I set up an empty app with only an app delegate class, then subclassed a view controller class to create a xib to layout the app and make connections.
But when I tried
in AppDelegate.m
(BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
self.window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:UIScreen.mainScreen.bounds];
UIViewController *viewController = // determine the initial view controller here and instantiate it with [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:];
self.window.rootViewController = viewController;//making a view to root view
[self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
return YES;
}