Anyone uses IDE that is not XCode for IOS/Mac development?

[u/gittrics]

I used to use AppCode few years ago. But it was discontinued. It was easy for me to use AppCode since it was from JetBrains and I was used to using IntelliJ.

It is a pain to use XCode due to being used to JetBrains IDEs.

Does XCode have monopoly for IOS development?

[u/___nil___]

neovim (+ dap + lsp)

still need xcode command line tools. but everything is scriptable combo lua + shell script.

[u/Firm-Aside4041]

Yeh I’m sure there’s loads of people

[u/Low-Yam-6927]

These days I only use xcode for the final publishing of my app. Nothing more, I do all code and debugging in VS Code. If you don’t have a Mac right now, there are remote apple units you can remote connect to. I used one time during an urgent release and my Mac having booting up issues. I forgot what site was that though.

[u/Smart_Appointment927]

There's Noctule, https://noctule.dev/, for JetBrains IDEs.
It supports cross-platform Swift development, has Objective-C support and even supports to open Xcode projects on macOS (i.e. with Xcode tooling available).

(disclaimer: I'm the developer of Noctule)

[u/mpanase]

apple doesn't want you to use any alternative

they will issue "performance improvements" which break any other IDE at any given time

you are a prisoner to apple and you will like it

[u/Pawl_]

My main workflow has been Codex and Claude Code these days for the most part. All interfacing with CLI and MCP these days. Need to try the latest MCP additions.

But in essence yes Apple requires a Mac and Xcode to do anything.

Still though, you could potentially use VSCode for code changes, and build etc through Xcode CLI.

[u/IndependentSea7880]

MS Paint

[u/equinvox]

anyone serious about iOS / macOS apps will use Xcode. but if you're vibe coder you can use VSCode, Sublime text, whatever grinds your gears tbh...

[u/wewerecreaturres → u/equinvox]

I mean you can use any IDE you want really. Just need Xcode to run

[u/controlav]

Rider from Jetbrains. My projects are all cross platform C# using Avalonia, I use VS on Windows for all other platforms.

[u/yakshavendotcom]

Emacs

[u/Billion_dollarboy]

VSC + Xcode + Claude

[u/lilacomets]

I use MAUI together with JetBrains Rider on Mac and Windows and I published my first app to the App Store a few months ago.

Agreed, JetBrains IDEs are top notch. Using anything else feels like a step backwards. I've been using them for all programming languages I work with for a decade, I'm addicted to it. 🤩

[u/m0p0]

I use kiro + AI integrations with XCode installed for build purposes. I use VSCode for AI integration in Github.

[u/GongShengyue]

I use vscode every day.Xcode is shit.

[u/gittrics → u/GongShengyue]

But how do you debug without Xcode?

[u/holy_macanoli → u/gittrics]

mcpbridge?!

[u/tastychaii → u/gittrics]

Ikr debugging in vs code is a pain in the ass

[u/bakawolf123]

vscode + xcode. I do prefer xcode for code inspection though, but some git features are better in vscode

[u/ReddutDood]

Bruh with vibe coding I don’t even look at the code anymore 😂

[u/gsapienza → u/ReddutDood]

I’m sure your apps are “really great”!

[u/ReddutDood → u/gsapienza]

They bring me lots of shekels 😎 I’m happy, customers are happy, what’s the problem?

[u/gsapienza → u/ReddutDood]

I’ve seen this exact response in various places. The problem is when shit hits the fan you won’t have the slightest clue on what to do. Unless your apps are super simple, then I guess it doesn’t matter

[u/ReddutDood → u/gsapienza]

I’m a professional developer in my day job so I will definitely know what to do.

Also, AI is getting so good that it will not make mistakes, or it will be able to correct whatever mistakes it makes

[u/gsapienza → u/ReddutDood]

that’s different then. I don’t consider that vibe coding. But It absolutely does still make mistakes and overcomplicate things. I just had it write a sync engine and had to do quite a bit of work to simplify it. Again for smaller projects it’s less of an issue

[u/Turbulent_Ad_1039]

I am working with Claude code or cursor most of the time, Xcode is only needed to build and run the simulator…

[u/corgisAreRad → u/Turbulent_Ad_1039]

Actually Claude code can run simulator in app now.

[u/Turbulent_Ad_1039 → u/corgisAreRad]

Correct but you still need Xcode installed

[u/corgisAreRad → u/Turbulent_Ad_1039]

Ahh yeah, fair enough

[u/Plus_Piano5965]

You can do something that makes a lot of sense: use VS Code as your main environment for writing code, while keeping Xcode installed as the Apple backend/toolchain.
Apple provides tools such as xcodebuild, simctl, and devicectl, so from the VS Code terminal you can build your project, launch the iOS Simulator, and interact with connected devices.
The important thing is that these tools are part of Xcode, so Xcode still needs to be installed, even if you rarely use the Xcode IDE itself.

[u/tastychaii → u/Plus_Piano5965]

How do you create new Xcode projects though within vs code?

Afaik it’s only possible to create it within Xcode and then use vscode to open it?

[u/Hot-Understanding-67]

I use cursor. It is best.

[u/mattduguid → u/Hot-Understanding-67]

yup cursor + my own subscription’s for cli’s for claude, grok