Missing .xcodeproj for iOS projects

Description

During upgrade the project from react-native 0.60.* to react-native c it was observer that react native does not have *.xcodeproj files anymore. That make it impossible to use the latest and greatest react native in project that uses Carthage. There is also nothing about it in docs. For example, https://reactnative.dev/docs/integration-with-existing-apps says that CocoaPods are needed, but that is not an option for existing projects that uses Carthage. Same for https://reactnative.dev/docs/upgrading.html, it does not cover this case.

As a result migration to the latest react native is blocked:

React Native version:

System:
    OS: macOS 10.15.6
    CPU: (12) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8850H CPU @ 2.60GHz
    Memory: 6.23 GB / 16.00 GB
    Shell: 3.2.57 - /bin/bash
  Binaries:
    Node: 12.16.1 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v12.16.1/bin/node
    Yarn: 1.22.4 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v12.16.1/bin/yarn
    npm: 6.13.4 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v12.16.1/bin/npm
    Watchman: 4.9.0 - /usr/local/bin/watchman
  Managers:
    CocoaPods: 1.9.3 - /usr/local/bin/pod
  SDKs:
    iOS SDK:
      Platforms: iOS 13.2, DriverKit 19.0, macOS 10.15, tvOS 13.2, watchOS 6.1
    Android SDK:
      API Levels: 26, 27, 28, 29
      Build Tools: 27.0.3, 28.0.3, 29.0.2, 29.0.3, 30.0.2
      System Images: android-29 | Google APIs Intel x86 Atom, android-30 | Google APIs Intel x86 Atom
      Android NDK: Not Found
  IDEs:
    Android Studio: 4.0 AI-193.6911.18.40.6626763
    Xcode: 11.3.1/11C505 - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
  Languages:
    Java: 1.8.0_242 - /usr/bin/javac
    Python: 2.7.16 - /usr/bin/python
  npmPackages:
    @react-native-community/cli: Not Found
    react: 16.13.1 => 16.13.1 
    react-native: 0.63.3 => 0.63.3 
  npmGlobalPackages:
    *react-native*: Not Found

Steps To Reproduce

Provide a detailed list of steps that reproduce the issue.

1. Use existing project with Carthage
2. Try to integrate react native to this project

Or

1. Use existing react native project with Carthage with RN version <= 0.60.*
2. Try to upgrade react native to this project

Expected Results

• .xcodeproj files are part of the react native
• https://github.com/facebook/react-native/pull/25583 pull request is reverted
• it is still possible to use project without CocoaPods

Snack, code example, screenshot, or link to a repository:

Not needed

Additional information

According to official RN documentation linking-libraries-ios

If the library has native code, there must be an .xcodeproj file inside its folder. Drag this file to your project on Xcode (usually under the Libraries group on Xcode);

it is also clearly stated that there must be an .xcodeproj and this is how iOS development happens.

[rectified95]

Thanks for describing your pains points with the upgrade to latest. Still, this is not strictly a new functionality regression. Please recreate this issue in the upgrade-support repo, as indicated by the issue templates: https://github.com/react-native-community/upgrade-support

[sanderfrenken]

To elaborate a bit, by removing the .xcodeproj files manual linking of react-native has become AFAIK close to impossible. The only way I can think of now is by creating references from all the react-native sources in node_modules in the consuming project. This however is a cumbersome job and in addition very error prone (think of missed files, or adding sources that are only needed for testing to the actual build target).

By disabling manual linking, the only way for any project to use react-native seems to be by using CocoaPods. IMO, this is not a solution that fits all.

There are many existing projects that rely heavily on Carthage for example, or SPM.

By forcing CocoaPods, one can only decide to either use both CocoaPods and the other dependency manager (welcome trouble, this is definitely not advisable nor maintainable) in the same project, or migrate the complete project to CocoaPods. But the latter is not even always possible, as for example some specific dependencies might not be available using CocoaPods.

I am very curious if there is another way of using the latest react-native in a project while not using CocoaPods.