You only need it for compiling. There are plenty of cross platform frameworks that dont require to develop with xcode - and that's good in my opinion.

I built all my apps this way and faced the same problem as OP - so had to buy a Mac mini. It was the cheapest option ~8 years ago and I still use it today for the same purpose - just for compiling. I assume there are probably more of us.

How do you deal with platform specific bugs? What about testing?

About 50% of my MacOS usage is replicating bug reports from users. I don't know how I would do that without having one on my desk.

I really haven't faced many.. anything significant is usually fixed by the framework.

Maybe more iOS specific bugs are introduced when doing iOS specific development (like using iOS tooling and techniques).

My needs are simple enough that the standard inclusions in expo.io work without complication. I could imagine more complex apps need a more involved dev setup but not in my case.

how are you developing for ios without frequent compiling and testing?

Expo.io is good enough for my needs. Cross platform, just run it on my iPhone and and android simulator. Also, the way expo works is that not all updates need to go through the App Store approvals. I can quickly dev/test/release once I have the app container approved by the relevant store.

very cool

Maybe using something like Expo: https://expo.io/

Still need to run `xcodebuild` at produce a binary.

expo build:ios actually.

My only need for a Mac with expo is for the upload. The apk file is taken care of with the command above.

I have an iPhone I use for development and testing. Bonus points is that expo is cross platform, so I can publish to google play with the same single code base too.

that command invokes `xcodebuild` behind the scenes. I'm very familiar with expo, and it's fragility and warts.

I'm glad it's working for you, so far, but try to do anything slightly interesting and you'll have problems.

You’re spot on!

I’m always developing without xcode. Using expo I can write apps in react native on my desktop and vscode. Mac only required for the upload to the App Store.

expo.io