How Obfuscating iOS Logic Enhances iOS App Security

Last updated January 11, 2024 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Obfuscate iOS Logic in iOS apps.

What is iOS Logic Obfuscation ?

Reverse engineering an iOS application involves analyzing the compiled code of the application to understand its functionality, algorithms, and data structures. Reverse engineering can be used for both legitimate purposes, such as debugging or security testing, or malicious purposes, such as stealing intellectual property, creating counterfeit applications, or injecting malicious code. iOS Logic Obfuscation can help mitigate reverse engineering of an iOS application by making the compiled code harder to understand and analyze – without affecting its functionality.

Appdome obfuscates iOS applications by renaming classes and methods to random names, making reverse engineering the code in them much harder and more time-consuming.

What are the Advantages of Obfuscating iOS Logic?

There are several reasons to obfuscate iOS applications, including:

1. Intellectual property protection: Obfuscation can help protect the intellectual property of an application by making it harder for attackers to reverse-engineer and copy the code.

2. License enforcement: Obfuscation can be used to prevent unauthorized use of an application by making it harder for attackers to modify the code and bypass license checks.

3. Security: Obfuscation can help prevent attacks such as tampering, reverse engineering, and code injection by making it harder for attackers to understand the code and identify vulnerabilities.

4. Privacy: Obfuscation can be used to protect sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access to the application’s data structures and algorithms.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's iOS Logic Obfuscation Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Obfuscate iOS Logic , you’ll need:

How to Implement Obfuscate iOS Logic in iOS Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending iOS Apps that Obfuscate iOS Logic without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. iOS Formats: .ipa
    3. iOS Logic Obfuscation is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other iOS apps.
  2. Select the defense: iOS Logic Obfuscation .

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains iOS Logic Obfuscation  .

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature
        Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required).

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the iOS Logic Obfuscation you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains iOS Logic Obfuscation .

        Fusion Set applied iOS Logic Obfuscation

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added iOS Logic Obfuscation protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Security tab > TOTALCode™ Obfuscation section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > iOS Logic Obfuscation .
        iOS Logic Obfuscation  option

        Figure 4: Selecting Obfuscate iOS Logic

    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The iOS Logic Obfuscation protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature in iOS Apps

    After building iOS Logic Obfuscation , Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the iOS Logic Obfuscation protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the iOS Logic Obfuscation protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: iOS Logic Obfuscation  shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that iOS Logic Obfuscation has been added to each iOS app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that iOS Logic Obfuscation and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for iOS Logic Intelligence and Control in iOS Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when iOS Logic is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for iOS Logic in iOS Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for iOS Logic shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for iOS Logic are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Obfuscate iOS Logic Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name iOS Logic Obfuscation
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check x
Visible in ThreatScope™ x
Developer Parameters for Obfuscating iOS Logic Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), iOS developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in iOS applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when iOS Logic is detected.


The following is a code sample for native iOS apps, which uses all values in the specification above for iOS Logic Obfuscation :


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured iOS Apps by using iOS Logic Obfuscation . There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with iOS Logic Obfuscation

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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