developing for iOS without a mac?

S

Sodan

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Hi smart people

Is it possible to develop for iOS (iTunes) without a mac, i.e. on a Windows or Linux machine? I have done a little bit of googling, and it is apparently possible to compile and sign an app with an iPhone.
Has anyone here done this?
How would one go about debugging? Is there an adb equivalent for iOS apps? This is perhaps the most important point for me. The more awkward the debugging is, the less sense it makes.

Main reason for this question is the crazy cost of a decent iOS dev machine. What with flashgear selling those awesomely priced laptops, I can't see myself justifying R20k+ for a mid-ranged iMac/macbook.
 
[)roi(]

[)roi(]

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Sodan said:
Hi smart people

Is it possible to develop for iOS (iTunes) without a mac, i.e. on a Windows or Linux machine? I have done a little bit of googling, and it is apparently possible to compile and sign an app with an iPhone.
Has anyone here done this?
How would one go about debugging? Is there an adb equivalent for iOS apps? This is perhaps the most important point for me. The more awkward the debugging is, the less sense it makes.

Main reason for this question is the crazy cost of a decent iOS dev machine. What with flashgear selling those awesomely priced laptops, I can't see myself justifying R20k+ for a mid-ranged iMac/macbook.
Click to expand...
The only options that avoid the need for a Mac are web based apps and Xamarin -- which will still need a Mac & Xcode for the compilation (build) & signing; remote build services are available, but its a paid approach with far too many drawbacks.

In all honesty you're going to be significantly hamstrung if you try to avoid getting a Mac, especially when it comes to compilation and debugging. Either look at a special offer for a new Mac or shop for a good second hand Mac; a 4 to 5 year Intel Mac with ~8Gb RAM will be enough to get started. Plus Windows & Linux run quite well in VMs on a Mac, so it won't hamper your buids for either of those. Unfortunately OSX doesn't run very well in VMs, well certainly not good enough for development.

As to the debugger and instrumentation tools offered by Apple; Xcode has some of the best tools in the industry; both on the Mac and directly linked to apps running on any idevice.

 
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koeksGHT

koeksGHT

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SauRoNZA said:
Weird that you would look at something that can make money for you in that fashion.
Click to expand...

Just mostly unnecessary, Google does earn more from Apple than Android :whistling: It's only frustrating that we have no IAP in SA with Android :(
 
[)roi(]

[)roi(]

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koeksGHT said:
Just mostly unnecessary, Google does earn more from Apple than Android :whistling: It's only frustrating that we have no IAP in SA with Android :(
Click to expand...
it's tough enough getting iOS users to part with money for apps; Android's community is far too used to getting everything free from multiple stores, so even with SA support there's no guarantee anyone would buy it. Plus with Android there's really nothing preventing you from direct sales.
 
koeksGHT

koeksGHT

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[)roi(];17693514 said:
it's tough enough getting iOS users to part with money for apps; Android's community is far too used to getting everything free from multiple stores, so even with SA support there's no guarantee anyone would buy it.
Click to expand...

Not in our business :whistling:
 
[)roi(]

[)roi(]

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koeksGHT said:
Not in our business :whistling:
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Not sure what that is; I contract with corporates, so no store required.
Personally would never consider building anything for the Android store -- there's no guarantee of return, even for a good game / app or service.

Apple's while doing better, is still struggling in this regard; e.g. the Mac OS store is being actively avoided. The $0.99 and free model has all but ruined the likelihood that an indepedant developer can make a living from an app store.
 
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J

JFT96

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Not a direct answer to your question but this is an opportunity to share something others might find useful.

If you're looking to develop a really simple app - maybe just an embedded online store, I found an alternative to those expensive application dev platforms, like Xamarin.

AppSpotr

I'm in the process of building an app and it seems to work really well. There is no interaction with any native phone settings, but it works well as news / blog aggregation app. Easy to add monetization options as well.
 
koeksGHT

koeksGHT

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[)roi(];17693596 said:
Not sure what that is; I contract with corporates, so no store required.
Personally would never consider building anything for the Android store -- there's no guarantee of return, even for a good game / app or service. Apple's while doing better, is still struggling in this regard; e.g. the Mac OS store is being actively avoided.
Click to expand...
Tbh apps are saturated so unless you have a groundbreaking app or are selling to a coporate there is not much room.

/waits for lynch mob, we do mobile subscription.
 
[)roi(]

[)roi(]

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koeksGHT said:
Tbh apps are saturated so unless you have a groundbreaking app or are selling to a coporate there is not much room.

/waits for lynch mob, we do mobile subscription.
Click to expand...
Exactly (no lynch mob required), plus far too many people were burnt buying $0.99 apps that were crap, and / or badly maintained. IMO Apple refusing to allow demos, refunds, ... Pretty much killed the paid app model, plus the app search engines are awful -- so even with a great app, its going to be hard to be discovered without spending money on advertising.

Personally I hate subscription... but I guess it's one way to go about it.
 
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koeksGHT

koeksGHT

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[)roi(];17693674 said:
Exactly (no lynch mob required), plus far too many people were burnt buying $0.99 apps that were crap, and / or badly maintained. IMO Apple refusing to allow demos, refunds, ... Pretty much killed the paid app model, plus the app search engines are awful -- so even with a great app, its going to be hard to be discovered without spending money on advertising.

Personally I hate subscription... but I guess it's one way to go about it.
Click to expand...

Can't say it's better, but the target market at least has an IQ <100
 
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