Apple's toolchain is macOS-only. Xcode does not run on Windows or Linux, and neither do the command-line tools that compile, sign and upload an iOS build. That is a hard technical constraint, and no amount of configuration removes it.
What you can remove is the requirement that you own the Mac. The build has to happen on macOS; it does not have to happen on macOS in your room.
What actually needs a Mac
Three steps in the pipeline are macOS-bound:
- Compiling the app against the iOS SDK, which ships inside Xcode
- Signing the binary with your certificate and provisioning profile
- Uploading the result to App Store Connect
Everything else — writing code, managing certificates, filling in store metadata, reviewing screenshots, responding to App Review — happens in a browser or in an editor and has never needed a Mac.
Renting macOS instead of buying it
Cloud CI services keep pools of Mac machines and run your build on them. You push code, the service builds and signs it and hands the result to App Store Connect. Codemagic, Bitrise and GitHub Actions all provide macOS runners; several have free tiers that are enough for occasional releases.
The workflow is the same whichever you pick:
- Your project lives in a Git repository
- The CI service is given access to that repository
- Your signing credentials are stored in the service as secrets
- A build is triggered, runs on a hosted Mac, and uploads the result
Once configured, releasing is a button rather than a machine.
The certificate problem, and how to get around it
Signing needs a certificate, and generating one normally starts in Keychain Access on a Mac. It does not have to. A certificate signing request is a standard cryptographic object, and OpenSSL produces one on any operating system:
- Generate a private key and a CSR locally with OpenSSL
- Upload the CSR in the Apple Developer portal and download the issued certificate
- Combine key and certificate into a
.p12file - Give that
.p12, plus a provisioning profile, to the CI service
Most managed CI services now offer to handle this for you: you connect an App Store Connect API key and the service creates and rotates certificates on your behalf. That is less to understand and less to lose, at the cost of handing over more access.
What you still need, Mac or not
- Apple Developer Program membership. Currently 99 USD per year for an individual or organisation. There is no way to publish to the App Store without it.
- An App Store Connect account and a completed listing: name, description, keywords, screenshots at the required sizes, a privacy policy URL, and answers to the data collection questionnaire.
- An app that survives review. This is the step people underestimate. Guideline 4.2 on minimum functionality is the usual reason a website-turned-app is rejected — if the app does nothing the website does not, expect a rejection regardless of how cleanly it was built.
- A way to test on a real iPhone. TestFlight covers this without a Mac, but you do need an actual device in someone's hands before shipping. A simulator will not show you that the login flow is unusable one-handed.
Where this leaves you
Not owning a Mac is no longer a reason to skip iOS. It is, however, still a reason to automate carefully: when the build machine is rented, a broken pipeline is harder to debug than a broken laptop, because you cannot open it and look.
Set the pipeline up once, while nothing is urgent. Verify it produces a build that reaches TestFlight. Then forget about it until the next release — which is the entire point.
Flangapp AI uses this approach: builds and signing run through GitHub and Codemagic, so producing an APK, an AAB or an IPA does not require macOS on your side. If you are earlier in the decision, the broader picture is in how to convert a website into a mobile app.