Xcode for Windows: Develop iOS Apps on PC

Written by Reinder de Vries on February 28 2020 in App Development

How can you run Xcode on Windows and develop iOS apps with a Windows PC? The short answer is: you can’t! You’ve got a few alternatives to get around that, however. In this tutorial, we’ll discuss how you can install Xcode on Windows to build iOS apps.

Here’s what we’ll get into:

• Rent a Mac in the cloud (starting at $20/mo)
• Run and compile Swift directly on Windows/Linux
• Learning to code with a Swift Sandbox
• Build your own “Hackintosh” by installing macOS on a PC
• Run Xcode on Windows by installing macOS on a virtual machine
• Develop iOS apps on Windows with cross-platform tools
• Get your hands on a second-hand Mac (starting at $300)

Xcode for Windows: What & Why

Xcode contains everything you need to build iOS apps, and it only runs on macOS!

That’s when the problems start. You want to make an iOS app with your Windows PC, but you can’t buy a PC or laptop with macOS pre-installed on it. Unlike Windows, Apple doesn’t license its operating system to other computer manufacturers. You can only use macOS on a Mac.

In fact, when you obtain a license to use macOS, which happens when you purchase a Mac computer, you have to agree to only run the operating system on Apple hardware. This effectively limits you to only develop apps on a Mac.

“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.”
— Steve Jobs (1983)

But… it’s more fun to be a pirate, than to join the navy, right? Let’s discuss a few alternatives that’ll let you run Xcode on Windows and develop iOS apps on a Windows PC!

Rent a Mac in the Cloud

An even easier way to get your hands on macOS, albeit more expensive, is to rent a Mac “in the Cloud”. You can work with Xcode on Windows with this approach, because you’re essentially connected to a Mac that’s elsewhere.

Here’s how that works:

• Someone connects a bunch of Mac’s to the internet
• You sign in on one of those Macs via a Remote Desktop Connection (RDP)
• Done! You can use this Mac from Windows/Linux and build iOS apps

Services like MacinCloud and MacStadium offer affordable rent-a-Mac products, usually paid on a monthly basis. Prices typically start at $20/month and you can choose from several hardware options, including Mac Mini and Mac Pro.

Starting at	Type
MacinCloud	$20/month	Dedicated, Virtual, Server
MacStadium	$79/month	Dedicated, Enterprise
virtualmacosx.com	$9.75/month	Shared (timesharing)
Mac Cloud	$49/month	Virtual
Flow	Premium	Dedicated, Enterprise
HostMyApple	$25/month	Virtual, Dedicated

You connect to those cloud-based Macs via a Remote Desktop Connection (RDP). Windows includes a stock Remote Desktop Client you can use, and so do most Linux operating systems. Once you’re logged on, you can launch Xcode, and start building your iOS app. That way you’re effectively running Xcode on your Windows PC!

Cloud-based Macs usually come in 3 flavours:

• A dedicated Mac, which means you get access to a physical Mac located in a data center, as if you bought a Mac in the Apple Store and put it on your desk.
• A virtual Mac, which means you get access to a virtual Mac in a data center, much like the VirtualBox solution mentioned earlier. Your Mac won’t run on Apple hardware, but it will run macOS.
• A Mac Build Server, which is a specialized kind of Mac that can be used to compile iOS apps. You’ll create those apps on your Mac, and then instruct the Build Server to compile the app for you.

A dedicated Mac is the most convenient, and the most powerful option. A virtual Mac is OK too, but it typically does not perform as well as a physical Mac computer.

Running Xcode via a Mac in the cloud has a drawback: you can’t easily connect your iPhone to Xcode via USB! With Xcode on your local Mac you can run and debug your app on your own iPhone, via the USB/Lightning cable. This obviously won’t work when your Mac is in the cloud…

Don’t worry! There are plenty of solutions for that:

• A simple approach is to run your app on iPhone Simulator, right from within Xcode. You can launch iPhone Simulator in Xcode, and debug your app with it. This is perfect for the development phase of your project.
• An alternative solution are tools like Flexihub, NoMachine and USB Network Gate. They only work with dedicated Mac hardware, and you need to have a dedicated IP address.
• Install your iOS app on your iPhone via TestFlight, and debug it with a tool like Bugsnag. You can monitor and debug live crashes in your app.

An interesting use case for renting a Mac in the cloud comes from the latest developments in Apple’s hardware. Many designers, developers and desktop-publishers have voiced their concerns over Apple hardware lagging behind, offering low-spec computers for a fairly high price.

If you don’t want to take your $3.000 MacBook Pro with you in a coffee shop, or on your next trip to Thailand, why not purchase a low-end Windows or Linux laptop, and connect to your Mac in the cloud? You can either host it at home yourself, co-locate it in a data center, or rent a dedicated cloud-based Mac.

Do you want to learn how to code iOS apps, but don’t want to invest money in a Mac? Rent a Mac in the cloud for the duration of the iOS development course you’re taking! It’s a great way to bootstrap learning iOS development, and you can always buy your own Mac later.

Learn how to code iOS apps

Get started with Xcode and Swift

Ready to get started with iOS development? Learn how to code iOS apps with Xcode and Swift with our immersive iOS development course. Works both on Mac and PC!

How to create an app: Top tutorials for iOS, Android or desktop

Top tutorials show you how to create an app for any platform.

Although Microsoft’s mobile aspirations were all for nothing (sorry, Windows Phone fans), Microsoft’s still dominant on the desktop. Moreover, its ambitious universal approach to development means apps you create potentially have reach across a wide range of platforms.

01. Windows Dev Center

Microsoft’s Windows Dev Center is the natural starting point for anyone keen to make windows apps – for PCs, tablets, phones, and more. There are explainers about Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app development, insight into Windows conventions, and a bunch of code examples.

02. Create your first Windows app

If you want to quickly get something working, this tutorial from Microsoft walks you through how to create a simple ‘Hello, world’ app for UWP using XAML and C#. Also, rather than just fling up a dialog to say hello, this little app will speak.

03. Create a Windows desktop app with C#

This 15-minute video tutorial walks through how to create a desktop app for Windows using C# and Visual Studio. It comes from the Computer Science YouTube channel. You’ll end up with a simple popup with two different response options.

04. Make a Windows clock app

This tutorial for Tuts+ goes a bit further than many beginners’ guides. Vivek Maskara leads you through the process of making a clock, where the background gradually shifts colour by converting the time to a hexadecimal value.

05. Create a simple UWP game with DirectX

Sadly, this tutorial from Microsoft doesn’t leave you with a playable game at the end. Still, you do at least learn to work on the major components of a game: creating a game loop, rendering, controls, audio, and adding imagery.

Next page: How to make macOS apps for Macs

Can I use Windows 10 to develop IOS apps?

Can I use Windows 10 to develop IOS apps?

11 Replies

You will always require a MacOSX environment. You could look at hosted MacOSX solutions or connecting to a virtual session but eventually you will need a Mac. Having said that, you can actually create code within any editor of your choice. However, you are not going to be able to easily debug the code, and you will need a MacOSX environment to submit any project to the App Store.

Note that when choosing a machine you should get one that can support the latest OSX version if possible.

While there are ways to pseudo-code up to a point, Apple’s IDE requires macOS if you expect to build and upload to the store.

You can use VMware which allows you to install any OS, you don’t need to by a Mac. However, if you were thinking to use win 10 for developing iOS , you can not.

You can’t run a MacOS VM on a Windows machine. But you can do the reverse, so if you can only buy one machine, buy a Mac and use Windows VMs 🙂

I was in the Windows system development iOS iOS is also in the Windows system directly upload iOS APP to App Store, as long as the use of this tool Appuploader, you can search for use, can be used free of charge.

Is there a way of developing the program on a mac device (imac, iphone, ipad) but code in Windows 10 and launch the program direct onto an Apple OS Hardware.

>Does XCODE as an IDE work multi platform. Thats the real question.

As explained above, and to you in yourother thread same topic, Xcode requires a mac.

You can develop apps for iOS using Visual Studio and Xamarin on Windows 10 but you still need a Mac on your LAN to run Xcode. A refurbished Mac mini (

$500) will do the job.

> you still need a Mac

Thanks for re-confirming.

You can do this, you need Xcode on Windows, a Virtual Machine and software that will help redirect the iOS devices to a virtual environment.

No, Macrosoft’s (you all know that’s what Mac really stands for) Business Practices are more predatory than those of a certain neighbor a couple of states to their north. You must buy a $4000-$7000 device that you would never use for anything else in order to build silly games for a tablet. If you would like to use a good computer to make actual programs rather than just apps, give up. It cannot be done.

There are a lot of sites with various programs and extensions claiming to do what you’re looking for, several links are even in this topic, but they are all failures. Every last one of them has been abandoned and many may cause harm to your computer. In the very least they will waste space on your hard drive.

HOW TO DEVELOP IOS APPS ON WINDOWS

Have you ever thought of developing an iOS mobile app on windows?

The answer will be most probably a big NO, however, the times have changed and let’s find out how to develop an iOS app on windows.

The main issue that holds you from iOS app development in windows was the Xcode, the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) we use to design and develop an iOS app.

Xcode includes a swift compiler, interface builder and other required tools to upload your app to the app store.

Now Xcode contains everything you need to build an iOS application.

The only issue is that it is only compatible with Mac OS X (now called Mac OS).

Another issue is that you can’t buy any PC with Mac OS on it because unlike Windows, Apple doesn’t let you license its OS with other manufacturers.

When you purchase an OS X, you can license to only run this OS on Apple hardware.

This limits you to develop apps that run only on a Mac.

Table of Contents

Top 8 Ways to Develop an iOS App on Windows PC

1. Use Virtualbox and Install Mac OS on Your Windows PC

The quickest way to develop iOS apps on windows is with the help of a virtual machine.

A virtual machine will create an environment where any operating system can run in like it’s running in the same hardware itself.

This functionality is called virtualization as it allows you to run Windows on Linux and even Windows on OS X.

To run Mac OS on a virtual machine, you need two things:

• A copy of OS X as a virtual image file or an installer.

• A virtual machine tool like VirtualBox or VMWare.

You can acquire a duplicate of OS X by downloading it from the App Store.

You can likewise find installers from different sources on the internet.

Remember that utilizing Mac OS on non-Apple hardware is against Apple’s End User License Agreement (EULA).

2. Rent a Mac in the Cloud

A considerably simpler approach to get your hands on OS X is to lease a Mac in the Cloud, although it will be much more expensive.

Services like Mac-in-Cloud and Mac-Stadium offer affordable rent-a-Mac products.

You can connect with those cloud-based Macs by means of a Remote Desktop Connection (RDP).

Windows provides a stock Remote Desktop you can utilize, thus do most Linux OS.

Once you’re signed in, you can install Xcode and your iOS app development services.

3. Build Your Own “Hackintosh”

The most evident choice iOS app development services on a Windows PC is maybe to actually install OS X on a Windows PC.

Apple enthusiasts have always enjoyed the integrated user experience, design, and interconnectivity the tech giant has offered.

A Hackintosh is a PC that runs Mac OS. It is same as installing an OS X in a Virtual machine, likewise, you can install OS X as a bootable OS to your PC.

4. Create iOS Apps on Windows with Cross-Platform Tools

Cross-platform tools are amazing: you code your application once and export it to iOS and Android.

That could cut your application development time and cost into the half.

A few cross-platform tools enable you to create iOS applications on a Windows PC or allow you to compile the application if there’s a Mac within your network.

A regularly heard argument against cross-platform app development tools is that they offer restricted access to and support for smartphone hardware, and are less “smart” than their counterparts.

Remember that any cross-platform tool will expect you to compose platform-specific code at a certain point, particularly if you need to code custom features.

5. Code with a Swift Sandbox

Swift is an open-source language, which implies that you can effectively run it on any hardware.

Swift is an open-source language, which implies that you can effectively run it on any hardware.

Accordingly, you can likewise run it in your browser too – if the language is ported to Chrome, Safari or Firefox.

You can learn Swift and code with it without needing a Mac or XCode, using Swift Sandbox.

Once you run a code in Swift Sandbox, it will send the code to a webserver. The webserver will compile the code and return a result.

Accordingly, you can likewise run it in your browser too – if the language is ported to Chrome, Safari or Firefox.

6. Use Unity3D

A powerful IDE, Unity, is essentially known as a game development engine that can be used on Android, iOS, Windows, and many other platforms.

But its rapid development and powerful features also make it a good choice for building non-gaming apps.

Unity’s “Cloud Build” feature supports iOS development on Windows in simple steps.

By registering as an Apple developer and joining the unity cloud build, it is easy to set up, create, and build iOS projects.

With a free to use editor for development and distribution, it is possible to completely build an ios app in Windows.

You only need a Mac to compile the project!

7. With the Hybrid Framework, Xamarin

A cheaper option than Cloud Mac, hybrid frameworks give a cost-effective solution or iOS development on Windows.

Xamarin is a trusted choice by most developers, who claim that it provides real native output.

It uses C# for coding. It is a feature-rich platform that allows you to build and compile iOS apps and deploy them to iOS devices from Windows.

The only thing you cannot do from Windows and require a Mac is the submission to the app store.

8. In React Native Environment

React Native is a cross platform tool based on Javascript that is widely being used for iOS development on Windows.

It has several exceptional features and an easy learning curve, making it a popular tool among developers.

Using the android emulator and by setting up Mac OS deployment machines, developing an iOS application in Windows is possible.

To see the output, you can use the Expo simulator, which is available on both Android and iOS.

Conclusion

If you wanted to start building on iOS and unavailability of a Mac OS was what was stopping you, then these alternatives are exactly what you need.

Although these might be a little complicated that directly building on Mac, they are tried and tested alternatives by developers worldwide.

In the end, iOS application development is all about familiarizing yourself with Xcode.

Once you’re comfortable there, you can develop your app with the tools mentioned above, which will help you get started on the right path.