Install Iphone Simulator On Mac

For most iOS users, Appstore is the only place to download and install apps. Sometimes, you may want to install an old version of an app or apps that are not available in Appstore. In that case, you can install IPA on iPhone or iPad. In this post, I will show you 5 methods to load .ipa on non-jailbroken iPhones or iPads. It is better to use a PC or Mac, but you can also install IPA on iPhone without a PC or Mac.

Install Iphone Simulator On Mac Os
Install Iphone Simulator On Mac Download

Simulator Launcher builds custom executables to automatically launch an embedded iPhone Simulator application using the correct iPhone SDK. To use, drag any iPhone Simulator binary onto the 'Simulator Builder' application. This will create a new Mac OS X application that bundles and launches your iPhone Simulator application from within Mac OS X. Download application from iTunes. Select downloaded app, right click show in finder. Copy.ipa file to Desktop, rename it to.zip file. Extract that.zip file and you will get directory with application name. Check that directory you will find app file in Payload folder, copy this app file. Thank you for replies. I find that I didn't install a package iphonesimulatorplatform. I can compile and run the simulator now. It is strange that I have to install every package for iphone by myself. I thought everything should be installed automatically.

Install IPA with Apple Configurator on Mac

From Xcode menu Open Developer Tool - Simulator. From simulator select the device where you want to install the application. Open the Terminal application and execute the following command: xcrun.

Since iTunes 12.7, the Apps section is gone. It seems impossible to load IPA apps from iTunes. Luckily, another app, Configurator 2, from Apple, can install the app through IPA files. You follow the steps below to use Configurator to load IPA files onto your iPhone.

Step 1. Install Apple Configurator 2 on your Mac from the App Store.

Step 2. Connect your device to your Mac via lightning cable.

Step 3. Open Apple Configurator 2, select your device.

Step 4. Click on Add button and select the App option.

Step 5. Select Choose from my Mac button and browse to select the .ipa file. In a short while, you can see that the app has been installed on your iOS device.

Install IPA to iPhone or iPad with Sideloadly

If your app is not signed correctly, it probably will not work after installing via Configurator. In that case, you can use Sideloadly to load .ipa files to your iPhone or iPad. It will automatically sign your app. Sideloadly is available for both Windows and macOS.

Step 1. Download & install Sideloadly on your Windows PC or Mac.

Step 2. Once Sideloadly is installed, connect your iOS Device to your machine.

Step 3. Drag the IPA file into Sideloadly.

Step 4. Enter your Apple ID email and press “Start”.

Step 5. Then you will be asked to enter your iTunes/Apple ID password. Go ahead and type your password.

Step 6: Wait for Sideloadly to finish installing the IPA. Once complete, you will now need to go to Settings > General > Profiles & Device Management to Trust the email address your enter in Sideloadly.

After that, you should be able to go to your Home Screen and open the newly installed app. Other methods mentioned here may fail, but this one has never failed me once.

Install IPA on iPhone with Online IPA Installer

If you don’t want to download anything, you can use this free online web service Install On Air. This is often used when you want to share your beta apps with others for testing.

You just need to upload your IPA file to the Installonair website and generate a sharable link or QR code. Anyone can click the link or scan the QR code to install the IPA on his or her iOS device.

Since it is an online service, you can also do it without a PC. You need to download the IPA file onto your iPhone and then save it to the Files app. Then you can upload it to Installonair from the Files app.

Install IPA on iPhone Directly without Computer

Another method to load the .ipa file onto iPhone would be using the Shortcuts app, an automation app provided by Apple. If your iPhone is running iOS 15, you can jump to the steps below.

If you haven’t used any shortcuts before, you need to open the Shortcuts app and create one. You can drag any action into there and run it once. Then go to Settings > Shortcuts and toggle on Allow Untrusted Shortcuts.

Step 1. Get this App Installer Reborn shortcut by opening this link in Safari. Any shortcuts outside of the Shortcuts Gallery are considered untrusted, so feel free to add them.

Step 2. Copy the link to your IPA app file that you want to install. I save the file to iCloud and use the iCloud share link.

Step 3. Run the shortcut and paste the link when asked.

Step 4. Then you will be prompted to install the App. Just tap Install to install the IPA.

That’s it. Your app would be installed shortly and you can see the progress on the Home screen. Be aware that this method would not work for unsigned apps. If you like the Shortcuts app, you can also find more amazing shared shortcuts from here.

Install IPA with iTunes/Finder on Mac

After Apple removed the App section from iTunes, you can still use iTunes to install your iOS App (.ipa file). However, this only works for Developer provisioning but not for Adhoc provisioning.

If your app is developer provisioning, you can locate your device in a Finder/Locations window and drag/drop that .ipa from another window directly into Finder. When you see a green + icon, release. After that, you can find the app on your phone.

for Adhoc provisioning apps, you can use Xcode. Just open your device information panel in XCode. Select “Devices and Simulators”, then select my ‘Device’ and drop the .ipa file in the area.

Bonus: Install IPA with Cydia Impactor

Cydia Impactor now only works for Apple Developer Account. If you have an Apple Developer account, you can refer to the steps below to install iOS apps without iTunes.

Step 1: Free download Cydia Impactor from its official website.

Step 2: Open Cydia Impactor. Drag and drop the IPA file onto Cydia Impactor.

Step 3: Then type in your Apple Developer Account ID and password to continue.

In a short while, your IPA file will be installed on your iPhone or iPad. If needed, you can download multiple IPA files, and install them with Cydia Impactor all at once.

Conclusion

It is always recommended to use apps provided by Apple to install IPA on your iOS device. If your app is unsigned, you can only sideload it with Sideloadly.

Important:The information in this document is deprecated in Xcode 9. For Xcode 9 and later, see Simulator Help by choosing Help > Simulator Help in Simulator.

Simulator app, available within Xcode, presents the iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch user interface in a window on your Mac computer. You interact with Simulator by using the keyboard and the mouse to emulate taps, device rotation, and other user actions.

The chapter presents the basics of using Simulator. You can perform these steps using your own iOS app or, if you do not have an app to use, with the HelloWorld sample code. For more detailed information on interacting with Simulator and using it to test and debug your apps, refer to the later chapters in this guide.

Access Simulator from Xcode

There are two different ways to access Simulator through Xcode. The first way is to run your app in Simulator, and the second way is to launch Simulator without running an app.

Running Your iOS App

When testing an app in Simulator, it is easiest to launch and run your app in Simulator directly from your Xcode project. To run your app in Simulator, choose an iOS simulator—for example, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, or iPhone 6 + Apple Watch - 38mm—from the Xcode scheme pop-up menu, and click Run. Xcode builds your project and then launches the most recent version of your app running in Simulator on your Mac screen, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Note: If you are testing an app with a deployment target of iPad, you can test only on a simulated iPad. If you are testing an app with a deployment target of iPhone or universal, you can test on either a simulated iPhone or a simulated iPad.

Running Your watchOS App

To run your WatckKit app, choose a combination of an iOS device and watchOS device from the Xcode scheme pop-up menu. For example, to run the watch app in a 38mm watch paired with an iPhone 6, choose 'iPhone 6 + Apple Watch - 38mm' from the scheme pop-up menu.

Running the WatchKit target launches two simulators, one for the iOS device and one for the watchOS device. Figure 1-2 shows an iPhone 6 and a 42mm watch running in two different simulators.

Running Your tvOS App

To run your tvOS App, choose a tvOS device from the Xcode scheme pop-up menu. Running the tvOS target launches the most recent version of your app in a simulated new Apple TV device, as shown in Figure 1-3.

Launching Simulator Without Running an App

At times, you may want to launch Simulator without running an app. This approach is helpful if you want to test how your app launches from the Home screen of a device or if you want to test a web app in Safari on a simulated iOS device.

To launch a Simulator without running an app

Launch Xcode.
Do one of the following:
- Choose Xcode > Open Developer Tool > Simulator.
- Control-click the Xcode icon in the Dock, and from the shortcut menu, choose Open Developer Tool > Simulator.

To launch a watchOS Simulator without running an app

Launch Xcode.
Do one of the following:
- Choose Xcode > Open Developer Tool > Simulator (watchOS).
- Control-click the Xcode icon in the Dock, and from the shortcut menu, choose Open Developer Tool > Simulator (watchOS).

Simulator opens and displays the Home screen of whichever simulated device was last used.

View the Installed Apps

From the Home screen, you have access to all of the apps that are installed in the simulation environment. There are two ways to access the Home screen in Simulator from your app:

Press Command-Shift-H.
Choose Hardware > Home.

Use the installed apps to test your app’s interaction with them. For example, if you are testing a game, you can use Simulator to ensure that the game is using Game Center correctly.

iOS Device Home Screen

Much like the Home screen on an iOS device, the simulator’s iOS Home screen has multiple pages. After clicking the Home button (or accessing the Home screen through the Hardware menu), you arrive at the second page of the Home screen. To get to the first page, where all of the preinstalled apps are found, swipe to the first Home screen by dragging to the right on the simulator screen.

On the Home screen, you see that all of the apps that have been preloaded into Simulator. See iOS Device Home Screen.

The apps that you see on the Home screen are specific to the iOS device simulation environment. Because Passbook and the Health app are available only for the iPhone, these apps don’t appear if you are simulating a legacy device or an unsupported device type.

watchOS Device Home Screen

The Home screen for a simulated watchOS device behaves the same as it would on an actual device. You can click and drag to simulate the finger dragging around the screen and launch an app by clicking on it. Figure 1-4 shows the home screen of a 42mm watch with a developer app, the Lister sample code.

Use Safari to Test Web Apps

From the Home screen, you can access Safari within Simulator. Use Safari to test your iOS web apps directly on your Mac.

From the Home screen, click Safari.
In the address field in Safari, type the URL of your web app and press the Return key.

If your Mac is connected to the Internet, it displays the mobile version of the URL you specified. For example, type apple.com into the address field and press Return. Safari displays the Apple website. See Figure 1-6.

Use Maps to Simulate Location Awareness

Simulator provides tools to assist you in debugging your apps. One of the many features you can debug in Simulator is location awareness within your app. Set a location by choosing Debug > Location > location of choice. The menu has items to simulate a static location or following a route.

A simulated watchOS device with the location set to None checks the paired iPhone device for the location.

You can specify your own location, which can be seen in the Maps app.

From the Home screen, click Maps.
Choose Debug > Location > Custom Location.
In the window that appears, type the number 40.75 in the latitude field and the number -73.75 in the longitude field.
Click OK.
Click the Current Location button in the bottom-left corner of the simulated device screen.

After completing this task, notice that the blue dot representing your location is in New York, NY, near the Long Island Expressway, as shown in Figure 1-7.

Change the Simulated Device and OS Version

Simulator provides the ability to simulate many different combinations of device type and OS version. A device type is a model of iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. Some iPhone devices can also have a paired Apple Watch. Each device-OS combination has its own simulation environment with its own settings and apps. Simulator provides simulators for common device-iOS, device-watchOS-iOS device, and device-tvOS combinations. You can also add simulators for a specific combination you want to test. However, not all device type and OS version combinations are available.

Note: To test apps for the iPad mini, use a simulated iPad with the same pixel resolution as the iPad mini.

You can switch between different device-OS combinations. Switching closes the window for the existing device and then opens a new window with the selected device. The existing device goes through a normal OS shutdown sequence, though the timeout might be longer than the one on a real device. The new device goes through a normal OS startup sequence.

To change the simulated device

Choose a Hardware > Device > device of choice.
Simulator closes the active device window and opens a new window with the selected device.

If the device type and OS version combination you want to use is not in the Device submenu, create a simulator for it.

To add a simulator

Choose Hardware > Device > Manage Devices.
Xcode opens the Devices window.
At the bottom of the left column, click the Add button (+).
In the dialog that appears, enter a name in the Simulator Name text field and choose the device from the Device Type pop-up menu.
Choose the OS version from the iOS Version pop-up menu.
Alternatively, if the iOS version you want to use isn’t in the iOS Version pop-up menu, choose “Download more simulators” and follow the steps to download a simulator.
Click Create.

If the OS version you want to use is not installed, download it and follow the steps to add a simulator again.

To download a simulator

In Xcode, choose Xcode > Preferences.
In the Preferences window, click Downloads.
In Components, find the legacy simulator version you want to add, and click the Install button.

You can also delete and rename simulators in the Devices window.

To delete a simulator

In Simulator, choose Hardware > Device > Manage Devices, or in Xcode, choose Window > Devices.
Xcode opens the Devices window.
In the left column, select the simulator.
At the bottom of the left column, click the Action button (the gear next to the Add button).
Choose Delete from the Action menu.
In the dialog that appears, click Delete.

To rename a simulator, choose Rename from the Action menu and enter a new name.

For how to manage real devices that appear in the Devices window, read Devices Window Help.

Alter the Settings of the Simulated Device

You can alter the settings within Simulator to help test your app.

On a simulated device, use the Settings app. To open the Settings app, go to the Home screen and click or on tvOS, choose Settings. In Figure 1-8 you see the Settings app as it appears when launched in the iOS simulation environment.

The Simulator settings differ from the settings found on a hardware device. Simulator is designed for testing your apps, whereas a hardware device is designed for use. Because Simulator is designed for testing apps, its settings are naturally focused on testing, too. For example, in a simulated iOS device the Accessibility menu provides the ability to turn on the Accessibility Inspector, and the Accessibility menu on a device allows you to turn on and off different accessibility features.

Through the settings, you can test both accessibility and localization of your app. See Testing and Debugging in iOS Simulator for information on how to manipulate your settings for the various types of testing you are interested in.

Remember: Changes made in the Settings app of simulated device affect only the simulation environment that is currently running.

Rotate iOS Devices

You can use Simulator to manipulate the simulated device much as you do a physical device.

To rotate your simulated device, choose Hardware > Rotate Left. When you rotate your simulated device, Settings rotates (see Figure 1-9), just as it would on a hardware device.

Test in Simulator and on a Device

Simulator is designed to assist you in designing, rapidly prototyping, and testing your app, but it should never serve as your sole platform for testing. One reason is that not all apps are available in the simulator. For example, the Camera app is available only on hardware devices and cannot be replicated in the simulator.

In addition, not all bugs and performance problems can be caught through testing in Simulator alone. You’ll learn more about performance differences in Testing and Debugging in iOS Simulator. You can also find more information on testing your app on a device in Launching Your App on Devices in App Distribution Guide.

Quit Simulator

Simulator continues running until you quit it. Quitting Xcode will not close Simulator because they are separate applications. Similarly quitting simulator will not close Xcode.

To quit Simulator, choose Simulator > Quit Simulator. The device is shut down, terminating any running apps.

Note: Both Simulator and watchOS Simulator can be open at the same time.