You can also build a “Hackintosh” which is a PC that has been customized to run MacOS. I would recommend you try VirtualBox first or try to buy a used Mac Mini.
Unfortunately you’ll have to pay for this piece of software and at the time of this writing, a license costs about half the price of a brand new Mac Mini which is perfectly suitable for iOS app development. That probably explains why it’s a lot more popular than VMWare Workstation when it comes to running MacOS on your Windows machine! VirtualBox is open source software which means that it’s free. This is as close as you’ll get to running actual Xcode on Windows!
You can download them below and then use Google to find a guide on how to install the latest MacOS (Mojave) with either VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation.Īfter that, spin up your new virtual Mac and download Xcode. The two most popular pieces of software to do virtualization are VirtualBox and VMWare Workstation. Unfortunately it does take a little bit of technical know-how to get this up and running. The services above are essentially doing the same thing on their servers and then they charge you a fee to access the virtual machine.īy setting it up yourself on your own PC, you essentially cut the middle man out of the equation. If you’re a little more technically savvy, you can use virtualization software and run a “virtual Mac” on your PC. The pricing is less flexible than MacInCloud and you’ll have to commit to at least a month. From the reviews I see, the service is fast and friendly. XcodeClub is run by Daniel who is a passionate developer himself. Some people complain that it’s slow but you can try it out for yourself since it’s only about a buck an hour! You can also do pay-as-you-go so it’s a pretty low commitment. You won’t have to install Xcode because it comes preinstalled. This is the most well known service out of the three. There are a couple other companies that provide this service: If you go down this route for iOS app development, make sure you get my Xcode cheatsheet with references and keyboard shortcuts for Windows users. I’ll get a small kick back at no extra expense to you so thank you for supporting my site!) If you do, please let me know in the comments below.
(Use coupon code “CODEWITHCHRIS” for 50% off your first month. These guys were featured in the recent Apple keynote when they introduced the updated Mac Mini! They have the newest Macs available. If you decide that app development isn’t for you, you just cancel your plan. The really nice thing about this option is that the cost is really low and it’s the fastest option to get up and running. It’ll be like having the Mac desktop in a window on your Windows Desktop. You’ll remotely access the Mac and Xcode through your PC. Had I known about running Xcode on Windows or about the solutions below, I might’ve started building iPhone apps much earlier!īefore committing to buying a new Mac, you can actually “rent” one for development.
I wish I had known this when I first started because I delayed myself for 3 years before biting the bullet and buying a Mac. While adding MMU emulation has been discussed, the feature has not been added because of the effort required in implementing it, the impact on performance it will have and the lack of time on the part of the developers.You can make an app for iOS even if you’re on a PC running Windows 10.
SheepShaver is capable of running Mac OS 7.5.2 through 9.0.4 (though it needs the image of an Old World ROM to run Mac OS 8.1 or below ), and can be run inside a window so that the user can run classic Mac OS and either BeOS, Intel-based Mac OS X, Linux, or Windows applications at the same time.Īlthough SheepShaver does have Ethernet support and CD-quality sound output, it does not emulate the memory management unit. 'Chubby Bunny' also simplifies the set up process of OS 9 visualization on Intel Macs running OS X.‘Sheep Shaver Wrapper’ is built off of Sheep Shaver but it does some of the bundling work for the user.Īs a free software, a few variants exist to simplify the installation process on Intel-based Macs: SheepShaver has also been ported to Microsoft Windows. It can be run on both PowerPC and x86 systems however, it runs more slowly on an x86 system than on a PowerPC system, because of the translation between the PowerPC and Intel x86 instruction sets. SheepShaver was originally commercial software when first released in 1998, but after the demise of Be Inc., the maker of BeOS, it became open source in 2002.