Publishing to AppStore without a Mac system

Hi guys, I would like to publish my upcoming game to the appstore, but I don't have a mac system, and honestly, I am not willing to spend over $1000 to get an old second hand mac over here. So I am hoping that some of you with experience might be able to share some info on how to achieve this.

I did some research and saw recommendations on emulators like vmware, and also online rental like macincloud. But there isn't enough information to really confirm if it can work for the entire process. It says that vmware runs the IOS properly, but the author has never tried making the appstore certificate with it. Macincloud looks like a great option, but after some research online, it seems that you are given enough administrator control that creating the certificate has many issues.

I am hoping that anyone here with any experience or solutions would be able to share them. Thanks everyone!

You can use VM Ware, basically it's a Mac on your PC, youtube it "VmWare Mac on Windows"

ondraayyy, yes I did mention about vmware, but the problem is, so far I can't find any topic or discussions on whether or not vmware allows the user to create the certificates without problems.

MacinCloud is a remote Mac rental service. Laptop, Desktop and Handheld users can access rented, Apple Manufactured Mac hardware through the Internet. Bring all your software licenses and use them on a Mac in the Cloud!

rent it macincloud

DUTOIT, thanks I was really leaning towards macincloud as it is perfectly legal, but have anyone had any experience with using it to create certificates for appstore? I googled it and there were no explanation on whether or not macincloud is actually able to create the certificate. I finally found one that said it could be done and with some explanations, but it is a bit old, so I am not so sure. I think I will try contacting macincloud directly and see what they say. Again, thanks DUTOIT, always appreciate your advices!

But it's possible to do it from a Windows PC? Everything, including the certificates.

rekjl, I'm currently in dev on some games and haven't used macincloud recently. But it did the job perfectly. Best part is they have all the necessary software available. I've let my subscription lapse, but grab the hourly one. $1 and just jump in and have a look. Everything is right there.

lolva, absolutely you can do it from windows pc. But macincloud is so much easier. I just rent a couple hours. And they even assist you.

I hope to be see construct3 in macincloud soon

DUTOIT

Even the certificates?

DUTOIT, thanks man! I think I will go with macincloud. Haha better than spending 1k on a second hand mac. Just wanted to ask since this is my first time exporting to IOS, but do we need to install C2 on it? I was under the impression that all I had to do was access the developer tools from the mac to create the certificates and game ID, after that I could just save it to dropbox and than copy it to my PC and export it from my PC. Am I wrong, or is there more to it than this?

—, checking from other forums and discussions, I think I only saw a couple of people saying that they were able to do this, and almost all of them were a few years back, so I am worried that it might not work anymore. They all used IOS emulators like vmware, so if you are interested you could try looking at it. For me personally, I think I will go with macincloud right now, cause I can't find enough information to say for sure it will work or how to make it work, and I am worried what apple might do if they found out I was violating their rules by using a non mac pc.

rekjl, lol, sorry guess that was confusing. Currently you can access gamesalad, gamemaker etc because they run on mac. You can install and run mac software and use their preinstalled software. They have the software, you bring the license.

Construct2 doesn't run on mac

Construct3 apparently will be able to run on mac, Linux etc ... was just saying would be nice to see construct 3 listed in their list of software.

—, you can, however it isn't a simple process. When you dealing with IOS emulators like vmware, you are looking for frustration. But Absolutely you can, but I would go with using a real mac computer, either buying one (not viable for me as my computer beats any mac hands down) or rent one, or rent one over a cloud.

DUTOIT, haha thanks for that, never really noticed that C2 can't run on mac. Now just waiting for macincloud to reply me. I will post an update once I get a reply from them, so that it could be of help to others.

P.S: Haha I too feel like I've got a strong PC, and I find it pointless to spend so much to buy a mac that is not near it. Would rather use that money to buy upgrades for my PC

rekjl, I just upgraded

answering the first question, it is possible to install the latest vmware machine in your windows pc and create a virtual mac , already done that, long time ago, about 5 -6 months ago, and generated a license, the thing is, you need the ios publisher certificate with out it, its pointless until proven other way, my only ios app is still up in the ios store, and it dident got removed from there, by not having an actual mac machine. here is the app the publisher that i worked for changed the name in time, and i lost the track of the actual app in itunes, but if you search it on itunes by the name Doodle 'N' Dodge i think you might get smth AppWebsite

DUTOIT, haha nice! I'm still waiting for a few new generation of parts to hit the market before upgrading.

—, does that mean that vmware might have issues with the ios publisher certificate? So I guess the most cost effective would be to use macincloud and similar services to create the certificate, than the next time you want to publish another game, use vmware since you already have the certificate?

that can work i guess, dident encountered problems with the mac certification, since the only certification you need is the one you generate from the ios dev store

however if the mac address isn't good you wont be able to wrap the game, but that's not detectable in an APK or ios compiler since its offline mode, in your computer so its not going to fail working, you should logically make as many ios apps you want with an vmware as long you have a ios certification and you able to generate more certifications for each app... (the ios dev cert, is different then the mac address you ask for) if you have a license for ios apps you should check the create certification area. its easy and you don't need to prove to no1 you actually own an mac, there is no security for that, and no1 will be able to check if that machine exists, since maybe you might buy'd it on black market... or built your own.. presumably.

the certification you create in ios dev center, its reading the com.yourappname.com id in your project, based on that id the certification will be available for the app.

so for each app you make for the ios devices you'd have a different com.yourappname.com id, so you'd be needing a different certification again.

hope it answered your questions, the only thing you can do is trial and error as long as you have access to a ios dev account, and a full vmware set for ios app wrapping

but if i remember correctly the mac i used was actually not in vmware but in virtualbox its basically the same just works better and has better options