PhoneGap w/VisualStudio for iPhone/iPod touch

Question

Is there a way to develop an iPhone app on a windows machine?

I was thinking there should be a way using phonegap and the new cloud building https://build.phonegap.c

Answer 1

Windows users can develop using Phonegap Build and test on an emulator (Blackberry/Android/WinPhone7) or an Android device (point it to the Phonegap QR code). Once you are confident it works, pay $25 to register as an Android developer, and upload your app to the Google Play store. It is very easy. The certificate you need is built using a command line tool you get free with Java.

Use this experience to hone your app, and gain wisdom about the process of publishing in general. Then, when you are truly ready, you can then pay the larger fee and undertake the more complicated process: Apple.

Register as an iOS developer for $99, use the free Mobundler service to create a certificate (since you don't have a Mac, and doing it on Windows is HORRIBLY complex). Then you can then test on your (or a friend's) iPhone/iPad/iPod touch. You just tell Apple the device ids of the devices you want to test on, and send the person to your Phonegap Build page with the QR code. (Or you might be able to download the file from Phonegap and place it in the iTunes app folder to sync to a device?)

When you're happy it works on iPhone properly, you need to visit a Mac-owning friend for a few hours, and use the 'Application Loader' software to send the app to Apple for publication in the App Store. Filling in the forms is a bit more complex than for Google.

Doing things in that order saves you from spending money until you really need to, and you take the easy steps first to familiarise yourself with all the concepts.