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Parker Stouffer
498 Pointsdo i need a mac
please help i would love to make a app
5 Answers
William Li
Courses Plus Student 26,868 PointsHi, Michael.
First of all, all iOS courses (Objective-C or Swift) here were taught using Xcode on a Mac. So it makes sense that you should at least have access to Xcode to practice writing code while watching the lectures.
Out of all 3 alternatives that Dustin Matlock listed, I think only MacinCloud would allow you to follow along the iOS track on Treehouse without buying a Mac.
Yes, both Smartface & Xamarin do make it possible to develop iOS apps using a Windows Machine, however, they require you to write code in their own development environments (which is NOT Xcode) using their chosen programming languages (which is neither Objective-C or Swift).
James Gill
Courses Plus Student 34,936 PointsParker,
To do iOS development in Swift or Objective-C you'll need a Mac. If you want to make a "web app" and port it with PhoneGap, etc., then you can use any computer (that you can install PhoneGap on).
Parker Stouffer
498 PointsThank You so much
Dustin Matlock
33,856 Points
Michael Smith
8,222 PointsDustin, if I download "Smartface" software for example, can I use that to write code with wile watching the videos on iOS development tracks?
Dustin Matlock
33,856 PointsI'm not sure if Treehouse officially supports or recommends doing it this way, but according to their website you can.
It's a Windows application, so I don't see why you couldn't watch videos at the same time.
Smartface App Studio enables developers to develop native iOS and Android applications completely on Windows including on-device emulator and debugging. (without any need for MAC)
James Gill
Courses Plus Student 34,936 PointsParker,
Trust me on this one: if you want to save a lot of headaches and difficulties dealing with trying to virtualize OS X on Windows, get a Mac. Windows (Microsoft) makes almost everything harder--unless you're willing to do everything the Microsoft way and go the C#/.NET/Visual Studio/etc. route. Even then, it's not great.
Michael Smith
8,222 PointsGood info guys thank you.
Dustin Matlock
33,856 PointsDustin Matlock
33,856 PointsThanks for clearing that up. I've personally never used them, but MacinCloud seems like the more natural solution. Another option would be a Mac mini or something used off eBay.