Guide

How to make an iPhone app without a Mac (2026)

Build a native iPhone app from a Windows PC: Borel runs the Mac for you. How it works, how to test and publish, and what it costs.

Updated 18 October 2026

In short

Borel runs the Mac for you: describe the app, and Borel writes it in Swift, builds it with Xcode on its own Mac and puts it on your iPhone.
Every iPhone app is built with Xcode on a Mac. When it isn't yours, it's Borel's, a cloud service's or a rented one.
To publish on the App Store, you join Apple's Developer Program, 99 USD a year.

Where the Mac comes in

An iPhone app is built with Xcode, Apple’s developer tool, and Xcode runs on macOS. Apps sent to the App Store are built with Xcode 26 or later. Swift itself installs on Windows too, which is handy for learning the language, while the iPhone app is built on a Mac.

So making an iPhone app from a Windows PC comes down to one choice: whose Mac builds it.

With Borel, step by step

1
Step 1: Describe it
Type what the app does and who it’s for. Borel writes it in Swift with SwiftUI.
2
Step 2: It builds on Borel's Mac
Xcode builds it there. If Xcode finds a mistake, Borel reads the error and works on the fix.
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Step 3: Try it in your browser
The iOS Simulator on Borel’s Mac streams into the preview. It’s free on Pro, and 0.4 credits a minute otherwise.
4
Step 4: Put it on your iPhone
Borel Companion, on your Windows PC or Mac, signs the app with your Apple ID (a free one works) and installs it over a cable the first time, then over your Wi-Fi.
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Step 5: Publish it
With Pro and an Apple Developer account, Borel builds, signs and uploads the app to App Store Connect from its Mac, and you send it for review from the same window.

If you write the code yourself

Ways to build an iPhone app you code yourself, without owning a Mac
	How it works	Good for
A cloud build service	You write the code on any computer and the service builds it on its Macs: Expo's EAS Build for React Native and Expo projects, or GitHub Actions' macOS runners for any project.	People who already code
A rented Mac	A real Mac in a data centre, used over a remote desktop with Xcode on it. Amazon's EC2 Mac bills by the second, for 24 hours at least.	Doing everything a Mac owner does
An iPad	Apple's Swift Playground builds SwiftUI apps on an iPad and can send them to App Store Connect.	Learning Swift

Apple’s own cloud service, Xcode Cloud, is set up from Xcode on a Mac.

Trying it on an iPhone

In your browser. Borel’s preview is Apple’s iOS Simulator, running on Borel’s Mac.
On your own iPhone. A free Apple ID installs your own app on up to three devices. Each install runs for 7 days, and Companion signs it again for a fresh 7. See installing your own app from Windows.
On testers’ iPhones. TestFlight, part of the Developer Program, invites up to 10,000 external testers.
With Expo Go, for React Native code while you learn. For a real app, Expo recommends a development build of your own.

Publishing from any computer

Most of publishing happens in a browser. You join the Developer Program on the web, or in the Apple Developer app on an iPhone in some regions, and App Store Connect works on the web, iPhone and iPad.

The upload uses Xcode, Swift Playground, altool or Transporter, which run on a Mac or an iPad. Services do it for you from Windows: Borel uploads from its own Mac, and Expo’s EAS Submit runs on Windows too. More in publishing from Windows.

What it costs

What each part of making an iPhone app without a Mac costs
	Cost	What for
Borel	Pro from $20 a month (Pricing)	Writing, building, previewing and publishing the app
Free Apple ID	Free	Your own app on your own iPhone
Apple Developer Program	99 USD a year, in local currency where it differs	The App Store, TestFlight and services such as push notifications
EAS Build	A free plan with 15 iOS builds a month, paid plans above it	Cloud builds of React Native and Expo apps
EC2 Mac	By the second, 24 hours at a time at least	A whole Mac, remotely

Nonprofits, accredited educational institutions and government entities can ask Apple for a fee waiver on the Developer Program.

Make your iPhone app in Borel

Describe it in your own words. Borel writes it in Swift, builds it on its own Mac and puts it on your iPhone.

Start building How it works

More guides

Make your own iPhone app, just for you Install your own iOS app from Windows Publish to the App Store from Windows SwiftUI vs React Native for a first app Free Apple ID vs Apple Developer Program