Xcode is the Mac app that developers use to create apps for Apple’s platforms, like iOS. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how you can download and install Xcode on your Mac.

• How To Install Xcode On Catalina
• Catalina Xcode Version
• Xcode Version For Catalina
• Mac Catalina Xcode Version
• How To Update Xcode Catalina

Here’s what we’ll get into:

Many Catalina directories are not writable by the old tool installer. XProtect prevents modification. The newest Xcode installer puts stuff in other places (not /System). Old tools may require using old OS volumes. – hotpaw2 Feb 18 '20 at 16:49. For Catalina + Xcode 12 + iOS14 SDK no options for now to build Qt Application it's not supported by Qt 5.15.1. Awaiting announced Qt 6.0 that is going to be supported XCode 12 + iOS14 SDK. For Qt will be working only XCode 11 downloaded manually (do not install from AppStore). Step Two – Install XCode on Windows. Once the macOS Catalina is installed, open it up and switch it on from VMware or VirtualBox. Next, open the App Store and search for XCode. XCode on App Store. On the results, click the XCode then click Get on this window. It will ask for your Apple ID, sign in and it will start.

• 3 approaches to download and install Xcode on your Mac
• Tips and tricks to keep your Xcode up-to-date
• How to install Xcode betas on your Mac

Homebrew is a package managing tool. It’s more popular on Linux but is also used extensively on macOS. In fact, for apps that install as packages, Homebrew is the easiest way to remove them. Here’s how you can install Homebrew on macOS Catalina. In order to install Homebrew on macOS Catalina, you must have Xcode installed. For people running the latest version of Catalina (10.15.2 at the time of this writing), this has worked when the other two solutions haven't. Installing node-gyp using the full Xcode. Xcodebuild -version should show Xcode 11.1 or later. If not, then install/upgrade Xcode from the App Store app. Open the Xcode app.

Ready? Let’s go.

Xcode can only be installed on a Mac. Want to build apps with a PC? Check out your alternatives here.

How To Download Xcode for macOS

How do you download Xcode for macOS? You’ve got a few options:

1. Get Xcode via the Mac App Store
2. Download Xcode via developer.apple.com/downloads
3. Install through Mac App Store CLI (see below)

Let’s walk through the approaches you can use to download and install Xcode on your Mac, and their advantages. We’ll start with the Mac App Store, because that’s the simplest option.

Here’s how you can download and install via the Mac App Store:

1. Make sure you’re logged into macOS with your Apple ID
2. Open the Mac App Store app
3. Search for “xcode” in the search field, at the top-left
4. Click on the Xcode app item that appears
5. Click on the Get or Install buttom at the top-right to download and install Xcode

There are a few things you should know, though. Xcode is a huge app, about 7 gigabyte (GB) in size. You’ll need about 15 GB of free space on your Mac to install Xcode this way.

Installing via the App Store is simple, easy and seamless. Unfortunately, issues with downloading, like a lost connection, etc., usually means you’ll have to reattempt the download.

Author’s Note: Installing Xcode via the App Store never maxes out my download speed — not even close. On a 500 Mbps fiber line, it regularly drops down to 200 KB/s.

Installing Xcode on Mac

Installing Xcode via the Mac App Store is as simple as clicking Install. However, there’s an approach that gives you more control: developer.apple.com/download.

Here’s how that works:

1. Go to developer.apple.com/download and log in with your Apple ID
2. Click on More in the top-right of the page, next to Beta and Release
3. In the search field on the left, type “xcode” and press Enter
4. Locate and click the appropriate version of Xcode in the list
5. In the panel slides out, click the .xip filename, i.e. Xcode 12.xip and save/download that file onto your Mac

This will download a .xip file, which includes Xcode. The download size is currently about 7 gigabyte (GB). You’ll need at least twice that size of free storage on your Mac to install Xcode with this approach. Downloading Xcode this way is often faster than through the Mac App Store.

Once you’ve downloaded Xcode, open and unzip the .xip file. This may take a while. You can then drag-and-drop the Xcode.app file to your ~/Applications folder. Finally, start the Xcode app. You’ll be greeted with the following prompt:

How To Install Xcode On Catalina

Click Install in this prompt. Xcode will now attempt to install the Xcode Command Line Tools on your Mac. They are CLI tools used to compile apps with Xcode, among other things. You often need these tools to work with other programming languages on Mac, as well.

A disadvantage of manually installing Xcode through the Developer portal is that Xcode won’t automatically update. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however, because you can use this approach to install multiple versions of Xcode side-by-side. This is helpful for debugging or trying out beta versions of Xcode (see below).

There’s another, more hidden benefit. Installing Xcode through the Mac App Store limits you to the most recent version of Xcode. If your version of macOS or Mac OS X doesn’t support the latest version of Xcode, you can usually install older versions via developer.apple.com!

You can pinpoint the latest version of Xcode that your Mac supports by cross-referencing a few tables on Wikipedia. First, figure out what macOS version you have. Then, go to the Xcode wiki, and find your version of macOS in the min macOS version to run column between Xcode 9.x and 12.x. The version of Xcode you can run is in the row above the one you found. For example, the latest version of Xcode you can run on macOS 10.13.6 (High Sierra) is Xcode 10.1. Keep in mind that running an older version of Xcode often limits for which iOS, Swift and SwiftUI versions you can build.

Updating Xcode to The Latest Version

How do you keep your Xcode up-to-date? Apple regularly releases new versions of Xcode. They typically include bug fixes and performance improvements, as well as new Xcode features, like the minimap.

More importantly, new Xcode versions include new versions of the iOS SDKs, Swift and SwiftUI. You can only use these new technologies with the latest versions of Xcode.

You can update your Xcode to the latest versions like this:

1. If you’ve installed Xcode via the App Store, updates happen automatically, or you can manually initiate an update in the Updates tab of the app
2. If you’ve manually installed Xcode via developer.apple.com, you’ll also need to manually install the newer version; updates aren’t automatic

How do you know if Xcode has a new version?

• You get a notification on your Mac (if installed via App Store)
• Keep an eye on developer.apple.com/news/releases (official)
• Check out xcodereleases.com
• Follow @XcodeReleases on Twitter

By the way, there’s a 3rd way to download and install Xcode on your Mac. It’s called mas-cli, and it’s essentially a Command Line Interface (CLI) wrapper for the Mac App Store. It uses the App Store – from the command line… Nice!

You can install mas-cli via Homebrew, a package manager for Mac. Installing mas-cli via Homebrew happens like this:

You can then list apps installed through the App Store on your Mac, with:

You can then search for Xcode like this:

Catalina Xcode Version

Then, copy the numerical code you see on screen to install Xcode:

You can find outdated apps with mas outdated. You can then upgrade all outdated apps with mas upgrade, or selectively update Xcode by its identifier:

Awesome!

Author’s Note: As I understand it, you’ll need to have installed an app via the App Store before you can install it again with mas-cli.

Xcode Version For Catalina

Getting Xcode Beta Versions

Apple regularly releases beta versions of upcoming software, like iOS, macOS and Xcode. This enables developers to try out new features before they become available to the general public, and provide feedback and bug reports back to Apple.

How can you download and install Xcode’s beta versions? Here’s how:

1. Go to developer.apple.com/download and log in with your Apple ID
2. Choose one of the following:
   • Click Beta in the top-right:
     1. Select Applications
     2. Locate the featured Xcode beta you need
     3. Click Download
   • Click More in the top-right
     1. Use the search field to find “xcode”
     2. Locate the Xcode beta you need
     3. Expand the panel by clicking on it
     4. Click the .xip to download
3. Once you’ve got a .xip, unzip it, copy the .app to your ~/Applications folder, and start the Xcode app.

As we’ve discussed before, you can install multiple versions of Xcode side-by-side with this approach. You can, for example, have the regular Xcode installed via the App Store, and install a beta version of Xcode next to it.

You don’t need to have a paid Developer Account to install betas of Xcode. Just use the free Apple Developer Account. It can occasionally happen that Apple restricts beta software to paid subscribers only, however.

Mac Catalina Xcode Version

If you’re installing multiple Xcodes, change their filenames to reflect their versions. That makes it easier to tell them apart! Just so you know: when you switch between installed Xcode versions, you usually get that “Install additional components” prompt again. There are ways around that, but it’s simplest to just let it install again whenever Xcode needs to.

Further Reading

How To Update Xcode Catalina

Managed to install Xcode on your Mac? Awesome! Now you know how to install Xcode’s betas next to it, and keep everything up-to-date. Here’s what we discussed in this tutorial:

• 3 approaches to download and install Xcode on your Mac
• Tips and tricks to keep your Xcode up-to-date
• How to install Xcode betas on your Mac

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

Hello all!
The official Qt reference saying - XCode 11 iOS 13 SDK. I there any way to deploy on iOS 14 device? I am using Qt 5.15. If not - when in Qt going to be iOS 14 support? Or all of it will be in Qt 6.0?

Updated.

I've just tried to update XCode 11.5 on Mojave and got this message
It's mean you can't be using Mojave anymore. You might be using previously installed, but not if you installing or reseting your apple device. Apple insisting on updates, even you trying to ignore updates:

If you will update and install XCode from AppStore there will be installed XCode 12 that is not supported by QT yet. You will get an error of something like 'I don't see iOS SDK'. Install XCode manualy by downloading it through Apple Developer login. In few going to post system configuration that is OK for Qt developing for mobile.