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by kxxx 15 days ago
I've been building and testing my iOS app just for fun via Linux only.

Surprisingly, it's very easy. This works like a charm: https://github.com/xtool-org/xtool

You do not need to upload to TestFlight or the App Store; you can just install the app locally to your iPhone via usb -- even from Linux!

When in doubt, just ask your coding agent of choice to help you create and upload a Hello World iOS app. It's really easy.

5 comments

I’ve been doing the same except that my linux installation is via WSL on Windows. I’ve been using sideloadly to move my IPA over to my phone. Works great.
Woah thanks for sharing will have to check this out.
I'm not an ios developer so forgive me...

So you can develop ios apps, run it on a real iphone that is activated without going through app store as a native app? But, you have to reinstall it every week?

Yes, but you have to reinstall every week unless you have a paid developer account.
Does the iPhone need to remain tethered if it is transferred via USB?
Dev apps need to be re-loaded every week (or two?) last time I did sideloading. The idea behind a dev app, in Apple's mind, is that it is for limited testing, so they have an expiration when not signed/installed through the App store.
That is specifically for apps installed with a personal signing certificate, when you haven't paid for a developer account. If you pay the $99 program fee, you get 365 days of validity.
Do the coding agents know about this tool?
just link it?
“Just link it” is like telling an intern to “use this program”. It will take a while (and each LLM user will burn tokens while learning).

This is the perfect use case for a skill: one person takes the hit to create the skill and then anyone else who wants the tool can use the skill.