iPhone SDK on Windows (alternative solutions)

Question

I know there is no official SDK for Windows, which is very annoying. Is there any way to develop applications on a Windows computer, other than somehow running a Mac OS in VMware? I know you can do it with Xcode, but that is also only for Mac OS X. Google searches have revealed absolutely nothing.

If I cannot use the SDK or Xcode, is there any way I can just check syntax or something and just make my code in Notepad and save it with the proper extension? I have no idea whether or not I would be able to do that, probably because I have never even tried the SDK and probably never will without buying a Mac.

Actually DragonFire SDK is an official program you can use to create apps in Windows. It's completely legal and you don't have to jailbreak your phone. All you need to know to use it is the basic C/C++ code. Here is their site if you want to check it out: www.dragonfiresdk.com — , May 27 '10 at 16:42
You're a little late there: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/928656/iphone-sdk-on-windows-alternative-solutions/1752564#1752564 Someone beat you to it a few months ago — Cyclone, May 27 '10 at 20:54

score 26 · Answer 1 · edited May 27 '11 at 09:04

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I looked into this before buying a Mac Mini. The answer is, essentially, no. You pretty much have to buy a Leopard Mac to do iPhone SDK development for apps that run on non-jailbroken iPhones.

Not that it's 100% impossible, but it's 99.99% unreasonable. Like changing light bulbs with your feet.

Not only do you have to be in Xcode, but you have to get certificates into the Keychain manager to be able to have Xcode and the iPhone communicate. And you have to set all kinds of setting in Xcode just right.

edited May 27 '11 at 09:04

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 30 '09 at 00:55

Nosredna

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I'm going to be buying a 3 or 4 year old MacMini. Will that be okay? I mean, the oldness doesn't have to do with any hidden kind of compatibility right? Other wise I'll be only wasting my money on something old instead of saving for a brand new. – bad_keypoints Oct 14 '13 at 12:14

score 16 · Accepted Answer · edited May 27 '11 at 08:57

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You could easily build an app using PhoneGap or Appcelerators Titanium Mobile.

Both of these essentially act as a WebKit wrapper, so you can build your application with HTML/CSS/JavaScript. It's a pretty portable solution, too, but you are somewhat limited in what you can make - i.e, no intensive rendering or anything. It really all depends on what you're looking to do.

edited May 27 '11 at 08:57

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 22 '09 at 08:16

Ryan McGrath

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Err, neither one appears to let you make actual apps, like ones you could sell in the appstore... – Cyclone Jun 22 '09 at 15:27
Nevermind, appcelerator looks perfect and I have signed up for the beta. You just won yourself a bounty ;) – Cyclone Jun 22 '09 at 17:40
Glad I could help! I've enjoyed some level of success with PhoneGap, but Titanium seems great as well. Good luck! ;) – Ryan McGrath Jun 22 '09 at 17:51
This was exactly the type of thing I was looking for!!! Once I have created an app, how do I sell it in the store? – Cyclone Jun 22 '09 at 18:15
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"Once I have created an app, how do I sell it in the store?" You beg, borrow, or steal a Macintosh. ;-) – Nosredna Jul 07 '09 at 16:24
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I was looking for it for years – Xinus Dec 13 '09 at 14:46

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 17 '09 at 23:17

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There is another solution if you want to develop in C/C++. http://www.DragonFireSDK.com will allow you to build iPhone applications in Visual Studio on Windows. It's worth a look-see for sure.

answered Nov 17 '09 at 23:17

Jim

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Looks like they messed up their content headers, I am getting it as plain text instead of HTML. Ill look for the download link somewhere... – Cyclone Nov 18 '09 at 02:42
Found the email address, got the sdk! Now all I need to do is learn c++. – Cyclone Nov 19 '09 at 21:35

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered May 30 '09 at 00:51

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You could do what saurik of Cydia does, and write your code on a PC then build it on the iPhone itself (it is a Mac, technically!) after you jailbreak it. However, you don't get Interface Builder, so you're basically creating UIs in code by hand. It'd also be pretty tough to actually submit your app without a Mac.

answered May 30 '09 at 00:51

Ana Betts

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I realize that I may be the only person left on the internet with morals, but I don't really want to jailbreak. I can submit apps just fine on the site, but since I cannot create them the point is moot. – Cyclone May 30 '09 at 00:56
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Stealing software is immoral - jailbreaking is not. What moral code are you breaking? – Ana Betts May 30 '09 at 01:00
Wait, what exactly does jailbreaking do? As far as I know, all it does is allow access to all apps for free. – Cyclone May 30 '09 at 01:02
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Jailbreaking lets you use the toolchain of Open Source tools for the iPhone. – Nosredna May 30 '09 at 01:03
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Jailbreaking your own iPhone is not immoral. You have purchased the hardware and software, and should be able to use it as you see fit. Apple hasn't even proven it's illegal (which is quite different from immoral). – Matthew Flaschen May 30 '09 at 01:15
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Jailbreaking has nothing to do with pirating apps. It's simply a way to escape Apple's arbitrary limitations (e.g. no third-party apps, no shell environment, etc.). – Matthew Flaschen May 30 '09 at 01:16
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I personally do not condone jailbreaking. Yes, it technically has nothing to do with pirating apps, but it's a very fine line to walk, because many less-moral iPhone users jailbreak their phones and have no qualms with pirating apps. I wish it were harder to jailbreak the iPhone - developers would not have to worry about piracy the way they do now. And believe me - it IS a problem. – Rob May 30 '09 at 21:48

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered May 30 '09 at 01:27

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No, you must have an Intel Mac of some sort. I went to Best Buy and got a 24" iMac with 4G RAM for $1499 using their 18 month no interest promotion. I pay a minimum payment of something like $16 a month. As long as I pay the entire thing off within 18 months - no interest. That was the only way I was getting into iPhone development.

answered May 30 '09 at 01:27

Taptronic

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$16 * 18 = $288. So, how's that balance coming along? – Christopher Parker Mar 09 '10 at 14:35
I paid that balance off a while ago. Hows that blog coming along? ;-) – Taptronic Mar 10 '10 at 21:50

score 1 · Answer 6 · edited May 27 '11 at 09:08

This really comes down to how much you value your time. As the other posters have mentioned, there are a couple of ways you can build iPhone apps without a Mac. However, you are jumping through serious hoops, and it'll be much more difficult and take longer than it would with the proper development chain.

You can buy a second-hand Mac Mini for a couple of hundred bucks on eBay. If you're serious about doing iPhone development you'll make this back in saved time very quickly.

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Jan 15 '12 at 22:36

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No one has brought up the hackintosh. If you have supported hardware it might be the best option.

edited Jan 15 '12 at 22:36

Jonas Heidelberg

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answered Jul 03 '11 at 01:45

kellogs

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score 1 · Answer 8 · answered May 30 '09 at 21:44

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Technically you can write code in a .NET language and use the Mono Framework (http://www.mono-project.com/) to run it on the iPhone. I haven't ever seen someone do this from scratch, but the folks that write the Unity Game Development platform (http://unity3d.com/) use it to make their games iPhone-compatible. The game itself is written in .NET, and then they provide an iPhone shell with the Mono frameworks that allows everything to run on the iPhone. I don't know whether they've contributed all of their modifications to Mono back to the open-source repository, but if you're serious about writing iPhone apps outside the Mac environment, it might be possible.

That said, I think you could dump weeks into getting that to work, and it might be best to invest in a Mac instead :-)

answered May 30 '09 at 21:44

Ben Gotow

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I did a little more digging, and it looks like a lot of the Mono stuff for iPhone is low-level and closed-source. Not really a viable solution after all... http://www.mono-project.com/Mono:Iphone – Ben Gotow May 30 '09 at 21:49
Wait wait wait, so I could code it in VB.net? Awesome! That makes this easier. Even though it is "low-level and closed-source", it might be developed further soon, and I hope it is. – Cyclone May 31 '09 at 15:26
You have to be careful to not trigger rejection due to using external libraries and interpreters that Apple doesn't provide (basically anything other than Safari's JavaScript). You don't want to finish something and have it rejected. This is assuming you want to sell through iTunes. – Nosredna Jun 20 '09 at 03:30

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered May 21 '12 at 09:20

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http://maniacdev.com/2010/01/iphone-development-windows-options-available/

check this website they have shown many solutions .

Phonegap
Titanium etc.

answered May 21 '12 at 09:20

Mobile Tech.

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score 0 · Answer 10 · edited May 27 '11 at 09:21

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There are two ways:

If you are patient (requires Ubuntu corral pc and Android SDK and some heavy terminal work to get it all set up). See Using the 3.0 SDK without paying for the priviledge.
If you are immoral (requires Mac OS X Leopard and virtualization, both only obtainable through great expense or pirating) - remove space from the following link. htt p://iphonewo rld. codinghut.com /2009/07/using-the-3-0-sdk-without-paying-for-the-priviledge/

I use the Ubuntu method myself.

edited May 27 '11 at 09:21

Peter Mortensen

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answered Aug 07 '09 at 05:43

Im neither patient or immoral lol. I am not good with hardware, so at this point I may just develop apps with Titanium Developer, and port it to ipod later. Thanks for the suggestion! – Cyclone Aug 09 '09 at 00:56

iPhone SDK on Windows (alternative solutions)

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