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by ctdonath 1572 days ago
You need a computer to compile at all. If you’re doing iOS you probably already have an iPhone. Old physical phones (cheap) are fine for dev, can simulate latest. $100/yr only needed if you’re actually charging for the app - which should earn you those costs pretty soon. Yes, $1000 baseline for what you likely already have most of.

The “largely free” is in contrast with platforms having >$25,000/yr entry costs just for a license.
1 comments
flax 1572 days ago
Except that it's actually in direct contrast with Android development, where the tools are available, for actually free, for Windows, Linux, and Mac. And the developer account is a one time $25.

My personal situation: I wanted to add an iOS client for the game I've been developing in Flutter. I did not have a mac or an iphone already. Fortunately, I've been able to borrow them for builds and occasional testing. But, that's obviously not optimal, and there's zero good reason that Apple couldn't provide their build tools for other platforms. Instead, they leverage their monopoly on the app store to force hardware sales to developers.

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spiderice 1572 days ago
> and there's zero good reason that Apple couldn't provide their build tools for other platforms

How do you figure? Then Apple would have to maintain their build tools for other platforms. Waste of resources for something that ultimately isn't going to make Apple money. It's no different than Microsoft intentionally gimping Excel on Mac.

I've never seen anyone complain that they have to own a Windows computer to develop Windows apps. Or a Playstation to develop Playstation games. I'm not sure why Apple is such an exception in your eyes.

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nyanpasu64 1572 days ago
> Then Apple would have to maintain their build tools for other platforms. Waste of resources for something that ultimately isn't going to make Apple money.

It makes sense on Apple's part, but I still dislike it.

> I've never seen anyone complain that they have to own a Windows computer to develop Windows apps.

Windows can be installed on any computer, whereas macOS requires purchasing Mac hardware. Additionally you can cross-compile Windows apps on Linux (and possibly Mac) using MinGW toolchains (or with great difficulty, MSVC on Wine).

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KerrAvon 1572 days ago
> Windows can be installed on any computer, whereas macOS requires purchasing Mac hardware

Running Windows natively requires an Intel PC. an Intel Mac via Boot Camp (but I'd advise buying a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel if you do that), or a subset of ARM PCs for which Microsoft provides ARM builds. That's definitely not "any computer" or even "practically any computer."

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Melatonic 1572 days ago
Ever heard of AMD?
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