Developing on PC, debug on iPad?

bravcm

Hi to all, one (stupid) question: is it possible to develop on PC and debug on iPad?

Thx!

hgvyas123

you can use gideros player to run app from pc to ipad and about debugging how about adjusting print function to display some data directly on the screen of ipad instead of console

bravcm

I'd like to try! But how to install Gideros player on the iPad device?

techdojo

You need to use a Mac to compile the source to the player app (including any plugin's you need) and then use your Apple development certificates to sign and upload the player to your development device.

Currently Apple restrictions don't allow apps like the Gideros player to be distributed via the App store (although I do wonder about the Enterprise Ad-hoc method). However if you haven't got (or can get access to) a Mac, you can rent time on a virtual one (macinthecloud.com) or find someone here who'll allow you to put your device on their account (max 100 per year) and will compile and sign it for you (testflight works well for this).

If your still desperate to code on the iPad but haven't got a Mac then check out Codea on the iPad app store, it's Lua based and so very similar to Gideros in a lot of ways.

bravcm

Thanks!

john26

Couldn't Gideros compile the player and put the .app file (or whatever it's called) up on the website? PC users can then download, drag and drop the .app to iTunes (on PC) and put it on their iPhone directly (connected to the PC).

Then it would only be necessary to use a Mac when uploading to the App Store. Not sure if this is possible...?

ar2rsawseen

@john26 as far as I know it is not possible, because it should be signed for each device specifically (using device UDID) on which you want it to be used (unless it's going through appstore (which it can't))
So with Apple restrictions it is not possible to create a general use .app file

techdojo

@john26 - what @ar2rsawseen said. There IS a way to resign an app to get it to work, but you need the correct certificates - which you'd only have access to if you were a registered developer (in which case it's a moot point).

The only other way is to have a jailbroken device which you can then put whatever you like on.

There is a method for distributing Enterprise apps (ie business to business type of stuff for large scale corporate customers) which is known as Adhoc distribution (ie. it doesn't go via the app store), I'm not sure how that works or if it's subject to the same restrictions as the app store.

Bottom line, for indie dev's - no Mac, no build, unless you can find someone to sort you out via testflight or hockey (another over-the-air service for beta testers), maybe you can offer to beta-test an app for someone in exchange for a build of the player.

Getting back to the OP's original point - if you want to dev and debug on an iPad, then it's probably a safe bet you'll eventually want to sell an iPad version of your app, in which case your going to need a Mac eventually so it might just be worth sucking it up and getting a 2nd hand Mac Mini off eBay.

I'd recommend anyone in the market (and with the funds) who want's a new PC / Laptop to look at a Mac, because it's far far easier to get Windows to run on a Mac (boot camp will do it "out of the box") than it is to try and make a "hackintosh" - then you get the best of both worlds.