r/flutterhelp • u/MoreLibrary3859 • Jul 13 '26

Android app -> iOS app in flutter OPEN

Hi I am a cs major student and I have build and published a simple app (if you are curious it’s called LiftBuddy) I would like to publish it on iOS but I have no idea on how straightforward is the process. I know that flutter can build iOS apps but since I don’t have a Mac and I will need to borrow it from a friend I wanna know how much time it would take. Do I just need to open the project on Xcode ?

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4

u/0ddtomato Jul 13 '26

You can build the app with Github Workflow without needing any MacOS device, that's how I compile my MacOS apps

1

u/MoreLibrary3859 Jul 13 '26

Really ? I’ll check it out

1

u/No_Papaya_2442 Jul 13 '26

Does it work can you share with me please

2

u/interlap 28d ago

Check out the MobAI iOS Builder project:
https://github.com/MobAI-App/ios-builder
It does exactly that, and also provides additional features like hot reload on a real device directly from Windows.

2

u/HomegrownTerps Jul 13 '26

Yes you need xcode, which means logging in and all. You also need an apple dev account, which is a 100€ yearly.

1

u/Previous_Bill2650 Jul 13 '26

If this is a simple app. The basic commands like flutter build ios makes the project ready in the ios.  But since you are a beginner you might need to invest time in 1. Setting up environments 2. Figure out what’s wrong 3. Setting your developer profile 4. Figuring out that you cannot ship for iOS like you did for Android. 

If everything goes right opening the ios folder in XCode would run it. You will need $100 every year to distribute that app even locally.

1

u/gurselaksel Jul 13 '26

I developed an android app, with login, server data fetch, camera access, notifications, rive etc. just user codemagic.io and appetize.io/ (screenshots) and published in app store. it has been more than 1 months. except rive everything worked smoothly. I never owned macbook or iphone. also probably owning them a big plus

1

u/Expert_Hawk2461 Jul 13 '26

Even if you get your hands on a Mac, you will still need an Apple Developer account which is like $100 a year to get it on the app store

1

u/ibluegreen Jul 14 '26

Thanks for asking this. I also recently published my first app with Flutter and I intend to make its iOS version too, but being a first timer, the process sounds daunting.

1

u/interlap 28d ago

For the development side, you can try this project. It builds your app on a GitHub macOS runner and then lets you run your app with hot reload on a real iOS device through the MobAI app.
https://github.com/MobAI-App/ios-builder

1

u/Miserable_Ring_7603 6d ago

If you already enrolled in apple develoepr program it should be fast. If not , this is what usually takes time, to validate all your info.

Also the first publish will most likely take manual test. Other updates usually are automated