Build process for Xamarin.iOS when in Windows - xamarin

I am doing a project in Xamarin for cross platforms, I am doing this on my Windows machine. What would be the best way for me to get the project to an iOS development in the future? Do i just open the project in an iOS environment then compile & deploy it?

Yes, you need and iOS environment for you to build and compile the iOS project. If for deployment of the app itself to the appstore, you can check how to deploy to appstore since Apple has different set of rules when deploying, but if it's just for build/test yes, you can just use an iOS environment to deploy/test your app, just make sure that your VS on windows or Xcode/vs on mac is compatible. You just need to connect your windows Xamarin Agent to your Mac device IP address in order for them to communicate
You can check this link for iOS deployment

Yes,your ios app compile/debug/run on ios simulator must use mac.You only need to configure the connection with MAC on visual studio.

Related

Any way to build flutter desktop app for window(.exe) in macOS machine?

I would like to build exe file from my macOS machine. How is possible?
Per the documentation:
To compile a desktop app, you must build the app on the targeted platform: build a Windows app on Windows, a macOS app on macOS, and a Linux app on Linux.
You can follow this issue to see if that changes in the future.
The short answer is no.
But you can build your app using a windows emulator or doing a windows dualboot with bootcamp.
There is also online services who let you build flutter projects from a github repo but I don't think they can build a windows app.

Deploy Xamarin iOS App via Visual Studio for Windows

I want to deploy my first iOS App created with Xamarin Forms to the AppStore or at least to a single device. I have an Apple Developer Account and performed this task several times before using xCode and native iOS Apps.
But as a Windows guy I hoped to get this done for Xamarin using my VST for Windows. 
But all guides and tutorials I found are only explaining how I can deploy iOS Apps to the store and to devices using VST for Mac ... Is this the only way? How do I get the code to the Mac? Can I use the TFS Source Control? Do I have to commit every little change to TFS, check it out at the Mac, rebuild the whole app there and deploy it from the Mac?
Or are there ways and workflows that work with Windows only having the Mac 'in the background' via network?
Take a look at https://mobile.azure.com (the best solution for continuous app development: analytics, crash reports, iOS/Android/UWP builds + deploy)
I'll address the second part of your question - the ability to deploy to a single device. I'm assuming that the single device is your own device and you want to deploy via compilation. This can certainly be done from your Windows machine but due to apple licensing requirements, you will need your Mac available to compile and deploy to your phone. Your iPhone/iPad will need to be plugged into your Mac's USB.
The guides listed on the Xamarin website outline how to set up the mac build host. https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/ios/getting_started/installation/windows/connecting-to-mac/ In short, you need some prerequisites (Remote Sharing turned on, XCode installed, etc).
Once you've connected Visual Studio to your Mac, set the iOS project as the startup project, change the config from Debug to iPhone, and press F5 to compile and deploy to your device.
When in doubt, select iPhoneSimulator instead of iPhone. The simulator isn't subjected to provisioning and signing profiles which can be daunting to setup. If you can get the simulator working, you've solved the software and connectivity prerequisites.
There's a lot to configure, but it does work. This is my primary setup for Xamarin.Forms development.

Does Xamarin IOS Simulator Require XCode?

Well , im new to IOS app development i've heard about Xamarin cross-platform app-development, so my setup is ==>
Visual Studio Enterprise Update 1 Installed.
Xamarin For Visual Studio 2015 Downloaded (Now about to install).
Xamarin IOS simulator downloaded.
Now as i have xamarin simulator i don't need to buy a mac or get a hosted-mac , that's clear now i just wanna confirm do i need XCode ? i mean i have xamarin simulator but still i'm confused about XCODE for windows how can i get that should it be getting installed automatically or do i need to give it another shot.
I'm confused about all this .
I just don't* have the budget to buy a MAC and i want to do APP development just (Debugging ) deployment will be done latter please tell me what should i do or give me the proper instruction thanks.
You need to run Xcode on a mac to build Xamarin apps for iOS. A Windows install of Xamarin on Visual Studio will allow you to connect to a mac to do the build remotely, but you still need a mac available that has Xcode installed on it to do the build.
You can download Xcode from the Mac App Store. You will also need the mac to upload the final package to the iOS App Store if you're going to release it there.
An other option is to use a cloud based Mac server, there are several companies that rent them out on hourly/monthly basis for this purpose (MacinCloud being one that I've heard of).
XCode needs and can only be installed onto a MAC OSX system.
Once you have XCode installed, you can use its iPhone simulator to emulate the iOS apps you make on your windows pc.
You need to connect to the MAC by using the MAC Agent on Visual Studio. This connects remotely to the MAC and allows you to debug the app to be emulated onto the virtual iOS device being simulated on your MAC OSX system.
You can use MAC Cloud based server but also, you can use a real iOS device such as an iPhone to debug apps directly onto the device.

Debugging Xamarin.iOS project without physical mac

My idea is to use macincloud to build xamarin project. And I'd like to debug it also.
On xamarin's site it's written that "Xamarin.iOS applications can be debugged with the built-in debugger in Xamarin Studio or Visual Studio." But it's still not clear if the device, for example iPad can be connected to Windows machine? Or It has to be connected to Mac only?
Device has to be connected to the Mac. If we are connecting to a mac remotely, we can use a Simulator and and view the result using a RDP client like TeamViewer. I'm not sure if that is possible with MainCloud. You can also go for Xamarin Test Cloud if that is feasible for you.
No, it's not possible to deploy to device and debug with MacinCloud. You can however launch a simulator and debug your app inside the emulator.
If you want to deploy to your ipad you can use publish your app with TestFlight service and install TestFlight builds on your iPad.
See more details at Developing iOS Apps in Visual Studio with MacinCloud
There are two possible ways how to do it. First one is more proper but it's in preview version - Microsoft introduced Xamarin Live Player.
Second way is to have your own virtual machine of macOS on Windows machine. Here is the tutorial how to do it.

Deploying cordova to Xcode in vmware

I have just started using cordova and ionic with vs2015. I am running this on a windows 10 machine. I have built the android side and put to store.
I have a version of mac running via vmware on the windows machine. I have tried copying the xcode project file across manually and building, butrun into bui;d errors. Is there a way of linking vs2015 ios build directly to the xcode on the vmmachine.
If not may some guidance on building and copying the correct parts for xcode.
Cheers
Sounds like you need to run your app on the iOS Simulator
Make sure that you have installed the remote agent on a Mac that meets all system requirements, and that you have started the remote agent.
Make sure that you have specified iOS processing, the host name or IP address, port, and security PIN in Visual Studio.
With your app open in Visual Studio, choose iOS from the Solution
Platforms list. If you don’t see this list, choose Solution
Platforms from the Add/Remove Buttons list to display it.
In the simulator list, choose Simulator – iPhone or another iOS
simulator.
Selecting the iOS Simulator Press F5 to start the app.
If the remote agent is set up correctly, Visual Studio deploys the app to the iOS Simulator on your Mac.
iOS Simulator running on a Mac
Tip If you are running a version of the iOS Simulator with a Retina display on a lower-resolution Mac with a non-Retina display, you may need to scale the emulator to 50% so the app will fit on the screen (choose Window, Scale).
If you have configured the remote build agent on your Mac as described in the article Install tools for iOS, you can build and run your app on an iOS device that is connected to your Mac or PC.

Resources