VS Tools for Cordova - can I use Phonegap build service?

0
votes

As a windows only user, what are my options for building a IOS app with VS Tools for Cordova plugin?

I've built a nice killer app, but only able to run it on android. I looked at Phonegap build, but I seems to be some inconsistent with the plugin namespace. This is what I did.

  • Copied the www directory to a new github project
  • Copied the config.xml file into the same project
  • Built using phonegap build service

Result, a running ios app without plugins.

I noticed the vs: prefix in config.xml, so I tried replace with the gap: prefix, but then got errors about unsupported plugins.

Question is: Will I be able to build my project for IOS without buying a mac?

1
cordovaphonegap-buildcordova-pluginsvisual-studio-cordova
Hi Larsi, it is Very unlikely that you can do that without buying a mac, I tried it for more than 30 hours! if you have a spare pc running Windows 7 with i3 cpu or above, you may try to install the osx 10.x.x in the pc. during the install, it is Very likely that you will encounter the following problem: – Kenneth Li

1 Answers

2
votes

There are actually several options. One is to use a service like MacInCloud. There are instructions on using it with VS here: "Build and Simulate iOS in the Cloud".

The advantage you have here is you'd be able to use the "Application Loader" to publish your app, Xcode itself, or the iOS Simulator. It's a full Mac replacement rather than just the build. You can rent by the hour, month, or get dedicated capacity and the "vs-mda-remote" agent is pre-installed.

Here is a tutorial on converting a Cordova project to a PhoneGap Build project: "Build and Simulate iOS in the Cloud".

Unfortunately PhoneGap Build does not fully support Cordova or even PhoneGap CLI "local" projects (which are essentially Cordova CLI projects) - a number of features are missing such as hooks support, custom plugins.