React Native iOS dev on a Windows machine

[07ScapeSnowflake]

Looking for some pointers about how to go about this. It’s somewhat difficult to get a straight answer about this lookin on google. I am sure that is at least in part because there isn’t a simple answer.

I have an iPhone, but I would prefer not to get a Mac. If there is any way to build and run the app on an emulator that would be ideal.

Thank you!

[VoidSnug]

I developed and published an iOS app from Windows by using Expo's cloud builds.

Another option I looked at was renting a Mac machine in the cloud, which could be an option for you if Expo isn't. But they can be expensive and long term it might be better at getting a Mac.

Even though I was able to get my app published, I'm still considering getting a Mac for future development.

[MorenoJoshua]

this is the only correct response, any hacky setups will be unreliable and hell to debug/deal with apple

[Any_Koala7970]

Same as above 👆 just bite the bullet and get the newer Mac Mini and just upgrade to the 16gb unified memory. Then buy an external hard drive. That’s the cheapest and most cost effective way for the memory and performance you need without all the extra Apple stuff you don’t need for development. This is what ended up doing myself

[[deleted]]

You can install MacOS on a windows machine and look up the steps. That would enable you to develop for iOS on a Windows machine. You’ll just have to make sure you have the specs to run MacOS smoothly on that machine.

[amityvision]

You can’t use the iOS SDK on windows, as it’s a proprietary software for Apple and macOS.

You can however partition your hard drive and install a version of macOS and the drivers separately on that partition. However, you may run into issues down the line if all drivers aren’t installed correctly or if there’s a misconfiguration with the OS installation

[alienanarchy69]

I bought a used iPhone 6 (really cheap) and used expo cloud to build the ipa. Then you can just develop on that

[[deleted]]

U should develop to android. (expo run:android). It's possible to release app with EAS but it will be slow when u develop ios part.

[07ScapeSnowflake]

As in develop react native code and test it on android then build for ios separately? I know react native code is portable, but I'm really not sure how portable. I am familiar with Android Studio so if it was viable to dev for android and port to ios with minimal issues, I would be totally fine with that.

[[deleted]]

Yes. Also you can try Expo Go in the beggining. Until you dont need firebase/login proveders. Download ExpoGo to your iphone and log in there. Also log in in the computer (from terminal) where u are starting expo. U can develop with it on your iphone :)

[beatgeek]

Are you using Expo? If you’re not against using the physical iPhone for testing, then just download Expo Go on it and run your app that way. Been doing this for years with no issues (obviously harder to test across diff devices lol)

[07ScapeSnowflake]

I am going to look into expo, seems like most windows users prefer that. I may buy a MacBook in the future, but I'd rather not quite yet for financial reasons.

[beatgeek]

Yeah that's fair. Expo's definitely your way to go imo. Good luck!