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iOS Programming Iphone in Windows Environment?

R

raziiq

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 26, 2008
82
0
Hey there
i have a simple question, is it possible to develop apps for iPhone in windows Environment using .Net Studio or may Java??
 
raziiq said:
Hey there
i have a simple question, is it possible to develop apps for iPhone in windows Environment using .Net Studio or may Java??
Click to expand...

No the SDK only runs on Mac. You could always right the code on windows, then send it to someone with a Mac to compile it, but that would be a serious pain and make debugging take forever.
 
thats a real sad news? :(

it means windows Developers should wait for some windows based environment to develop apps for iPhone
 
raziiq said:
thats a real sad news? :(

it means windows Developers should wait for some windows based environment to develop apps for iPhone
Click to expand...

Don't expect to see Apple make a windows solution any time soon. Apple would have to port over xcode, which is a HUGE program, it wouldn't be cost effective to them to port it. You'd be better off buying a used intel mac mini off ebay for $200-$300 and develop on that.
 
Even if Apple port the SDK and all related tool to Windows (let's just pretend this will ever happen) it still wouldn't let you use .Net or Java: you'd still have to use Cocoa Touch/Objective-C. Apple are not going to bother slowing the phone done by supporting other languages/frameworks. So as a Windows developer you'd still have to learn the correct toolset for the device.
 
i thought so, Apple wont be going with it.
Well i think i should build my apps in windows and compile then on my Uni's Mac.
What Compiler do i have to use to compile my apps in Mac? Is there some built in Compiler in Mac for this purpose?
Sorry i am a Windows User, dont know much about Mac :confused:
 
You need the Developer toolset which you can download and install from Apple on any Mac running a recent version of OSX Leopard. You need administrator rights to install this.

I cannot imagine that you will be able to write code in Windows the compile on a Mac though: you will simply get frustrated.
 
Alright i think i have give up the idea of developing apps for iPhone in Windows or should learn the Apple Developer Toolkit and buy a Mac :(
 
If you think about it, by the time Apple ports over Xcode, the serious developers would have saved up enough money for a cheap Mac...it just wouldn't be worth it considering the amount of people that try the SDK out, then never come back to it...

But yeah, the iPhone applications are all written in Objective-C.
 
Word to the wise, DO NOT ask if you can compile your project on your uni's mac!!! Just do it when no-one is around. Most uni's will claim a percentage of the program royalties as theirs if they are aware you are making money as you have used their machines as part of the development process. What's more I bet when you signed the papers to go to uni you unknowingly signed and agreed to that clause...
 
If Microsoft with the .NET developing environment doesn't allow you to use in Mac OSX .. why Apple will be different?

You need an Intel Mac for doing this. Sad news? No, just a requisite.
 
coolman said:
If Microsoft with the .NET developing environment doesn't allow you to use in Mac OSX .. why Apple will be different?

You need an Intel Mac for doing this. Sad news? No, just a requisite.
Click to expand...

In fairness, Apple doesn't make it easy for developers to use OS X *unless* they buy a Mac due to the licensing terms of OS X. Microsoft doesn't care what hardware Windows is run on, they don't stipulate that it can only be run on a particular vendor's hardware. Proof of this is Boot Camp in OS X! Apple does care, presumably to boost their hardware sales.

That attitude has never sat well with me but, as I was in the market for a new laptop to replace my Dell XPS and wanted to do some iPhone development, I ended up buying a Macbook Pro so I could run both OS X and Windows on the same machine.

On the plus side, even if my iPhone work never takes off (in which case I've got no need to run OS X at all), I'll still be more than happy with the laptop just running Vista - it is a nice machine and I don't regret buying it. But I don't think it's ideal that this should be forced, just so you can run their OS. It makes it much more difficult for Windows developers to move into Mac dev.
 
I (rather naughtily) installed OS X on an Intel laptop and successfully had XCode working for iPhone development. However, it only took me about a day before I ended up wiping it and buying myself a 24" mac for my development.

Not a word of a lie - I'm SO glad I did. If it weren't for the fact I have to use Windows at work, I'd have no Microsoft-based PC in my life at all. Not for development anyway.

My advice: invest in a second hand mac, or buy a shiny new one like I did! :D

:apple::apple::apple:
 
Niiro13 said:
If you think about it, by the time Apple ports over Xcode, the serious developers would have saved up enough money for a cheap Mac...it just wouldn't be worth it considering the amount of people that try the SDK out, then never come back to it...

But yeah, the iPhone applications are all written in Objective-C.
Click to expand...

i was just wonderin if you can code in windows using only cocoa touch and objective c without the iphone sdk and would you still be able to develop for the ipHone on windows?
 
JonnyThunder said:
I (rather naughtily) installed OS X on an Intel laptop and successfully had XCode working for iPhone development. However, it only took me about a day before I ended up wiping it and buying myself a 24" mac for my development.

Not a word of a lie - I'm SO glad I did. If it weren't for the fact I have to use Windows at work, I'd have no Microsoft-based PC in my life at all. Not for development anyway.

My advice: invest in a second hand mac, or buy a shiny new one like I did! :D

:apple::apple::apple:
Click to expand...

how did u install os x on the intel laptop?
 
jpbjr21 said:
i was just wonderin if you can code in windows using only cocoa touch and objective c without the iphone sdk and would you still be able to develop for the ipHone on windows?
Click to expand...

The SDK is not XCode: that is the IDE. The SDK is really made up of the libraries to compile against, the simulator and the connection to install code on a device. The libraries include Cocoa Touch. These don't exist on Windows and cannot be obtained so I have no idea how you are going to compile against them on Windows.
 
The official sdk and the unofficial sdk are around 90% identical and you can code for the unofficial sdk on windows no problem. If and when the time comes that you want to sell your app you can then look into buying a mac and with either zero or very few changes to the code it would compile in xcode as a standard sdk app.

This however is all providing that you stick with the libraries used in the official sdk and are not tempted to venture into the private frameworks etc that the unofficial toolchain allows access to.

You would need to jailbreak your iPhone but its a good way of getting your feet wet before buying into a mac just to test the apps on your phone.
 
jpbjr21 said:
how did u install os x on the intel laptop?
Click to expand...

There is a project called OSx86 which actually is a hacked OSX so it runs on most windows-based hardware. Their homepage is here. That page only supplies a list of hardware support. you can download an .iso disk image from a random torrent site. Try iDeneb's version of OSx86 (i think it is the best one)

Thijsiez
 
raziiq said:
Alright i think i have give up the idea of developing apps for iPhone in Windows or should learn the Apple Developer Toolkit and buy a Mac :(
Click to expand...

I would suggest buying a Mac. Most people end up loving the OS anyway. Its actually really nice to develop one.

I was a longtime developer on Windows and now I barely touch it anymore unless I need to use DirectX. OSX and XCode are just really nice to develop in.
 
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