Will mods ever come to iOS
- Thread starter Meow
- Start date
mouse
Farmer
Unfortunately it doesn't have much to do with the devs/game version and isn't very likely :( You can keep an eye on this issue about SMAPI on other platforms, but iOS is locked down more than Android and probably won't ever like a process like SMAPI hijacking the game and changing things about it. We'd probably need some dedicated Apple-superfan-that-is-also-a-developer to really dig into it, hehe. A couple people have mentioned ideas here and there, but then disappeared.
I'm definitely not an expert, but the last I heard was that the best one could hope is installing old-style XNB overwrites with a jailbroken device (I read somewhere at some point that there might be a way around the jailbreak, but I'm not familiar), which is not ideal in many ways and not the kind of thing people are going to be able to recommend or help with.
I'm definitely not an expert, but the last I heard was that the best one could hope is installing old-style XNB overwrites with a jailbroken device (I read somewhere at some point that there might be a way around the jailbreak, but I'm not familiar), which is not ideal in many ways and not the kind of thing people are going to be able to recommend or help with.
Thaddeus_
Sodbuster
I mean possibly. You'd need someone who knows how to work with APK files I have very limited experience, and really only with folder management, slight changes to games (I once modded a singleplayer mobile game to where a very annoying mechanic no longer occurred which literally only required changing one value for probability on a scale of 0-1 to 0) but nothing besides that.
It is most certainly doable. But don't expect to see all the mods you see on nexus come to mobile unless nexus decides to start modding mobile games. Plus from what I've seen APK file structure is different, so adapting mods from PC would take some time.
Oh, and beyond that Google Play/Apple Store probably wouldn't like it so it would probably be completely unofficial and not very publicized.
It is most certainly doable. But don't expect to see all the mods you see on nexus come to mobile unless nexus decides to start modding mobile games. Plus from what I've seen APK file structure is different, so adapting mods from PC would take some time.
Oh, and beyond that Google Play/Apple Store probably wouldn't like it so it would probably be completely unofficial and not very publicized.
Thaddeus_
Sodbuster
Oh, and if you wanna give it a shot here's Jota Text Editor. You may need other tools to do anything, but this is basically Notepad++ for mobile and is how I changed the mobile game Jota Text Editor
Thaddeus_
Sodbuster
I mean you'd have to jailbreak your IOS. Not easy, and I have no idea about any of that since I am an android user. You could potentially download a few programs to edit code (???) off of the internet since Apple wouldn't allow that on the Apple store. Also, I just realized, this is for IOS not mobile lol.
I'm not sure you'd need an apple developer though. There are ways around OS lockouts on a lot of things, but you may want to install a different OS altogether because you'd probably spend more time figuring out how to get around the OS lockouts than actually modding anything.
To list a few possible OSes off of the top of my head there is Ubuntu, PureOS, and KaiOS. I know that Ubuntu is fairly straightforward to install provided you know a smidge of what you're doing and follow the installation guide. I'm not sure about the others though. If you have the windows OS for mobile you're in luck (!!!) because I'm pretty sure that mods are far easier to adapt to windows mobile than any other OS because much of the file structure is the same, and thus that means you know more of what you're doing. However I believe windows OS is proprietary to windows mobile devices, but I may be mistaken.
That being said, the question is: Is Stardew Valley compatible with any of these OSes?
mouse
Farmer
What I'm saying is that even if you jailbreak and get basic overwrite mods working, the vast majority of mods for Stardew Valley are not that simple, and for good reasons. It's an outdated and very limited (not to mention very conflict-prone) way of modding that involves just completely replacing the original game content. I also did not mean you'd need an Apple developer, just a developer in general (that was also enough of an Apple fan to bother), because all our mods are for SMAPI and you're not going to be able to even start thinking about solving it for another platform if you don't have any programming experience. (Android has an unofficial port.)
"Just root and install a different OS" is pretty dramatic compared to what most people asking "can I get mods on my..." would be looking for, I think, and doesn't seem like the kind of thing we'd ever have an "official" solution for.
"Just root and install a different OS" is pretty dramatic compared to what most people asking "can I get mods on my..." would be looking for, I think, and doesn't seem like the kind of thing we'd ever have an "official" solution for.
Thaddeus_
Sodbuster
Very true. The file structure for almost any mobile OS is veeery different from anything that SDV mods currently work with, so it would be a major pain.
Oh. I thought you meant an actual apple dev lol.
Also very true with the last bit, but I mean IOS is not exactly friendly towards the more advanced users because everything is locked down.
mouse
Farmer
I think we might be talking about different things, so just in case I'm going to clarify, sorry if it's too much! I figured if I am confused, OP or other readers might be as well :)
When the OP mentioned wanting mods to come to iOS, to me that means being able to download and install mods like you can on PC/Android. It's technically possible to, say, edit your save to give yourself extra money or whatever, but to me that isn't being able to use mods. Likewise, while if you jailbreak it's possible to use some XNB mods of the old variety that just overwrite the game files directly (much like Switch modding), the vast majority of non-broken mods don't work that way, so in most cases you'd also need to create them.
(This is in addition to all the problems inherent in XNB modding in general, too :P)
Rather than being "open a game file and edit it" replacers for example, almost all up-to-date basic texture replacers require SMAPI and have much more advanced functionality and compatibility than old direct replacers. SMAPI has a port for Android, but not for iOS. This means that most Stardew Valley mods you find on Nexus work just fine for Android unless otherwise noted, but not for iOS, even if you jailbreak.
Someone else would be able to comment in more detail about the many challenges of trying to develop SMAPI for iOS, but in short it's not just a matter of file structure because SMAPI modding involves a lot more under the hood than just overwriting a file in the content folder. (Android is hard for people to keep up with already, and it's got a lot of rewrites in it handling the differences between the two codebases, too.) So that's what the main parts of my comments were about -- that it's not really down to the game devs, that it's really unlikely "normal" modding will come any time soon but technically possible (? maybe, if jailbroken?), and that very simple overwrite modding is possible with a jailbreak but that no one is going to be able to recommend/help with that directly.
Hopefully that makes sense, I feel like I have been rambling a bit :D
When the OP mentioned wanting mods to come to iOS, to me that means being able to download and install mods like you can on PC/Android. It's technically possible to, say, edit your save to give yourself extra money or whatever, but to me that isn't being able to use mods. Likewise, while if you jailbreak it's possible to use some XNB mods of the old variety that just overwrite the game files directly (much like Switch modding), the vast majority of non-broken mods don't work that way, so in most cases you'd also need to create them.
(This is in addition to all the problems inherent in XNB modding in general, too :P)
Rather than being "open a game file and edit it" replacers for example, almost all up-to-date basic texture replacers require SMAPI and have much more advanced functionality and compatibility than old direct replacers. SMAPI has a port for Android, but not for iOS. This means that most Stardew Valley mods you find on Nexus work just fine for Android unless otherwise noted, but not for iOS, even if you jailbreak.
Someone else would be able to comment in more detail about the many challenges of trying to develop SMAPI for iOS, but in short it's not just a matter of file structure because SMAPI modding involves a lot more under the hood than just overwriting a file in the content folder. (Android is hard for people to keep up with already, and it's got a lot of rewrites in it handling the differences between the two codebases, too.) So that's what the main parts of my comments were about -- that it's not really down to the game devs, that it's really unlikely "normal" modding will come any time soon but technically possible (? maybe, if jailbroken?), and that very simple overwrite modding is possible with a jailbreak but that no one is going to be able to recommend/help with that directly.
Hopefully that makes sense, I feel like I have been rambling a bit :D
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lilan castel
Farmer
no. The reason is the IOS system is locked and smapi can't jailbreak it. Patoschild would be a criminal if he will make smapi for ios!
aerogems
Greenhorn
Sorry to bump an old thread, but... in theory someone could go the MrMC route and just package SDV along with SMAPI and a fixed set of mods for iOS. Apple would probably approve that. So, for example, the SVE dev could package up all the mods needed for SVE to run and then put that on the iOS app store. From a technical standpoint, it's possible. The big issue would be that a third party company was given the rights to port SDV to iOS, so anyone looking to do this would likely need to get their permission, which would probably involve having to charge for the theoretical SVE iOS port and then giving the iOS dev most of the money you make from it.