Architecture Notes
1.1 · Dev Platform

How to Set Up an App Dev Environment with Just an iPhone — No Mac, No Desk Time

2026.07.02~4 min

00Overview

Tools

  • iPhoneThe main dev devicealready owned
  • Claude ProClaude Code on Web (1.1.1)$20/mo
  • GitHubSource control + CI/CDFree
  • EAS + Expo GoDelivery, on-device checks, buildsFree
  • Apple Developer ProgramStore submission (1.1.2)$99/yr
  • PC (any)One-time step (1.1.2)already owned

01Why

As I wrote in 1 AI-driven phone-only development, the only time I have is the gaps — bedtime settling, commutes, lunch breaks — and my Intel Mac is out of support. Even so, I don't want to be left behind by the technology; the PoC showed me firsthand that generative AI is redrawing the landscape.

Turn that situation into requirements for a dev environment, and what do you get? Six conditions I could not compromise on:

  • Development completes on a phone — because places with no desk and no PC are my main battlefield
  • Progress is possible in fragments — a working model that adds up ten minutes at a time
  • iPhone apps without a Mac — I am not replacing the out-of-support Intel Mac
  • iPhone and Android both — I don't want to build things twice
  • Near-zero running costs — solo development must survive even at zero revenue
  • Security stays intact — no setup where an AI can freely roam my devices and personal files

No off-the-shelf environment satisfies all six at once. So I assembled one.

02How

The answer is an iPhone and three cloud services, connected in series.

  • iPhone — the only device in hand
  • Claude on Web — an AI development environment running in the cloud
  • EXPO (EAS — Expo Application Services) — cloud infrastructure for builds and delivery
  • GitHub — source control and automation (CI/CD)
# The whole flow
iPhone → Claude on Web → GitHub → GitHub Actions → EAS → iPhone

Chain these four in series, and it works. Why each piece can carry its role, and how the loop actually spins, is in 1.1.1 How to implement iPhone apps with just an iPhone; the road through builds to the App Store is in 1.1.2 How to build iPhone apps without a Mac.

03What

Zero blocks of free time, no Mac —
and iPhone apps still reach the App Store.

All six conditions were met by this setup. No desk needed; development moves forward even from under a blanket at bedtime. And the technology doesn't leave you behind.

Full disclosure: I did use a PC browser exactly once. The first-time certificate ceremony was genuinely too small for a phone screen. In theory it could be done on a phone; it just isn't a place worth suffering. Details in 1.1.2 How to build without a Mac.

One more thing. This article is an ADR (Architecture Decision Record), so it carries no setup steps. If you need them, hand this article to an AI as-is and ask — it will do the job well. Feasibility is confirmed: this setup runs, and runs fine.