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I've just finished an Android application for a company which they are happy with. Now however they would like an iOS version of this app. I have no experience of iOS app development and do not own any apple products, but I said I would further investigate alternatives.

After reading around a bit it seems that you can develop iOs apps on Windows, but with cons. It seems like a hassle to get the enviroment up and running. It's also supposedly slow and you can't release the app on market without a mac license. Is this true?

The company would pay me for enviroment licenses and etc but not a for mac machine. If I claim this fee I don't want to disappoint them with an app that isn't tested on a real device, neither compiled and released by me.

Given the circumstances, can I develop the app without a mac computer?

Lucas Arrefelt
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  • "The company would pay me for enviroment licenses and etc but not a for mac machine" - the Mac machine is the "environment licence". – millimoose Oct 07 '12 at 18:06
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    Seriously, MBPs start at $1200. How much is that, less than a week of a first world SW contractor's billing? It doesn't even begin to make sense to save there, especially if you consider the hardware is amortised over 2+ years which is a fairly realistic support period for an app. – millimoose Oct 07 '12 at 18:08
  • If $1200 is too much, Mac Minis are only $600. http://www.apple.com/macmini/. – Nathan Villaescusa Oct 07 '12 at 18:09
  • Thank you for all your comments. I'm alone in this project hence the economic boundaries. Now I know I can't develop iOS for them – Lucas Arrefelt Oct 07 '12 at 18:37
  • @millimoose thank you for clearing that out – Lucas Arrefelt Oct 07 '12 at 18:39
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    possible duplicate of [How can I develop for iPhone using a Windows development machine?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22358/how-can-i-develop-for-iphone-using-a-windows-development-machine) – Peter O. Oct 27 '12 at 23:54

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The real answer is bad for you I guess: you need a Mac OS computer to develop your apps on, and really should own at least one or two iOS devices to test the app before putting it on the market. I would not start an iOS project without the company backing you up on this, better to disappoint them now then later.

Richard Altenburg - Brainchild
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I would suggest you not to step back from the project, It is possible to create iPhone apps on windows machine. Check the link for detailed explanation: How can I develop for iPhone using a Windows development machine?

Community
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