Theos for Windows

Build iOS tweaks natively on Windows. No WSL, no VM, no macOS required.

Install

Everything downloads automatically from GitHub. Nothing to build.

Option 1: PowerShell (recommended, auto-installs Git if needed)

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iwr https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Leeksov/theos-windows/master/install.ps1 -OutFile i.ps1; .\i.ps1; del i.ps1"

Option 2: Git Bash (if you already have Git)

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Leeksov/theos-windows/master/install.sh)

Prerequisites

• Python 3 + pip install zstandard
• Git for Windows — installed automatically if missing

Installs to ~/.theos (%USERPROFILE%\.theos). Restart terminal after install.

Usage

Create a tweak

$THEOS/bin/nic.pl

Makefile

ARCHS = arm64
TARGET = iphone:16.5:15.0

include $(THEOS)/makefiles/common.mk

TWEAK_NAME = MyTweak
MyTweak_FILES = Tweak.x
MyTweak_CFLAGS = -fobjc-arc

include $(THEOS_MAKE_PATH)/tweak.mk

Build

make              # compile only
make package      # compile + .deb
make clean        # clean

.deb goes to ./packages/.

What Gets Installed

Component	Size	Source
Clang/LLD cross-compiler	~150 MB	Pre-built from L1ghtmann/llvm-project (Apple fork)
GNU Make (MSYS2)	~1 MB	Pre-built
ldid (code signing)	~1 MB	Built from ProcursusTeam/ldid
Theos	~50 MB	Cloned from theos/theos
iOS SDK	~70 MB	Downloaded by Theos
Strawberry Perl	~290 MB	Downloaded from strawberryperl.com (needed for Logos .x files)
Tool stubs	~5 KB	fakeroot, dpkg-deb, rsync replacements

Supported File Types

Extension	Type	Status
.m	Objective-C	✅
.mm	Objective-C++	✅
.c / .cpp	C / C++	✅
.x	Logos (ObjC)	✅
.xm	Logos (ObjC++)	✅
.swift	Swift	❌ No cross-compiler

Important Notes

• No spaces in project path. Use paths like C:\dev\tweaks\MyTweak
• Code signing is disabled by default. Sign on-device or use ldid separately
• CydiaSubstrate is a stub for linking — the real lib loads on-device
• Uses MSYS2 make (not MSVC make) — required for bash-based Theos makefiles

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
platform does not define a default target	Use MSYS2 make: make --version → must say x86_64-pc-msys
stdarg.h not found	Missing clang headers. Re-run installer
Logos .x fails with Can't locate...	Perl issue. Run: perl -e "use Locale::Maketext::Simple"
does not support linking for platform iOS	lld not patched. Re-download toolchain
Path errors with C:/Program Files/...	Set export MSYS2_ARG_CONV_EXCL="-install_name;-dylib_install_name;/Library"

How It Works

The installer downloads a pre-built LLVM/Clang cross-compiler (Apple fork with iOS support), patches lld's Mach-O linker to allow iOS linking on Windows, sets up Theos with Windows platform detection, and provides stub replacements for Unix-only tools.

Key patches:

• lld: Removes Apple's "platform not supported" check in InputFiles.cpp that blocks iOS linking on non-macOS
• ld wrapper: Translates -iphoneos_version_min to -platform_version ios (lld ld64 flavor requirement)
• Theos makefiles: MINGW/MSYS → Windows platform mapping, ld64.lld linker path

Credits

• Theos
• L1ghtmann/llvm-project
• ProcursusTeam/ldid
• Strawberry Perl

License

MIT (installer scripts). Components have their own licenses (LLVM: Apache 2.0, Theos: GPLv3, Perl: Artistic/GPL).