You don't need a Mac to develop iOS apps anymore
Article Summary
Rami Maalouf from Expo just eliminated the biggest barrier to iOS development: the Mac requirement. Windows and Linux developers can now build, test, and iterate on iOS apps with full Fast Refresh support.
Expo launched EAS Simulator, a cloud service that streams iOS simulators directly to your browser. This means any developer on any platform can now develop iOS apps with the same workflow Mac users have enjoyed for years, including hot reload and instant feedback loops.
Key Takeaways
- Run iOS simulators with Fast Refresh on Windows, even Windows on ARM
- Test camera apps on simulators for the first time using simulated feeds
- AI agents can autonomously build, test, and verify their own iOS changes
- Share live simulator sessions via URL with unlimited simultaneous users
- Works with any framework: SwiftUI, Flutter, Kotlin, not just React Native
EAS Simulator turns any laptop into an iOS development machine by streaming cloud simulators to browsers, with full support for hot reload, camera testing, and AI agent verification.
About This Article
Most desktops worldwide run Windows or Linux, not macOS. But iOS development required Xcode, which only works on Apple computers. This forced developers on Windows and Linux to test their code changes on physical iPhones.
Expo created EAS Simulator to run iOS Simulator sessions in the cloud and stream them to a browser. Developers can now use Metro with tunnels for Fast Refresh and hot reload from any Windows, Linux, or ARM-based laptop.
Developers can test camera features that simulators couldn't handle before by injecting simulated feeds through AVFoundation APIs. AI agents can also verify iOS app changes on their own through the eas-simulator skill in Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.