Developing Ios Apps Without A Mac

Photo by Rodrigo Galindez

You can build native iOS apps (as well as Android, Mac and Windows apps), but then you must learn C# rather than Objective-C. And it's not free. The app isn't built without a Mac. It's not built at all. To actually test your Unity application on the device, you have to build it and deploy it. Unity Remote is not a substitute for that, nor is it very good at what it does, since input is laggy and often misses inputs. May 26, 2017  Xamarin allows us to code in C just once and then deploy on the three platforms (Windows, iOS and Android), but without a Mac, the iOS environment might give us some problems. In Visual Studio, where Xamarin is installed, we have the Xamarin Mac. Even if you developed your app using something other than a Mac, you will need a Mac to compile the final product that is uploaded to the App Store. Xcode is the primary tool for macOS and iOS.

Use Ios App On Mac

Do I need a Mac to make iPhone apps? Apple Watch apps? Mac apps? The short answer is no. But there's a lot more to it than just that.

When making apps for an Apple device (phone, watch, computer) you need to use Xcode. A free piece of software created by Apple that allows you to design and code up apps. Xcode only works on Apple's operating system OS X. So if you have a Mac, then you can run Xcode no problem. If you don't have a Mac, there are two work arounds that I know of that you can use. So in total there are three ways you can run Xcode. Here's my thoughts on each of them.

1. Using a Mac

This is by far the best option. Using apple's hardware to run Xcode is going to be your best experience for making apps. You might not have a Mac though and buying one can be expensive. I remember when I wanted to first buy a Mac and couldn't get over the price tag. The MacBook I was looking to buy cost $1,200. A PC with similar parts (RAM, CPU, HardDrive, etc...) cost only $400. Three times the money for a stinking Apple logo! In retrospect, the money was well worth it.

Play Ios Apps On Mac

Create ios app without code

If you are interested in going this route and buying a computer, check out my Mac Buying Guide for developers.

Also be on the lookout of place where you could use a Mac for free. Maybe your library has a machine you can use.

Create Ios App Without Code

2. Using a Cloud Service

This is my second favorite option. It's a really creative solution for helping people make apps who don't have Macs. There are few companies that own a bunch of Mac computers and allow you to access them via the web and control them remotely. It's kind of like renting a Mac month to month. All you need is a web browser to access your machine. The downside to this is you have to pay a monthly fee and you must be connected to the internet to do your work. Here are links to two companies that do this: macincloud.com and xcodeclub.com

3. Virtual Machine

Developing Ios Apps Without A Mac Password

This option involves creating a virtual machine on your computer, installing Apple's OS X operating system, and then running Xcode on that virtual machine. I don't like this option for two reasons.

  1. It's complicated. It takes a lot of work and technical know how to get your virtual machine set up.
  2. It's illegal. Apple doesn't sell OS X by itself as a stand alone product. They sell computers with OS X on them. For this reason, you can't buy a copy of OS X and run it on your computer. You would have to download it illegally. Some people argue that Apple would never come after you for doing this but I don't think it's worth the risk and besides, you're going to have a MUCH better experience with an actual Mac. Here's a good summary of the legality.

If you got the budget for it, buy a Mac. I know it's crazy expensive but I believe you'll fall in love with your Mac. If you end up using a cloud service, let me know in the comments what your experience has been. I'd love to hear more.