Do I need Big Sur to start with Catalyst?

Question

Created Jul ’20

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I want to start developing for Mac, and my first choice was AppKit. However now with recent announcements I think it makes sense to go for Catalyst (my first project is also a Mac+iPad app).

I installed Xcode 12 Beta but as soon as I hit build I get errors like

Code Block 'main()' is only available in macOS 10.16 or newer

I know it isn't necessary, but my question is will it make more sense to learn directly on latest technologies?

The answer to this decides whether or not I buy a developer account for access to Big Sur Beta.

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Answer 1

szymczyk OP

Jul ’20

Any new Catalyst features Apple added in Xcode 12 require Big Sur. Use Xcode 11 to develop your Catalyst app if you don't want to update to the Big Sur beta.

In general, it doesn't make sense to learn on beta OS and Xcode versions.

Are you sure you want to go with Catalyst? Catalyst is designed for making Mac versions of existing iPad apps. If you want to make a new Mac and iPad app, SwiftUI is the better choice. The main reason you would use Catalyst instead of SwiftUI for a new app is if you already know UIKit and want to make a Mac version without having to learn SwiftUI or AppKit.

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Answer 2

Frameworks Engineer OP

Apple

Jul ’20

You can develop Mac Catalyst apps starting in Catalina (10.15).

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