Installing ios on linux

Starting iPhone app development in Linux? [closed]

Closed. This question is seeking recommendations for books, tools, software libraries, and more. It does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.

We don’t allow questions seeking recommendations for books, tools, software libraries, and more. You can edit the question so it can be answered with facts and citations.

I’ve heard that you need to get a Mac if you want to develop iPhone apps. Is this true? Is it possible to develop iPhone apps using Linux? If yes, what do I need and where do I download the necessary tools?

@GoodPerson Then you’d be blurring the line between OS X and other OSes, which is what this question is about.

17 Answers 17

To provide a differing response, I’m running OS X and Xcode on a virtualised (VMware) machine on Linux. CPU is a Core2Quad (Q8800), and it is perfectly fast. I found a prebuilt VM online (I’ll leave it to you to find) Xcode/iPhone development works perfectly, as does debugging via USB to the phone itself.

It actually surprised me a lot — but I’ve had no issues at all.

Yep — no problems. You’re using XCode, the signing works fine, I’ve now got a production app on the store, submitted from the VM. I won’t name it for obvious reasons.

Ok. My opinion on this. Once you have the app developed you can use this service to publish macincloud.com

The answer to this really depends on whether or not you want to develop apps that are then distributed through the iPhone store. If you don’t, and don’t mind developing for the «jailbroken» iPhone crowd — then it’s possible to develop from Linux.

Check this chap’s page for a comprehensive (if a little complex) guide on what to do :

It seems to be true so far. The only SDK available from Apple only targets the macOS environment. I’ve been upset about that, but I’m looking into buying a mac now, just to do iPhone development. I really dislike what they are doing, and I hope a good SDK come out for other environments, such as Linux and Windows.

Obstacles regarding the SDK:

The iPhone SDK and free software: not a match

Apple’s recently released a software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone, but if you were hoping to port or develop original open source software with it, the news isn’t good. Code signing and nondisclosure conditions make free software a no-go.

The SDK itself is a free download, with which you can write programs and run them on a software simulator. But in order to actually release software you’ve written, you must enroll in the iPhone Developer Program — a step separate from downloading the SDK, and one that requires Apple’s approval.

I think it’s rather elitist for them to think only macOS users are good enough to write programs for their phone, and the fact you need to buy a $100 license if you want to publish your stuff, really makes it more difficult for the hobbyist programmer. Though, if that’s what you need to do, I’m planning on jumping through their hoops; I’d really like to get some stuff developed on my iPhone.

As has been said before, I don’t think it’s elitism at fault here. XCode and all the rest of the development tools (with the exception of low-level items such as GCC) are written in Cocoa, as are all the iPhone frameworks. They’d need to port all this to other OSs first. That’s no small task.

Let me know when Microsoft release Visual Studio, Access, Frontpage, XNA, DirectX, Office (with all the features), Movie Maker, Visio, IIS or Exchange for Mac / Linux.

Let me know when Microsoft makes it against the EULA to run Visual Studio, Access, Frontpage, XNA, DirectX, Office, Movie Maker, Visio, IIS or Exchange in (Dar)Wine.

There used to be a project dedicated to solve this defect: iphone-dev

The goal of the iphone-dev project is to create a free, portable, high quality toolchain to enable development for the Apple iPhone and other embedded devices based on the ARM/Darwin platform.

The project doesn’t appear to be undergoing regular development or maintenance from the site (e.g. Wiki entries on building the tool / portability are from Feb. 2010).

Regarding the alternative tool chain, Saurik’s site is useful but for latest firmware development he indicates building on the iPhone itself and stays clear of indicating that you may need to copy necessary iPhone firmware files to your Linux environment. It’s not impossible, but just requires additional work, especially for signing the code (there are open alternative solutions out there as well).

Also, take a look at other guides (for the same tool chain) that approach it more methodically.

I’d suggest to still do the final build and code signing and packaging in XCode (which may mean borrowing someone’s Mac) in case you run into problems when submitting the application to Apple. Using the alternative tool chain opens up (at least on the Mac) the possibility of using other IDEs other than XCode for developing the application and again resorting to XCode for the deployment and testing with the simulator.

Of course if you do get the code signing / certificate generation working from the command line outside of XCode then you can install a certificate on your actual iPhone and test there (installing the app via iTunes w/your certificate).

Источник

3 Best Ways to Perform iOS Development on Linux

Developing iOS apps on Mac is an effortless task because you have Xcode (official IDE of Apple) to work with. But is it possible to develop an entire application from scratch in a Linux environment without Xcode?

If you are using Linux OS and not planning to buy a Mac anytime soon and still want to develop an iOS application, then you can follow the suggested ways to develop iOS applications on Linux.

After referring to this guide, you will be confident to perform iOS development on Linux. So, let us discuss iOS development using Linux.

Overview of iOS Development Using Linux

Being an iOS developer, you know that using Xcode (IDE), you will be able to develop iOS mobile apps. However, Xcode only runs on a Mac computer. Thus, you need different ways to develop iOS applications on Linux.

For developing an iOS app on Linux, you need virtualization software.

But, how to use virtual access to virtual Mac OS? Here are the two virtual machines for you to choose from.

With a virtual machine, you can run Windows on Linux operating systems (Linux OS) and even Windows on a Mac operating system. One of the significant benefits of virtualization software is that it helps running multiple OS side-by-side, which is beneficial to build cross-platform apps.

Are You Planning to Create an iOS App?

Looking to validate your app idea and get a free consultation? Contact us now!

Here are three ways with which you can develop iOS apps on Linux.

3 Best Ways to Develop iOS Apps on Linux

Get Cloud Mac on Rent

Additionally, you get to choose from different Mac products like Mac Pro and Mac mini.

Now, you can connect with a cloud-based Mac using a remote desktop connection. Linux offers Rdesktop remote desktop protocol for Linux operating systems. You can use this to access MacinCloud servers.

Also, MacStadium offers different solutions for you according to your business type. They have 3 plans based on your business size.

Device Type	Business Size
Single Mac Minis	If you are running a company with a small number of employees, or you are an individual or a student, you can rent this plan.
Orka Clouds	If your business requires higher automation and scalability, you can choose Orka Clouds.
Bare Metal Clouds	This is the DIY (Do It Yourself) bare meta automation plan, in which you or your team will perform all the customization and deployment.

Develop iOS Applications Using Cross-Platform Tools

Picking the right cross-platform development tool is essential for building function-rich apps like Wikipedia and TripCase. As a result, businesses have started to develop their open-source library to allow developers to code iOS and Android using different platforms like React Native and Xamarian. We have listed down the platforms and programming languages used to develop iOS and Android app development.

Cross-Platform Tools	Programming Language	Applications
Xamarian	C#	Storyo, Olo
Ionic	HTML5	Marketwatch, Pacifica
Cordova	HTML/JavaScript	Visual Studio, SworKit
Appcelerator	HTML5	–
ReactNative	JavaScript, Java, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, Python	Facebook, Instagram, Bloomberg
Flutter	Dart Languagen	Google Ads, Alibaba, Birch Finance

• Xamarin: Cross-platform tools like Xamarian will help you to develop apps that support Linux. Since, Xamarian is a .NET development platform, the tools and libraries of Xamarian are developed for iOS, Android, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Windows. In addition, with Xamarian, developers can reuse the code and share it on all parts of device platforms.
• Ionic: The ionic framework is an open-source SDK for hybrid mobile app development, which is used for developing excellent mobile and desktop apps. Ionic uses web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to integrate React, Angular, and Vue.
• Flutter and React Native: These are the widely used cross-platform solutions to develop apps for iOS. Flutter and React Native offer application development for Android, iOS, and UWP ( Universal Windows Platform). The social networking giant Facebook is backed by React Native, whereas, Google develops flutter.

Using these cross-platform tools, you can develop apps in your preferred language and learn iOS and Android. You need to understand the basics of programming languages like Javascript, C#, Swift, and HTML5. Understanding the iOS and Android ecosystems is the added advantage for building powerful hybrid and native apps.

You should know that most of these cross-platform tools require an iOS device or Mac simulator. If you don’t have a Mac machine, you can develop the hybrid apps using cross-platform tools and test your application using BrowserStack.com or Saucelabs.

But, do Apple’s latest features work in cross-platform frameworks?

If you are developing apps with cross-platform frameworks, you might not be able to work with Apple’s latest features. Since Apple takes months to make all the latest features available for cross-platform developers.

Run macOS Environment Using Virtual Machine

You can use VirtualBox since its installation process is smoother, and you can quickly get it up and running for macOS in no time.

To set up a virtual machine, you need to find a macOS image online (Copy of macOS) or you need to find someone’s laptop to get one. Then, by modifying settings such as hard drive space and memory, you can set up your virtual machine.

Inside the virtual machine, it will look exactly like the Mac environment. You can install and set up Xcode, set up iPad and iPhone simulators, and work with it. However, it may require virtual ports for the minimum configurations to perform testing on real iOS devices.

Share your idea with our iOS app developers who have developed more than 1000 iOS applications.

FAQs About iOS Development on Linux

How much time does it take to build iOS and Android apps?

The mobile app development time (iOS and Android app) can range between 2 – 6 months, depending on various factors. These factors are:

• The complexity of the app
• The location of the mobile developer
• Features and functionalities
• UI/UX design

What is an iOS Simulator?

During the development process, an iOS simulator will help you to quickly prototype and test build your application. iOS simulator is a part of Xcode tools and will be installed accordingly.

iOS simulator will work exactly like your standard Mac app while simulating iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, and Apple Watch.

Conclusion

We hope you have understood the 3 ways to develop iOS applications on Linux environments. Initially, it might become quite challenging to set up and build an iOS app on Linux.

In case of any questions, our iOS app development team will consult and help you to find a solution.

Bhaval Patel is a Director (Operations) at Space-O Technologies. He has 20+ years of experience helping startups and enterprises with custom software solutions to drive maximum results. Under his leadership, Space-O has won the 8th GESIA annual award for being the best mobile app development company. So far, he has validated more than 300 app ideas and successfully delivered 100 custom solutions using the technologies, such as Swift, Kotlin, React Native, Flutter, PHP, RoR, IoT, AI, NFC, AR/VR, Blockchain, NFT, and more.

Talk to us and
get your project moving!

Get a 30-min free consultation from the field expert. Validate your idea for free and get a detailed quote once you fill this form.

Источник