use it as a variable, something like ${APP_VERSION}
but, I'm not using Jenkins, and also it looks somehow wonky. Is that the only/proper way to access CFBundleVersion...?

Answer 1

There are multiple things you can do:
1) Modify CFBundleName using a build phase
Select the target you want to modify within Xcode
Open the Build Phases for the selected target
Add a new Run Script Build Phase
Paste the following code
BUILD_NUMBER=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleVersion" "$INFOPLIST_FILE")
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleName $PRODUCT_NAME Beta $BUILD_NUMBER" "$TARGET_BUILD_DIR/$INFOPLIST_PATH"
The script makes use of PlistBuddy. First, it gets the CFBundleVersion from your Info.plist and stores it in a variable BUILD_NUMBER. In the second step it uses PlistBuddy to set CFBundleName to $PRODUCT_NAME Beta $BUILD_NUMBER. Note that the it will not modify the original plist but the one in your build directory so you wont be bothered by changes in your git repository.
The CFBundleName will be displayed in the Menu Bar when the app is running. It will not have an effect on the App's name in the Dock (that is derived from the app's file name).
Note: This will probably not work if you have localized your Bundle Name using CFBundleDisplayName. You may need to adapt the script above in that case.
2) Use Custom Build Setting
Select the target you want to modify
Open Build Settings for selected target
Editor --> Add Build Setting --> Add User-Defined Setting
Name your new setting CUSTOM_BUILD_VERSION and add a value
Search for PRODUCT_NAME in the Build Settings and change it to $(TARGET_NAME) Beta $(CUSTOM_BUILD_VERSION)
Open your target's Info.plist
Change CFBundleVersion to $(CUSTOM_BUILD_VERSION)
If you want to change the build version, change CUSTOM_BUILD_VERSION instead
Using this method Xcode will create an app named "SomeApp Beta ". Because the name in the dock is the same as the app bundle name, the dock will also use that name.
3) Rename App after building
Of course you could also just rename the app after building it with Xcode. If you are building your app from the command line using Gradle (see the gradle-xcodeplugin), Fastlane or a custom build script this can of course be automated.
It should be pretty easy to use PlistBuddy to extract the CFBundleVersion from the bundled app and then rename the bundle to include the extracted value. This should be fairly similar to the script from 1).

Answer 2

Use $(TARGET_NAME) Beta $(BUILD_NUMBER)