- How To Create An Apple App Without A Macbook
- How To Create An Apple App Without A Mac Download
- How To Create An Apple App Without A Mac File
- How To Create An Apple App Without A Mac Os
Photo by Rodrigo Galindez
How To Create An Apple App Without A Macbook
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.
- Sketch Your App Idea. Every app starts with an idea. It doesn’t need to be big, ground-breaking.
- The Touch Bar is a relatively recent Mac-oriented input innovation from Apple. If you want to enhance your own apps with Touch Bar goodness, this quick-fire video tutorial from Zappy Code shows you how. Bring your iPad app to Mac (Image credit: Apple) It's not difficult to turn an iPad app into a native Mac app.
- You can develop and test apps on other platforms (Windows for instance) using tools that support cross platform development. You will however need Mac OS X and Xcode to create a signed application bundle that you can submit to the app store for distribution. Some of the cross platform tool vendors offer the ability to distribute your applications through them, in which case you do not need OS X at all, but the apps will end up under the vendor's account.
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
When you first set up your new iPhone - or any Apple device - you'll be asked to create an Apple ID. This is a universal account that will work with iCloud for your backups, the App Store, and to.
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.
How To Create An Apple App Without A Mac Download
If you are interested in going this route and buying a computer, check out my Mac Buying Guide for developers. Bitlord for mac.
Download scilab 6.0.1 (free for mac. Change modifier keys for a specific app mac. Also be on the lookout of place where you could use a Mac for free. Maybe your library has a machine you can use.
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
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.
How To Create An Apple App Without A Mac File
- It's complicated. It takes a lot of work and technical know how to get your virtual machine set up.
- 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.
How To Create An Apple App Without A Mac Os
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.