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I am interested in developing for Xamarin, but I only have a W10 laptop and no MAC. I have seen different answers to questions very similar to this one like these: How to develop iOS app using Xamarin Studio on Windows?, Xamarin Visual Studio IOS Development Without a Mac?. Even though the accepted responses say it can't be done there are some others good answers that say it can be done. So my question is:

How can I develop iOS apps in Xamarin for Visual Studio 2015 without a MAC available, using some virtualization technology (thinking VMWare/VirtualBox since I don't have any experience in Hyper-V)?

Community
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Luiso
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    I'm not totally sure about this, but I *think* Apple licenses OS X in such a way that running it in a VM on a Windows box is not permitted. Or maybe they do stuff in software to prevent that from happening. In any case, I don't hear about a lot of people doing this. – adv12 May 02 '16 at 16:13
  • The questions this one (supposedly ) duplicates is just about developing for iPhone, what I ask is more technology specific (Xamarin) in one sense and broader on other as with Xamarin you could also develop for iPod and iPad. – Luiso May 05 '16 at 19:28

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Installing a Mac VM is not trivial, and not acceptable by the terms of the EULA from Apple. If you can swing it at all, I'd recommend picking up a Mac Mini ($500 ish). This will make you legit, and you can just hook it up in a corner - or like me use it as a media center and Steam streamer on my TV.

However, I once did experiment with the VM notion and it is possible, but I don't know what kind of trouble you may run into when trying to publish apps to the app store.

Jonathan Blackburn
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If you don't have a mac and you don't plan on purchasing one, I would suggest you take a look at Mac In the Cloud. I know some fellow developers who use that for Xamarin development.

wishmaster
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  • Also have a look at the repost iOS simulator available in the alpha builds - this can really help test your app on iOS from a windows box by sharing just the iOS simulator from your remote mac – JimBobBennett May 02 '16 at 23:21
  • @JimBobBennett could you please tell me how those emulators work, I am a total newby in *Apple/Mac/iOS * subjects – Luiso May 05 '16 at 15:48
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No, the virtual hadrware and drivers in hyper-v are generics... MacOs X is for hardware select from Apple.

Edwin Garzón
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