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iOS Is Xcode necessary for developing Apple apps?
- Thread starter wirtandi
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You can use VSCode, but you should install Xcode regardless of what development environment you desire using. For one thing, Xcode comes with the SDKs. These can be installed separately through a command line tool, Xcode-select --install, which will just install the build tools off of Xcode. However, Xcode also comes with Simulators so you can test your iOS apps, tvOS, watchOS apps on your Mac. Without the Simulators from Xcode you can only run the Mac apps, not iOS code. Xcode also includes the necessary utilities to push the app you develop to a real device and a nice documentation viewer for Apple's frameworks, as well as Instruments for analysing your app, tools to analyse usage data from App Store reports and more. In short, Xcode is not just the IDE, but a whole suite of utilities many of which are universally recommended regardless of which editor/IDE you choose to use
iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS apps submitted to the App Store must be built with Xcode, otherwise apps distributed via the Mac App Store must be packaged and submitted using technologies provided in Xcode. Other toolchains can be used, you would just need to make sure the APIs meet App Store requirements.
You can actually use Swift Playgrounds now on an iPad or MacBook to develop and release an app.
developer.apple.com
Build your first app in Swift Playgrounds - WWDC22 - Videos - Apple Developer
Learn how you can easily prototype and build apps with Swift Playgrounds. We'll show you how to create an app from a blank project, build...
You can actually use Swift Playgrounds now on an iPad or MacBook to develop and release an app.
Build your first app in Swift Playgrounds - WWDC22 - Videos - Apple Developer
Learn how you can easily prototype and build apps with Swift Playgrounds. We'll show you how to create an app from a blank project, build...
Did not know this, thanks for sharing!
You can actually use Swift Playgrounds now on an iPad or MacBook to develop and release an app.
Build your first app in Swift Playgrounds - WWDC22 - Videos - Apple Developer
Learn how you can easily prototype and build apps with Swift Playgrounds. We'll show you how to create an app from a blank project, build...
I think Google used this for Docs, Sheets and Slides judging by the piss poor quality of the apps.
Yes you should use Xcode. I do also use AppCode from Jetbrains, in part because I also use other Jetbrains IDEs like Pycharm or IntelliJ IDEA.
I don't really get the appeal of VSCode. On Windows I use the real Visual Studio and various Jetbrains IDEs. On MacOS I use Xcode and various Jetbrains IDEs. On Linux I just use Jetbrains IDEs.