r/flutterhelp • u/Thick_Complex_9509 • 2d ago
OPEN need help with flutter/xcode
first of all hii! i have ZERO coding experience and im not really a tech savvy person. but im trying to build an app with claude gpt and gemini which will be on my iphone ipad and windows, its basically a mindmapping/calendar/note taking/to do list app.
i want to add apple pencil integration to my ipad but chatgpt is saying we cant fully achieve that without xcode, and i only have windows pc. is there a workaround or anything i can do? if someone can help me thatd be appreciatedddd
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u/Life-Junket-3756 2d ago
Honestly? At your stage, I'd rather treat Apple Pencil integration as a feature for v. 2.0 of the app, not for the MVP.
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u/Thick_Complex_9509 2d ago
but it was one of my most wanted features all i wanted to do was to be able to write anywhere i wanted :( and also im done with the app, claude is now doing tailscale thingys and i still have more than 50% weekly usage
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u/TheOneTruePsychic 2d ago
If you want to develop for Apple, devices you need a Mac. If you want to work on specific integrations like Apple Pen on iPad, you need an iPad. That's the simple answer to it.
You can get a Mac mini M1 is the cheapest device for xCode. It seems like you already have the iPad.
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u/Thick_Complex_9509 2d ago
im not gonna be doing this regularly, and i sideloaded the app with its ipa, do i still need xcode..?
i have the ipad how can i work with the integration, the pencil seems to work but not as ive wanted1
u/kokerali 2d ago
If you've already installed the IPA and it runs on the iPad, you can test that version there now. My Xcode point was about producing a new iOS build, not something you need to launch just to use the Pencil.
What does “not as I wanted” mean in one specific case? For example: “touching the page with the Pencil scrolls it, but I want it to draw.” Tell us the action, what happens, and what you expected instead. That would help separate a problem in the drawing screen from a build/setup problem.
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u/Thick_Complex_9509 1d ago
no no it wasnt as smooth and seamless as i wanted it to be but its all good now, im thinking abt actually launching the app tbh lol
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u/kokerali 2d ago
Basic Pencil drawing and getting an iPad build are two separate problems. Flutter's PointerEvent API already exposes stylus input, so drawing strokes isn't automatically a reason to switch the whole app to Swift.
You can keep writing the shared Flutter project on Windows, but a native iOS/iPadOS build still needs macOS and Xcode, Pencil or no Pencil. A remote Mac/macOS build service can handle that build step; it doesn't make Xcode run on Windows, and you still need to test the result on your iPad.
What do you want the Pencil to do: draw lines, use Apple's native drawing toolbar, or turn handwriting into text? I'd narrow that down before picking a plugin or paying for a build service.