11 ms·

I don't have a mac, why is it to be so hard for someone like me to learn ios development :(

by fuadnafiz98 6y ago

slipper1 6y ago
This is by design to gatekeep only rich people. For the rich, by the rich, of the rich.
- ru552 6y ago
  This is a pretty dramatic take. You can get a brand new mac mini with an M1 for <$1000. The price drops significantly (<$500) if you get a refurb or pick up a used one on ebay. $500 may still be a lot of money, but it's not "rich" money.
ornornor 6y ago
It is quite a hassle indeed. As far as I know, you need: - a Mac (with a recent enough version of Mac OS) - an iPhone with a recent enough iOS - a 99$/year (iirc) Apple developer account These things might be a given for people in SV but it’s quite a big upfront cost for most people outside of HCOL areas. Unless I’m mistaken and you can do without a Mac? But I seem to recall you need to use iCode (or whatever apple’s IDE is called ;)
- ru552 6y ago
  The GP's question was about learning IOS dev. For that, you only need the Mac. There is a simulator built in to Mac dev tools so you don't have to have an iphone. The developer account also isn't needed to learn. You only need the $99/year account to publish apps to the app store.
  - otachack 6y ago
    I think you also need the dev account if you want to run apps on a physical phone, but it's been awhile since I tried.
    - jeffreyrogers 6y ago
      You can just use your Apple ID (I think that's what it's called), which is free. Some of the features are only available if you have the $99/year account.
    - steve_taylor 6y ago
      You can side-load builds onto your iPhone/iPad and they expire after a while (maybe 30 days).
      - saagarjha 6y ago
        7 days.
- swiley 6y ago
  It's possible to build iOS binaries without a mac but you have to collect a bunch of the tools yourself since Apple has made it illegal to distribute them. Of course you can't actually get the app installed on your phone without sending it to apple first (this is what eg cydia impactor does.) IMO: that whole platform is so extremely user/developer hostile it's better to just avoid it entirely unless someone is paying you to work on it.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
themacguffinman 6y ago
Definitely not suggesting that it's ideal, but if iOS dev is important to you have you considered setting up a Hackintosh or a macOS VM [1]? Typically macOS Hackintoshes/VMs have annoying issues or requirements that make it unstable for full-time desktop use, but if you're just trying to use the simulator and the Xcode build tools, maybe it's enough? [1] For example (I am not associated with the website): https://www.soupbowl.io/2020/04/macos-in-virtualbox/ https://www.soupbowl.io/2020/04/macos-in-virtualbox/
- fuadnafiz98 6y ago
  No I never tried that, thanks for the suggestion, I will try it :)
risyachka 6y ago
Scaleway recently added M1 Mac instances. Their price is $3 per day. You could probably start with them.
readme 6y ago
if this bothers you maybe your energy is better spent developing something other than an iOS app mobile apps were pretty cool in 2009, now they're just another medium there's so many interesting problems to solve and interesting programming technologies that don't suffer from the problem you're pointing out
antfarm 6y ago
You would never s/mac/computer/ s/ios/software/ Would you?

I don't have a mac, why is it to be so hard for someone like me to learn ios development :(

slipper1 6y ago

This is by design to gatekeep only rich people. For the rich, by the rich, of the rich.

ru552 6y ago
This is a pretty dramatic take. You can get a brand new mac mini with an M1 for <$1000. The price drops significantly (<$500) if you get a refurb or pick up a used one on ebay. $500 may still be a lot of money, but it's not "rich" money.

ornornor 6y ago

It is quite a hassle indeed. As far as I know, you need: - a Mac (with a recent enough version of Mac OS) - an iPhone with a recent enough iOS - a 99$/year (iirc) Apple developer account These things might be a given for people in SV but it’s quite a big upfront cost for most people outside of HCOL areas. Unless I’m mistaken and you can do without a Mac? But I seem to recall you need to use iCode (or whatever apple’s IDE is called ;)

ru552 6y ago
The GP's question was about learning IOS dev. For that, you only need the Mac. There is a simulator built in to Mac dev tools so you don't have to have an iphone. The developer account also isn't needed to learn. You only need the $99/year account to publish apps to the app store.
- otachack 6y ago
  I think you also need the dev account if you want to run apps on a physical phone, but it's been awhile since I tried.
  - jeffreyrogers 6y ago
    You can just use your Apple ID (I think that's what it's called), which is free. Some of the features are only available if you have the $99/year account.
  - steve_taylor 6y ago
    You can side-load builds onto your iPhone/iPad and they expire after a while (maybe 30 days).
    - saagarjha 6y ago
      7 days.
swiley 6y ago
It's possible to build iOS binaries without a mac but you have to collect a bunch of the tools yourself since Apple has made it illegal to distribute them. Of course you can't actually get the app installed on your phone without sending it to apple first (this is what eg cydia impactor does.) IMO: that whole platform is so extremely user/developer hostile it's better to just avoid it entirely unless someone is paying you to work on it.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

themacguffinman 6y ago

Definitely not suggesting that it's ideal, but if iOS dev is important to you have you considered setting up a Hackintosh or a macOS VM [1]? Typically macOS Hackintoshes/VMs have annoying issues or requirements that make it unstable for full-time desktop use, but if you're just trying to use the simulator and the Xcode build tools, maybe it's enough? [1] For example (I am not associated with the website): https://www.soupbowl.io/2020/04/macos-in-virtualbox/ https://www.soupbowl.io/2020/04/macos-in-virtualbox/

fuadnafiz98 6y ago
No I never tried that, thanks for the suggestion, I will try it :)

risyachka 6y ago

Scaleway recently added M1 Mac instances. Their price is $3 per day. You could probably start with them.

readme 6y ago

if this bothers you maybe your energy is better spent developing something other than an iOS app mobile apps were pretty cool in 2009, now they're just another medium there's so many interesting problems to solve and interesting programming technologies that don't suffer from the problem you're pointing out

antfarm 6y ago

You would never s/mac/computer/ s/ios/software/ Would you?