Cordova hybrid app on ios white screen

Question

What do you do if you get a white screen when you launch your app on the ios simulator using cordova emulate ios and you have already tried the following:

1. Opened console log in Safari after selecting ios app---> which shows nothing because you can't connect until the app starts up, which means you can't see any startup logs... (as far as I am aware)

2. Looked through the syslog for the ios emulator carefully but found no revealing clues. There's lots of errors, but not sure which one pertains, if any? I'll copy and paste the log here...

3. Downloaded Ripple and tried running the app on it. Everything is fine on the ripple emulator. The app seems to work on the browser and ripple, but white screens on the ios simulator.

ios Simulator Log:

Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro syslogd[4128] <Notice>: --- syslogd restarted ---
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Warning>: <CAWindowServerDisplay:0x54684d0 TVOut 0x0>: Ignoring call to setTVSignalType: in simulator.
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Notice>: void __IOHIDPlugInLoadBundles(): Loaded 0 HID plugins
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Notice>: Posting 'com.apple.iokit.hid.displayStatus' notifyState=1
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Notice>: ____IOHIDSessionScheduleAsync_block_invoke: thread_id=0xb0219000
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Notice>: HID Session async scheduling initiated.
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Notice>: HID Session async root queue running at priority 63 and schedule 2.
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Notice>: HID Session async scheduling complete.
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local locationd[4119] <Notice>: Logging binary sensor data to /Users/justin/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/7.1/Library/Caches/locationd/locationdSensors.bin
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Notice>: Successfully opened the IOHIDSession
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Notice>: 0x13471a8 check_freshness: sb.st_mtime = 1398565636 reference_mtime = 1398565631
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local mstreamd[4123] <Notice>: (Note ) mstreamd: mstreamd starting up.
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Notice>: 0x13471a8 check_stale_maps: /Users/justin/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/7.1/Applications appears stale
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local locationd[4119] <Error>: NBB-Could not get UDID for stable refill timing, falling back on random
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Error>: HID: The 'Rate Controlled' connection 'backboardd' access to protected services is granted.
Apr 26 22:31:04 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local mstreamd[4123] <Notice>: (Note ) PS: The subscription plugin class does not support push notification refreshing.
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local mstreamd[4123] <Notice>: (Note ) PS: Media stream daemon starting...
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local configd_sim[4118] <Notice>: network changed: v4(en0+:192.168.0.109) DNS+ Proxy+
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local locationd[4119] <Notice>: Location icon should now be in state 'Inactive'
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Error>: 0x13471a8 load_application_info: Info plist for /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneSimulator7.1.sdk//Applications/iOS Diagnostics.app was missing or empty
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local profiled[4120] <Notice>: (Note ) profiled: Service starting...
Apr 26 22:31:03 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Error>: 0x13471a8 load_application_info: Info plist for /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneSimulator7.1.sdk//Applications/Photo Booth.app was missing or empty
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SimulatorBridge[4115] <Notice>: Switching to keyboard: en
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SimulatorBridge[4115] <Warning>: KEYMAP: Chose mode=en_US@hw=US;sw=QWERTY from match=en_US@hw=US;sw=QWERTY from language=en
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Notice>: 0x13471a8 generate_application_map: Deferring user app list rebuild
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local securityd[4129] <Error>: unable to access hwaes key
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Notice>: 0x13471a8 generate_application_map: Saved updated install map for -|system|internal
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Notice>: 0xb0093000 load_application_type: No applications of type VPNPlugin found in /Users/justin/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/7.1/Applications
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local distnoted[4131] <Warning>: # distnote server daemon  absolute time: 34423.868850975   civil time: Sat Apr 26 22:31:04 2014   pid: 4131 uid: 501  root: yes
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Notice>: 0xb0093000 generate_application_map: Saved updated install map for user|-|-
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local lsd[4132] <Warning>: LaunchServices: Seeding database
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local locationd[4119] <Warning>: Launch Services: Registering unknown app identifier com.apple.PassKit failed
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local locationd[4119] <Warning>: Launch Services: Unable to find app identifier com.apple.PassKit
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Warning>: Migration complete (if performed). (Elapsed time: 0.00 seconds)
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Warning>: -[BKSystemAppSentinel lock_bootstrap]: Telling the system app that it can start
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SimulatorBridge[4115] <Warning>: LaunchServices: installing app for existing placeholder LSApplicationProxy: com.ionicframework.starter
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SimulatorBridge[4115] <Warning>: LaunchServices: Not creating progress for LSApplicationProxy: com.ionicframework.starter since it is not a placeholder.
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Notice>: 0xb0115000 handle_install_for_ls: Install of "/Users/justin/repos/sprout/platforms/ios/build/emulator/Sprout.app" requested by SimulatorBridge
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Error>: HID: The 'Passive' connection 'SpringBoard' access to protected services is granted.
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Error>: HID: The 'Rate Controlled' connection 'SpringBoard' access to protected services is granted.
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: Loaded logger: SBAppInstallationLog
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: Loaded logger: SBIconLog
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: Loaded logger: SBWorkspaceLogging
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local backboardd[4116] <Warning>: -[BKSystemAppSentinel lock_notePresenceOfSystemApp:] Now monitoring "com.apple.SpringBoard"
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: *** error reading settings archive file: <SBRootSettings: /Users/justin/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/7.1/Documents/com.apple.springboard.settings/RootSettings.plist> 
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: *** error reading settings archive file: <SBRootSettings: /Users/justin/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/7.1/Documents/com.apple.springboard.settings/RootSettings.previous.plist> 
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Error>: libMobileGestalt MobileGestalt.c:200: string SBNonDefaultSystemAppTag is not a valid gestalt question
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Error>: libMobileGestalt MobileGestalt.c:200: string hidden is not a valid gestalt question
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Error>: libMobileGestalt MobileGestalt.c:835: still-camera is static and will never generate a notification
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Error>: libMobileGestalt MobileGestalt.c:835: stand-alone-contacts is static and will never generate a notification
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: BTM: attaching to BTServer
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Notice>: 0xb0115000 MobileInstallationInstall_Server: Installing app com.ionicframework.starter
Apr 26 22:31:04 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Notice>: 0xb0115000 install_application: Performing developer delta patch
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local installd[4122] <Notice>: 0xb0115000 MobileInstallationInstall_Server: Staging: 0.41s; Waiting: 0.00s; Installation: 0.21s; LS Sync: 0.00s; Overall: 0.63s
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneSimulator7.1.sdk/usr/libexec/lsd[4132] <Error>: Need to synchronize with MobileInstallation
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneSimulator7.1.sdk/usr/libexec/lsd[4132] <Notice>: LaunchServices: updating cache GUID and sequence number
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local lsd[4132] <Warning>: LaunchServices:(called by PID 4115) Identifiers file does not exist.
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local lsd[4132] <Warning>: LaunchServices:(called by PID 4115) Creating new identifiers file.
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local lsd[4132] <Warning>: LaunchServices: Updating identifier store
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local mediaremoted[4139] <Error>: Property list invalid for format: 200 (property lists cannot contain NULL)
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Error>: Normal message received by listener connection. Ignoring.
Apr 26 22:31:05 --- last message repeated 2 times ---
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: could not find icon for representation -> com.sproutatwork.mobile
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: Using your own bundle identifier as an NSUserDefaults suite name does not make sense and will not work. Break on _NSUserDefaults_Log_Nonsensical_Suites to find this
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: Launch Services: Registering unknown app identifier com.apple.mobilemail failed
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: Launch Services: Unable to find app identifier com.apple.mobilemail
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: No conforming principal class found in NSBundle </Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneSimulator7.1.sdk/System/Library/BulletinBoardPlugins/SMSBBPlugin.bundle> (loaded)
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: Application windows are expected to have a root view controller at the end of application launch
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Error>: libMobileGestalt MobileGestalt.c:835: still-camera is static and will never generate a notification
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Error>: libMobileGestalt MobileGestalt.c:835: stand-alone-contacts is static and will never generate a notification
Apr 26 22:31:05 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: could not find icon for representation -> com.sproutatwork.mobile
Apr 26 22:31:06 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local locationd[4119] <Error>: Client '/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneSimulator7.1.sdk/System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/SpringBoard' is attempting to masquerade as uninstalled app with effective bundle identifier 'com.apple.reminders'
Apr 26 22:31:06 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SimulatorBridge[4115] <Warning>: Application launched after 0.00 seconds.
Apr 26 22:31:06 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: SMS Plugin initialized.
Apr 26 22:31:06 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Warning>: Sharing Plugin initialized.
Apr 26 22:31:06 JayPrimes-MacBook-Pro.local SpringBoard[4126] <Error>: Normal message received by listener connection. Ignoring.

Answer 1

I hit the WSoD when I updated the ios platform and I think (not sure) it also updated some of the plugins. I was completely unable to debug the problem as I was getting no console errors whatsoever while everything works fine without live reload.

As it turns out the problem was with the whitelisting. The app was simply not allowed to access the livereload server. I added the following lines to config.xml and live reload started working again:

<allow-navigation href="*"/>

Of course this is very permissive and not recommended for actual production, but at least it sovles the problem. Technically this isn't necessary if not using live reload, so can simply be omitted for production. However if security is a concern, an alternative can be:

<allow-navigation href="*://localhost/*"/>

But when doing this, it is necessary to add the --address option when running emulate:

$ ionic emulate -lcs --address localhost ios

Answer 2

I was getting a white screen after my splash screen and before the first page of my cordova 3.6 app. The issue then went away when i installed the org.apache.cordova.splashscreen plugin and made autohidesplashscreen = false in config.xml inside the platform iOS folder.

Then you can hide the splash screen in device ready using:

document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);
        function onDeviceReady(){          
            console.log("ON DEVICE READY!!!");
            navigator.splashscreen.hide();
        }

One more thing to add is i run the project using only the .xcodeproj only and not using the terminal and I work with the index.html inside platform/iOS.