Now that Swift is open sourced, can I write and compile iOS apps on a computer that isn’t a Mac?

In the past, it was only possible to compile iOS apps on a Mac. However, Apple has recently open sourced Swift.

There are downloads available for the Linux compiler on swift.org.

What I am wondering is whether or not this will allow me to write programs for iOS and release them on the app store without a Mac?

Answer

There’s a huge difference between the Swift language being available on other platforms such as Linux and being able to create OS X or iOS apps. OS X and iOS require many specific frameworks that will never be part of the basic open sourced language.

The open source Swift will let you write general programs in the Swift language.

The creation of iOS and OS X apps still requires a much larger infrastructure and toolset only available on a Mac.

tl;dr; – No. You still need a Mac to write iOS and OS X apps with Swift.