Microsoft this week clarified how iOS development will work with the new Xamarin-based tooling announced at the recent Build developers conference: It's easier, but a Mac will still be needed at some point. When the company last week unveiled new Visual Studio tooling based on its acquired Xamarin technology, there was some confusion in the developer community and media, with some apparently believing the new tool chain obviated the need for a Mac machine at all. That's not the case, Microsoft's Joseph Hill announced in a blog post Monday that's titled '.' While the new does indeed ease and speed up iOS (and Android) development from within Visual Studio on Windows, Hill basically used the phrase ' you'll need to install and configure a complete Xamarin development environment' three times in his post.

And that complete Xamarin development environment requires hooking up to a Mac for full functionality. Here's the gist of Hill's post: Q: Does the Xamarin Live Player remove the Mac requirement for iOS development with Xamarin? To completely develop your app for iOS, you'll need to install and configure a complete Xamarin development environment, which requires a Mac for iOS tools, including storyboard designers, app extension development, app packaging/signing, and more. With Visual Studio 2017 on Windows, we make it easy to develop for iOS using a Mac on your network to stay in a familiar IDE on Windows. At last week's Build conference, Microsoft announced alpha releases of Visual Studio Tools for Xamarin and Visual Studio for Mac that provide preview support for Xamarin Live Player apps, as does Visual Studio 2017 Preview. Available for iOS and Android, 'These apps allow you to write, execute, and debug code continuously on an iOS or Android device straight from the IDE,' Xamarin chief Miguel de Icaza said in a.

Click on image for larger view of animated GIF. Xamarin Live Player (source: Microsoft) The apps, after an extensive setup process, let developers use an iOS device connected to the same network as the dev machine to scan a QR code displayed in Visual Studio. That will establish a connection between the device and computer, allowing coders to proceed with the development cycle while enjoying an immediate feedback loop without the need to download, install and configure large SDKs, as was the normal process. 'Once your app outgrows the functionality of the live player, we make it easy for you to install and configure the native SDKs to have a complete development environment to provision, enlist and publish your applications to users,' de Icaza said. Hill explained some of the limitations of the live player.

'The Xamarin Live Player has limited support for rendering iOS storyboards; however, storyboard editing requires a Mac,' he said. 'You cannot change setting found in the Info.plist, modify rotation restrictions, or work on platform features that require provisioned devices or features that require entitlements. The player also has limited support for reflection that affects some popular NuGets, like SQLite and Json.NET, though many other NuGets are compatible.' Microsoft has also provided a. Hill's post also hosts a nearly 19-minute video titled ',' demonstrated by Microsoft's Michael Montemagno. He noted that using the new tool requires the installation of Visual Studio 2017 Preview edition, though that can be run right alongside the stable version.

From May 2017, you can develop app without MAC. Microsoft Xamarin introduce a Live Player. With Live Player, iOS apps can be deployed directly onto an iPhone or other iDevice from a PC running Visual Studio, where the code can then be tested and debugged. See this video: this is Live Player Get start section: Note: The final build and submission to the App Store will still require a Mac Device Requirements The Xamarin Live Player app supports the following devices: iOS. iOS 9.0 or later.

ARM64 processor. Check the App Store for a of supported devices. Android. Android 4.2 or later. ARM-v7a, ARM-v8a, ARM64-v8a, x86, or x8664 processor. Limitations There are some limitations on the things Xamarin Live Player can run, including the items below:. Android user interfaces designed with AXML files are not currently supported.

Xamarin For Mac Os

Some iOS storyboard features are not supported. iOS XIB files are not supported. Custom Renderers are not supported. Ir5055 drivers for mac.

Xamarin.Forms Effects are not supported. Embedded resources are not supported (ie.

Xamarin Android App Player For Mac Windows 10

Embedding images or other resources in a PCL). Limited support for reflection (currently affects some popular NuGets, like SQLite and Json.NET). Other NuGets are still supported. Some system classes cannot be overridden (for example, you cannot implement a subclass). Some platform features that require provisioning can't work in the Xamarin Live Player app (however it has been configured for common operations like camera access). Custom targets and build steps are ignored. For example, tools like Fody cannot be incorporated.