Do you know of a free one
?
Have you tried the first link?
I am in a similar situation.
I have already made an application for my company based on Android and although I think that iPhone will not be an important market for this application, the managers want to have it for iPhone (among other reasons, the sales team carries iPhone)
As I understand it, it will be possible to compile for iOS starting this summer, but I don't know if I should duplicate the development using other programming technology (which I am not too interested in because our market is not that of mobile applications)
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You might use Thunkable. It is not free . If you are developing commercial apps and make money; the nominal charges should not be an issue. It is probable you can import your existing App Inventor 2 to it (or if you modify your existing app). Thunkable uses the same basic OpenSource base and can post apps to the Playstore now.
Alternatively, use the 'free' Delphi Community edition. It creates Windows, Android and ios apps using a single code base using a Pascal like development language. It is licensed for free use until your individual revenue from Delphi applications or company revenue reaches $5,000 US
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Well ... thunkable ... I think they have made modifications and now they do not allow importing the aia in a simple way (I gave it a lot of laps and not only did I not find it, but in the forums they say that it is no longer possible).
I was also thinking of remaking the version to make it with thunkable ... but ... personally it seems to me that at MIT you are doing a better job. Better. Your environment seems much clearer to me and you have many functionalities that work better.
I have Visual Studio installed to try to do it with Xamarin and I found it amazing that being such a heavy environment it doesn't even provide a GUI.
Years ago I did things with the Google application for mobile application development and I found it very cumbersome. So much so that when a friend told me about MIT it seemed incredible. Personally, I am more dedicated to the development of applications for the desktop and I do not know the tools for mobile phones very well, but based on what I have seen so far, it seems incredible to me that no one has developed an environment as simple and incredible as the one at MIT.
I miss more functions and properties that make things easier, also a text editor for the functions that would allow me to develop my ideas faster, but despite this, this tool is really incredible allowing to do great things with some ingenuity.
I wish I could provide our sales team with an iOS version so they could teach it (because after testing it with Companion I know it is functional). It makes me uneasy to have to think about doing a new development, especially because I know that very few people would use the iOS version (we have 3 commercials ... and I think that apart from them very few people would use the iOS version since iPhone is an expensive mobile and the application is aimed at farm workers who do not think they invest so much money in a mobile device).
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The problem with Xcode and swift is that they are development environments for apple. If you want to develop for them you need to have a mac.
As the market of my company is not the development of mobile applications, also the application we want to make will not be charged and I think it will be little used in iOS (because it is not a majority market in Spain and less (I think) for the target user who are farm workers), so I don't see a good investment for my company to buy a mac to develop with xcode.
Even so, from management they told me that if an investment had to be made, what could be done. That made me pay more attention to thunkable ... but what I saw did not quite convince me.
Personally I find myself in the dilemma of having an application for Adroid that works and that I also know that it could be used for iOS at the time it could be compiled for it, and the question of whether I could have this same application ready on iOS for autumn, which is when would it start to be used or if I have to look for a solution with the lowest possible cost to be able to have that market (iOS) covered and that I can develop it with a computer with Windows OS.
All this coupled with the fact that, in addition, the application is not essential, but would simply be a tool to add a somewhat more complete functionality than what we could offer with a simple printed paper.
Do you think I could have the compiled version on iOS before autumn?
I wouldn't bet a significant amount on it. 
There are still some problems right now, not least with the design & layout on iOS for AI2.
And to make sure that everything is displayed correctly on all iOS devices (iPad, iPhone), I would not rely on Companion, but rather always check it on real devices. At least I would check it out with the Simulator in Xcode which is actually pretty reliable.
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There is another consideration - does your App use any extensions? They are not permitted by Apple.
There is another direction - that is to make a mobile friendly website and thus not have an iOS App but a website that an iPhone can easily display.
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I do not use extensions because I am very fond of "do it yourself", so I would not have problems.
The topic of the web could be an option, I even considered the option of making it for a local intranet but this would complicate the task a lot for our installers.
Besides, due to the nature of our business and the location of our clients, there are times when we could not guarantee proper internet access (there are times when there is no access to the mobile network). I have designed the AI2 application to store information locally through QR codes.
We are also collaborating with other service providers so that we could unite our functions through APIs, taking advantage of the fact that they have web-based solutions.
This morning I was testing a little with Xamarin ... but I left it because despite having a good team the environment was very heavy and slow. Every time I tried to open the simulator ... well ... let's say I had to dry my tears and leave it for another day where I will try to see how to connect with my mobile devices and try to do the tests on them. Hopefully something better works this way.
Meanwhile, I cross my fingers that AI2 progresses quickly and one day, when I connect I see that it is already possible to make the compilable for iOS. Let's be optimistic. Let's dream about it.
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Let's see if I find out ...
I'm looking at Xamarin, but I think I understand that to make applications for iOS I need to have a Mac with XCode ... and of course, if I had a Mac with XCode I wouldn't have this problem because I could already be making the application for iOS directly.
With Embarcadero, would you also need to have a Mac to be able to make applications for iOS?
If that's the case, I would talk to my boss and tell him that if he wants the application for iOS, buy a Mac and that way we won't have to go around looking for a way to make the application.
(I begin to understand the problems that Apple puts with MIT since with AI2 they would stop selling many Macs ... thank goodness Android is more generic and there is no manufacturer monopolizing the developments ...)
Edito: Although I prefer the AI2 environment, it seems that I will have to do the development with Thunkable. If someone uses this environment, I would be grateful if you could tell me, apart from registering with the platform, what other steps must be taken to be able to test / publish an application for the happy iPhone ...
You will either need to buy a Mac, rent a Mac in the cloud when you need builds, use a service that builds your app for you (ex. Thunkable, Phonegap Build) or set up a toolchain on Linux or Windows. If you don't use a Mac you won't be able to add your app to the App Store and will need to distribute it with something like AltStore or an enterprise certificate. AltStore is complicated to set up and can fail easily and enterprise certificates are very expensive.
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In the end I have decided to remake the application using "AI2-like environment"... but every day that I spend with it, I miss AI2 ...
The philosophy is very different in some points. The panels change the Visible property to Hidden (which is just the opposite), the reading of a token from local storage does not stop until the value is obtained so that if you need to read several values in a row you cannot limit yourself to placing one instruction after another, Besides, it does not allow to use a default value.
Local variables are a horror to define and use. The blocky environment jumps when you move from one place to another. You cannot use double click to compress / expand a block ...
It seems a very oriented environment to not have to program a lot, but if you need to do complex functions ...
And I've only been with him for two days ...
I miss you.
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To find the solution to the application that I am making and I also need for iPhones, I have continued working with an "AI2-like environment", but once I have it almost finished I have noticed that its performance is much lower than AI2.
There is some information that I save in a csv table and then show a page that shows 10 in 10 elements (paged) and while AI2 is tremendously fast, the other "AI2-like environment" can take more than 5 seconds to show me the information (with the same data).
I don't know if it is due to still using the free version of said "AI2-like environment" ... but I am concerned that the PRO version may continue to be that slow.
My heartfelt appreciation for the great work you are doing at MIT with AI2.
Hi @SteveJG
Sorry to ask you again. "Embarcadero" needs to have a mac to make the applications for iOS (as it happens with Xamarin?
I had my hopes pinned on that payment environment which is like AI2 without being AI2 but its performance is very poor. Whether I do the "installable" for Android or for iOS there is a screen whose operation is mediocre (above generating an executable that is 10 times greater than that made with AI2)
Hello Luis.
I have used Delphi since 1997 but never attempted an iOS app. I do not know whether
I was at a presentation several years ago at an Embarcadero road show where they demonstrated Android/iOS capabilities. As I recall, they used a PC but they also had to have an iOS device to demonstrate iOS.
Delphi is like a Swiss Army Knife; lots of options. That makes some activities clunky. No compiler is wart free. I like Delphi and have made Android apps using it. Never tried ios.
An alternative I also used is B4A (it is now free) for Android. It works well for Android. There is a version called B4X that I believe makes both Android and iOS apps that I never tried.
I have used Android Studio. Great compiler, however it to has its issues. Build your Android apps with it and perhaps iOS using Swift (which I have never used).
My experience is that compiling times for Delphi, B4A and Android Studio are significantly longer than App Inventor users experience. AI is simplified, the other stuff can do everything and contains the extra baggage.
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If you only had to install on Android, the MIT version would be more than enough. The program works correctly with it.
The problem comes from having to make the version for iOS. I have redone the application with xThunkable but I have found that the execution is very slow at some points (unacceptably slow). Using the same algorithm (with the necessary differences because they are different systems), one thing that with AI2 executes immediately, with the other system it takes me many seconds (and with many I mean more than 20 seconds). I was reviewing the code and cut the times in half (yes ... before it took a minute to capture some data that AI2 processes in 1 second).
I do not understand how such a big difference is possible. I only use lists and local storage. Performing the tests with MIT I have managed to enter more than 90 rows of data without problems, and with the other, as I increase the amount of data to enter the process becomes slower and slower. The 20 s are with 11 or 12 rows. I think it would take me less time to write the data on paper.
This is all very frustrating.
To do the developments I use a Windows computer and I don't have access to any Mac, except an old iPhone from the commercials to do the tests. If we had a Mac, I would have no problem trying to develop the application with it, but we don't have one.
Hello again.
Sorry for the question, but those of you who develop for iOS and Android, could you tell me what environments you use for both systems?
From what I've seen, @Anke I think he has a Mac for iOS development, maybe with Swift or xCode? How much can both systems cost?
For Android development, do you use MIT?
In my company we are not dedicated to the mobile application market, but we want to implement a tool for them and with Android I would have it covered with the application that I have made with AI2, but for iPhones ...
I have done the development with thunkable, but for my solution it works fatal, much slower and in Android there are things that do not work correctly.
Following @ChrisWard answers, I am trying to look at B4x and Altova. Today I spoke with a former colleague from college and they told me that their company uses Xamarin but they have a Mac.
The topic of iOS development is getting very frustrating.
The truth is that I do not like the apple brand at all, and as my wife says the "karma" for that lack of love for the brand is turning against me.
Thanks and best regards.
Either you wait a few more months until the build server for iOS is available or you create the app (ipa) with Xcode / Swift, for which you need a Mac. I do it with Xcode & Swift on a Mac Mini (> 1000 EUR + 100 $ for Apple DevAccount, annually).
However, creating an iOS app with Xcode / Swift has nothing in common with AI2. You have to start from scratch.
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I would seriously look into this, I think it would save time and money not just in development, hardware etc but also when updates are required.