Developing iOS on windows machine (VM running mac)

Casshern88

Hi,

maybe some more experienced dev's can help me here.

I understand its not possible to code iOS apps on a windows machine, you need a mac running Xcode, however there are some solutions as im aware , namely running a mac in a VM and developing that way, several sites offer such a service (http://www.macincloud.com/ and http://www.xcodeclub.com/ are two i found anyway )

Now it seems from my research that i can certainly develop my apps in Xcode through these VM options and then run them through the built in virtual simulator.

My question is will i be able to test the apps I've written on a physical apple device connected to my pc through the VM???

any help appreciated .

techguy

You have mentioned two possible solutions here:

1. Running Mac OS through a virtual machine on your Windows machine (Hackintosh)
2. Running Mac OS through a cloud hosted virtual machine.

Please note that number 1 is illegal (against Apples EULA for Mac OS) and that it's not really practical either. Continuing that discussion here will probably get the thread closed.

Number 2 is grossly impractical, you will be using the IDE over remote desktop with latency issues. You will pay for every hour that the Mac machine is powered up on your suppliers servers.

I'm not sure you will be able to test the app on physical devices. I don't remember if the XCode signing tool will run in Hackitosh setups. Regardless of that fact, you would still need to sign up to the Apple iOS Developer program in order to provision devices.

The best thing you can do is get yourself a Mac computer to code on. It is really that simple. They do tend to be pricey but you can pick up preowned/refurbished for a discount.

Creamy Goodness

Get yourself a Mac mini, then when you've a few apps under your belt, buy an iMac or Mac Pro. Dedicated hardware is the only sane way to go for iOS/OS X development.