so i don’t own any apple product and just read that i need a mac for publishing but then i read that using cross platform stuff will help and then i read that no i can develop whatever i want but actually need the mac for publishing. so what is it if i develop a game with cocos can i publish it for ios?
Technically, according to Apple, to develop for iOS or macOS you need Apple hardware and the latest macOS with latest developer tools to deploy to the Apple App Store.
I do know you can use a virtual machine, people have had success in doing this.
However, if you are going to deploy to the Apple App Store just testing with a simulator (i.e not testing your game on a hardware device) you might be shooting yourself in the foot. Simulator behavior and hardware behavior may be different.
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I would agree. You can do it with a Mac Virtual Machine but testing without real Apple hardware is very, very risky.
A minimum development kit I have seen people use successfully was a Mac Mini and an iPad.
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i know people that own devices like iphone 5, 6s do you think that would be a good idea ?
That’s a great device. I like to buy my devices from Swappa.
I think some developers would tell you that you need every device, the 5, the 6s, the iPhone X and an iPad Pro. You need one or two moderately newish devices.
If you release the game and you get tens of thousands of players you’ll have some device specific bugs. Maybe you’ll need the devices that are bugging – say like you get a bunch of iPhone X users who say it doesn’t work right you’ll need to emergency buy to chase a bug.
But to get the game running well on iOS you don’t need every device. You need a phone or a tablet and a Mac.
You can use the simulator to test layout, screen size and stuff like that. If you’re just wondering “Does this look like hot garbage on iPhone X” you can figure that out on the simulator.
If you don’t have any devices you’ll be wondering “does this run fast enough / sound ok / have reasonable multi-touch stuff” for that you really need at least once device.
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You can use the device too. Just set internally a different ratio (width x height) and put black bars on top/down or left/ right. I usually test all my games from 1.25 to 2.1 ratios (to include all iOS & Android different ratios).
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Great point. I forgot to mention that because it doesn’t work for our game. Depending on your game you might be able to make use of something like that for certain types of tests.
Good luck!
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thanks guys for clarity
It is not illegal to run macOS in a virtual machine on Apple hardware for any macOS since Snow Leopard Server. It is against the Apple EULA to run any macOS on non-Apple hardware, directly on the hardware or in a virtual machine.
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Indeed. I have heard that some pass Apple’s review and some do not because of this. That is why I want some people have had success. There is no substitute for actual Apple hardware.