I was hoping this was about an iOS emulator for Linux, so I could finally debug my websites in Safari or develop apps for the AppStore without owning Apple hardware.
You can run macOS in a virtual machine, and since iOS emulators are not using virtualization, there is no requirement for nested virtualization.
I've had decent experience using Xcode and iOS emulators via KVM virtual machine in the past, however there is no graphics acceleration.
But be aware that according to macOS EULA (might not be enforceable outside of the USA) you can only run macOS guests when host is running on Apple hardware.
> Do you have plans for supporting iOS apps?
>
> Yes, in the long run, we'd like to be able to run iOS apps on ARM devices (like most Android phones). A significant challenge here would be to write our own implementation of UIKit. Come talk to us if you're interested in working on this!
It's really not a substitute for mobile safari at all, especially not mobile safari at a specific iOS version. The state of the art there afaik is still to have a drawer full of iOS devices you hold off on updating for a couple years, or else you can never reproduce the bug that your users on older iPhones see.
There are too many bugs with things like the collapsible url bar / jank when changing orientation / or just plain bugs unique to their cut that won't reproduce on arbitrary WebKit browsers. I've had to fix layering bugs 100% reproducible on mobile safari on device but not in the emulator or beta for the new iOS at the time.
I've seen a handful of sideloadable apps for iOS/tvOS which depend on alt-store. I'd like to try them out but it's a shame you need a Mac or Windows PC in order to run the server.
I have a MacBook but it's a work machine so probably best to avoid running alt-server there.
The only other computers I have for personal use are a Linux laptop and a Raspberry Pi.
I understand why (iTunes is a requirement and not available on Linux), but it's a shame. Maybe I could run Windows in a VM and run it there, but my gut-feeling is that it won't be that straightforward. Plus, I'd need to start the VM once a week or whatever to re-sign the certificates which would get annoying.
While I am mostly comfortable with the convenience of the App Store, it would be nice to be able to sideload on apple operating systems other than macOS.
True. When I get Stallman-y about "sideloading" someone usually says, "well games consoles aren't computers either" but my opinion of the matter is the same.
In which sense? As far as I'm aware current consoles are pretty much general computing devices with closed down operating systems. That's essentially the same as an iPhone.
Not natively, but you can run pretty much any signed UWP text editor on it without any fuss. If you're willing to pay a $20 developer fee, they'll even let you load unsigned software for a real party.
Indeed, I genuinely think the best thing that Microsoft did to combat piracy on the Xbox was by making it so easy to join the developer programme and build / install your own apps on the Xbox.
That's actually worse than Apple though - at least Apple lets you download Xcode and install self-signed apps for 7 days between updates without a developer account or a fee.
Not even ported to it. An Xbox is a nonstandard PC - it runs the NT Kernel, with Windows Drivers, on a custom AMD Zen processor, it's just got hardware root of trust, a different frontend, and software signature enforcement. That's about it.
To my knowledge, Word on Windows still depends on Win32, which Xbox doesn’t have.
iOS and MacOS both use the mach kernel, on similar processors (at least in the current gen hw). Would you not say it’s validly “porting” if you were to take a MacOS app like say Word and alter it to run on iOS?
My current emulation setup is built on an raspberry pi 4 running retropie, and using the wired 8bitdo controllers that look like SNES controllers with analog sticks and l1 l2, r1 r2 buttons.
It can handle systems up to Dreamcast well, and I even put it in a nice retroflag case that looks like a NES. The case is really nice actually, it bulks up the system and adds a sata breakout to insert a 2.5" disk in the cartridge slot.
So while this looks interesting I think I'll stick with retropie for now. I'd be quick to upgrade to something that supports newer consoles like the xbox and ps2. AFAIK right now that would require essentially a gaming PC attached to the TV though.
I don't recommend this, sadly. It's a very neat project, but once you manage to navigate the "signing" and get it onto your Apple TV, the cache which contains all the games and saved states can be purged at any time after a couple days and there's really no way to make it stick. It works admirably well, but is definitely no replacement for something like a dedicated emu box.
Hi, dev here.
That's ununfortuante of the side effect of Apple TV not having "permanent storage" from an SDK standpoint every thing is a cache.
Commercial apps can use iCloud sync on tvOS, I tried adding that support and Apple banned my Apple ID without really telling me why but I think it was testing that feature.
I'm working on code to sync roms and saves with a desktop app (I just ported the whole app to native macOS Catalyst) or another cloud sync to workaround that limitation.
The tvOS page indicates this already and there is a way to manually backup and restore save states until automation comes.
This is not an issue on iOS or iPad OS and all other EMUs for Apple TV have the same issue unless they have their own cloud sync which I've yet to come across.
32 comments
[ 0.56 ms ] story [ 89.9 ms ] threadI've had decent experience using Xcode and iOS emulators via KVM virtual machine in the past, however there is no graphics acceleration.
But be aware that according to macOS EULA (might not be enforceable outside of the USA) you can only run macOS guests when host is running on Apple hardware.
https://github.com/myspaghetti/macos-virtualbox
> Do you have plans for supporting iOS apps? > > Yes, in the long run, we'd like to be able to run iOS apps on ARM devices (like most Android phones). A significant challenge here would be to write our own implementation of UIKit. Come talk to us if you're interested in working on this!
https://www.darlinghq.org/
GNOME Web uses WebKit and is officially recommended by Apple to test websites on WebKit.
There are too many bugs with things like the collapsible url bar / jank when changing orientation / or just plain bugs unique to their cut that won't reproduce on arbitrary WebKit browsers. I've had to fix layering bugs 100% reproducible on mobile safari on device but not in the emulator or beta for the new iOS at the time.
PS: I work at BrowserStack.
I have a MacBook but it's a work machine so probably best to avoid running alt-server there.
The only other computers I have for personal use are a Linux laptop and a Raspberry Pi.
I understand why (iTunes is a requirement and not available on Linux), but it's a shame. Maybe I could run Windows in a VM and run it there, but my gut-feeling is that it won't be that straightforward. Plus, I'd need to start the VM once a week or whatever to re-sign the certificates which would get annoying.
While I am mostly comfortable with the convenience of the App Store, it would be nice to be able to sideload on apple operating systems other than macOS.
In which sense? As far as I'm aware current consoles are pretty much general computing devices with closed down operating systems. That's essentially the same as an iPhone.
Obviously they are computers I just couldn't be bothered to fit the argument in the quotation.
Not natively, but you can run pretty much any signed UWP text editor on it without any fuss. If you're willing to pay a $20 developer fee, they'll even let you load unsigned software for a real party.
You could if Microsoft ported it to it. The only reason Word runs on ~handheld computers~ phones is because Microsoft ported it to it.
To my knowledge, Word on Windows still depends on Win32, which Xbox doesn’t have.
iOS and MacOS both use the mach kernel, on similar processors (at least in the current gen hw). Would you not say it’s validly “porting” if you were to take a MacOS app like say Word and alter it to run on iOS?
https://github.com/NyaMisty/AltServer-Linux
It can handle systems up to Dreamcast well, and I even put it in a nice retroflag case that looks like a NES. The case is really nice actually, it bulks up the system and adds a sata breakout to insert a 2.5" disk in the cartridge slot.
So while this looks interesting I think I'll stick with retropie for now. I'd be quick to upgrade to something that supports newer consoles like the xbox and ps2. AFAIK right now that would require essentially a gaming PC attached to the TV though.
Not saying Android is magically perfect but if emulation is your thing it's clearly the superior platform.
Commercial apps can use iCloud sync on tvOS, I tried adding that support and Apple banned my Apple ID without really telling me why but I think it was testing that feature.
I'm working on code to sync roms and saves with a desktop app (I just ported the whole app to native macOS Catalyst) or another cloud sync to workaround that limitation.
The tvOS page indicates this already and there is a way to manually backup and restore save states until automation comes.
This is not an issue on iOS or iPad OS and all other EMUs for Apple TV have the same issue unless they have their own cloud sync which I've yet to come across.