Compile OSX app on Windows with Xamarin

Question

I have a Xamarin Mac app I've been handed to make some changes. I've got everything working correctly as far as Windows Visual Studio Xamarin connecting to Mac Xamarin -- the Mac ssh agent works and whatnot.

However, how do I compile the app? When I build it on Windows, it generates an .exe file. Is something supposed to be generated on the Mac side, too? Or do I take that .exe file and somehow package it into an OSX app?

I was trying to stay in my Windows environment to do the coding and building as much as possible.

Thank you.

Answer 1

You will need to compile/package/debug it on macOS.

The build process is performed locally on Windows, generating IL assemblies that cannot be used for running or debugging apps, and it doesn't create application bundles.

re: https://developer.xamarin.com/releases/vs/xamarin.vs_4/xamarin.vs_4.2/#Xamarin.Mac_minimum_support.

macOS Apps Mac apps can be opened and compiled in Visual Studio to check for errors, however to debug or create a working executable the project must currently be built on a Mac. This limited support for Mac projects allows for easier code sharing in Visual Studio between iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac apps.

re: https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/cross-platform/windows/visual-studio/#macOS_Apps