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Doesn't that still leave the problem with "using apple tools"? Currently, the only way I know of to compile apps that run on iPhones are xcode, on a macintosh.

• viktorcode 5y ago
  Technically you don't need it. There's no mechanism preventing another toolchain from producing an iOS build. It's just nobody is interested in creating an alternative toolchain.
• mrtksn 5y ago
  I don't think that you have to use Apple toolchain, it's just way way easier to do so. I think there was some linux toolchain that you can use to build binaries for iOS. On a non-jailbroken devices you will need to sign your binary with Apple's help but on a jailbroken device you can install whatever you want. It's also perfectly legal. Besides, some hacking companies manage to install their malware on non-jailbroken devices.
  • kbuck 5y ago
    There is no 3rd-party toolchain that you can use for a complete iOS (or even MacOS) build. Even if you cross-compile the majority of your code, you will need to transfer the binaries to a Mac for code signing. Everywhere I've worked that has produced Mac builds has had at least a small cluster of Mac machines to perform code signing. (But usually at this point, you just give up and perform the entire build on the Mac cluster.)