Apple could be working on a mobile version of Xcode that runs on iPad, says a new rumor from Apple leaker Jon Prosser. Prosser says Xcode is “present on iOS/iPadOS 14.”
If true, the move would allow developers to conduct full-scale app development on Apple’s mobile devices for the first time.
Xcode is used to create applications for the iOS, tvOS, macOS, and watchOS platforms. However, the Xcode app and environment has always been available only on the Mac. The closest Apple has come to offering app development on the iPad is Swift Playgrounds, which allows users to learn how to code.
Prosser’s Monday tweet (via MacRumors) reads as follows:
I’m not gonna say that Final Cut is coming to iPad…
But XCode is present on iOS / iPad OS 14. 👀
The implications there are HUGE.
Opens the door for “Pro” applications to come to iPad.
I mentioned this last week on a live stream, but figured it was worth the tweet 🤷🏼♂️
— jon prosser (@jon_prosser) April 20, 2020
As noted by developer and MacRumors writer Steve Moser, a hidden Xcode Preview app is present in iOS 13 that acts as a companion app for showing layout previews on the device from the main Xcode Mac app. However, it appears that Prosser is referring to the existence of a full version of Xcode for iPad.
Apple often includes features in alpha and beta versions of its software that doesn’t make it to the final release version of the software. We won’t know anything for sure until this year’s virtual Worldwide Developers Conference, where Apple will reveal their plans for iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and all of their other operating systems.
