Cross-platform developer Marmalade has launched a new tool that removes the need to port iOS games to Android and other platforms.

Marmalade Juice allows developers to recompile Objective-C programming language and native OS APIs — previously only available for iOS and Mac — within the Marmlade SDK. This means apps can then be deployed directly to Android and BlackBerry, as well as Macs and some smart TVs.

Apps can also be optimised for platforms within the original Objective-C codebase and source-level debugging can be carried out using the Marmalade simulator.

Marmalade juice has already been used by games maker Pocket Gems to make its popular iOS game “Tap Paradise Cove” available in Google Play and Amazon Appstore. Since launching the game on the other platforms Pocket Gems has added more than one million players.

“Historically, porting games from iOS to other platforms has involved a large amount of resource-heavy recoding from Objective-C to other languages. Marmalade Juice entirely removes this stage, making it more cost-effective for developers to reach even more consumers,” said Marmalade MD and COO Harvey Elliott.