Nativescript iOS development without a Mac doomed to fail? - nativescript

I have created some HelloWorld apps on Windows using Nativescript Sidekick and deployed to Iphone. While amazed intriegued that it actually is possible to develop on Windows for iOS, it's not very practical without a debugger and/or simulator. When the HelloWorld crashed on the phone, I have no clue why.
Should I get a Mac?

Just like you need a Windows machine to build apps for Windows Universal, you must need a Mac for iOS.
NativeScript is not the one who makes Mac a must one for iOS development, but hopefully they are planning to come up with something that will enable end to end iOS development on Windows / Linux, it's on their roadmap for 2018.

Related

What is the best alternative for Xcode to run the iOS simulator in Windows 11 for React Native cross-platform app development?

I want to run the iOS simulator on Windows to build my React Native apps. I can't use Xcode because I don't have a Mac or an iPhone. That's why I'm looking for an alternative. I test my Android apps by using Expo Go to mirror my Android phone to Windows, but as I don't have an iPhone and can't mirror it to Windows, I need a simulator to run and test my IOS apps. What is the best alternative for Xcode?
There are few IOS simulator out there for windows and all of them are paid version. Smartface, Appetize etc. As a student I can't afford them for my learning purpose.
try this one Expo Snack. you have to put your code here but i think it will work fine. there is no other free IOS simulator for windows.

iOS development with React Native or Flutter with minimal apple hardware

Not sure if this has been asked before.
To target iOS for mobile development with react native or flutter, do I need to move my entire development machine to an apple one? I do know that for any serious iOS app development, I'd need to get a mac.
But is it possible to use mac machine minimally with the bulk of the development being done in my non-mac main machine?
For e.g. I'd buy a cheaper Mac mini with low specs to get the XCode, run iOS simulation and push the app to app store. And during development from my main machine, I'd somehow connect to this mac mini for iOS simulation.
Is it possible? I just don't wanna move my entire desktop usage over to a mac.
if you wanna development in light machine use react native and use its expo cli . its very light you did not need to make build in Xcode and android studio
check expo documentation here

Xamarin iOS GUI

We've been developing a cross-platform app in Xamarin on Windows and now we are moving to make GUI for iOS counterpart.
If I'm understanding correctly we need to switch to Visual Studio for MAC, on a MAC machine, and continue our GUI development there.
Is it possible to develop everything on Windows and just publish an app on the MAC machine?
How do we include the logic and everything from the android app?
You can use Xamarin.Forms to develop UI for both Android and iOS.
But if its already native then you can still continue developing it in Windows.
For the build and testing you definitely need a MAC, if you don't want to use a VM then you can build it on the cloud using a https://www.macincloud.com/ or other party that uses the same service, and use a simulator on windows.
If its cross platform then I assume you're using a .NET Standard for the shared codebase. So there would be no problem using the same logic for both the Android and iOS.
It is up to you. Many apps will work by just publishing on the Mac. Of those many will have some artifacts that shouldn't be in the end version.
To simplify it is like asking whether you should publish the app without testing and fixing. In 99% no, but sometimes it may work.

Can I connect an iPhone to a windows 10 machine to see my work in Flutter?

I want to see my work without using a simulator from Android Studio. Currently I have an Android Phone and it works when I connect my phone with Windows 10.
Can I do the same with an iPhone?
Flutter relies on Xcode and the iOS SDK to perform the underlying compilation and publishing of iOS apps. Unfortunately, it's not possible to do iOS development on Windows, a Mac is required.
Some googling reveals there are several online services, such as MacInCloud and MacStadium that provide a means to pay for a remotely accessible VM in the cloud if you'd prefer not to purchase a Mac, though not having used any, I can't personally vouch for any of them.

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.

Resources