4 ms·

The iOS Simulator consists of (some of) the userspace components of iOS compiled to run on macOS. This would be a full iPhone image running as-is via virtualiza

by restes 1mo ago

The iOS Simulator consists of (some of) the userspace components of iOS compiled to run on macOS. This would be a full iPhone image running as-is via virtualization.

RussianCow 1mo ago
That explains the difference, but what's the purpose?
- a012 1mo ago
  You can test your application, game, website without a physical phone?
  - leoh 1mo ago
    Can do that with the simulator too
    - refulgentis 1mo ago
      Running on ported userspace components, with a shim, isn't the same as running on the OS in itself. That really matters, sometimes. But not the vast majority of the time. (source: been coding iOS since pre-SDK iPhone OS 1.0)
      - RussianCow 1mo ago
        Can you give some examples of where it matters? I'm genuinely curious.
        bradfitz 1mo ago
        Last I checked, VPN network extensions wouldn't run in the simulator.
        afavour 1mo ago
        It’s been years but I ran into a problem with a notification extension years ago. Worked fine on simulator, not on device. Turned out it was because I was using a HEIF image and (I think) the on-device extension was trying to use hardware decoding and didn’t have access to it. Meanwhile the simulator had no such sandboxing restrictions. The difference doesn’t matter until it does, and then it’s infuriating to work out what’s going on.
        gitgud 1mo ago
        > The difference doesn’t matter until it does, and then it’s infuriating to work out what’s going on. I love this quote, reminds me how annoying it can be when something isn’t reproducible locally… only in production…
        DonHopkins 1mo ago
        Testing AR apps, or any app that relies on hardware you can't simulate easily. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T43b5ywnYpo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T43b5ywnYpo
      - dingdongditchme 1mo ago
        Is the simulator faster than this? I would suspect so.
    - cfn 1mo ago
      I have had instances where the app runs fine on the simulator but crashes on the device. This might solve that.
- leoh 1mo ago
  If functional, you can download apps from the App Store, sign in to iCloud.. probably do a bunch of agentic stuff as if you had a real device
  - Sajarin 1mo ago
    Looks like apple services compatibility is not currently supported for this [0] [0] https://github.com/Lakr233/vphone-cli/discussions/175 https://github.com/Lakr233/vphone-cli/discussions/175
    - discordance 1mo ago
      If you read a bit further, there's a jailbroken variant that has Sileo and Trollstore installed, so you can run whatever IPAs
      - QuantumNomad_ 1mo ago
        Where? Edit: ah now I see, in the main readme under heading Firmware Variants. https://github.com/Lakr233/vphone-cli#firmware-variants https://github.com/Lakr233/vphone-cli#firmware-variants
    - rvz 1mo ago
      Exactly. It means it cannot download apps from the App Store or use Apple services and Apple knows this deliberate limitation.
- VladVladikoff 1mo ago
  Spam. Click farms. Etc.
  - trollbridge 1mo ago
    It would also make testing far easier. I got bit with something that failed on real life iPhones with language set to es_US that worked fine on the simulator.
  - trueno 1mo ago
    oh. is this why icloud spam texts are running wild now
    - greggsy 1mo ago
      No, it’s just trivial to generate iCloud email addresses that won’t get picked up by spam filter.
- whynotmaybe 1mo ago
  The simulator doesn't have a camera. The android emulator allows to configure the camera and use a picture, it's very handy to test your qr/barcode reader without needing to use a physical device. Maybe this also allows to use an image as camera?
- gcampos 1mo ago
  You cannot run Network Extensions on the simulator
- landr0id 1mo ago
  It's useful for security research since you can do kernel debugging and inspection of the device not possible in the simulator. As others pointed out it's also useful for e.g. click/spam farms which need a "real" iPhone.

by restes 1mo ago

The iOS Simulator consists of (some of) the userspace components of iOS compiled to run on macOS. This would be a full iPhone image running as-is via virtualization.

RussianCow 1mo ago

That explains the difference, but what's the purpose?

a012 1mo ago
You can test your application, game, website without a physical phone?
- leoh 1mo ago
  Can do that with the simulator too
  - refulgentis 1mo ago
    Running on ported userspace components, with a shim, isn't the same as running on the OS in itself. That really matters, sometimes. But not the vast majority of the time. (source: been coding iOS since pre-SDK iPhone OS 1.0)
    - RussianCow 1mo ago
      Can you give some examples of where it matters? I'm genuinely curious.
      - bradfitz 1mo ago
        Last I checked, VPN network extensions wouldn't run in the simulator.
      - afavour 1mo ago
        It’s been years but I ran into a problem with a notification extension years ago. Worked fine on simulator, not on device. Turned out it was because I was using a HEIF image and (I think) the on-device extension was trying to use hardware decoding and didn’t have access to it. Meanwhile the simulator had no such sandboxing restrictions. The difference doesn’t matter until it does, and then it’s infuriating to work out what’s going on.
        gitgud 1mo ago
        > The difference doesn’t matter until it does, and then it’s infuriating to work out what’s going on. I love this quote, reminds me how annoying it can be when something isn’t reproducible locally… only in production…
      - DonHopkins 1mo ago
        Testing AR apps, or any app that relies on hardware you can't simulate easily. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T43b5ywnYpo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T43b5ywnYpo
    - dingdongditchme 1mo ago
      Is the simulator faster than this? I would suspect so.
  - cfn 1mo ago
    I have had instances where the app runs fine on the simulator but crashes on the device. This might solve that.
leoh 1mo ago
If functional, you can download apps from the App Store, sign in to iCloud.. probably do a bunch of agentic stuff as if you had a real device
- Sajarin 1mo ago
  Looks like apple services compatibility is not currently supported for this [0] [0] https://github.com/Lakr233/vphone-cli/discussions/175 https://github.com/Lakr233/vphone-cli/discussions/175
  - discordance 1mo ago
    If you read a bit further, there's a jailbroken variant that has Sileo and Trollstore installed, so you can run whatever IPAs
    - QuantumNomad_ 1mo ago
      Where? Edit: ah now I see, in the main readme under heading Firmware Variants. https://github.com/Lakr233/vphone-cli#firmware-variants https://github.com/Lakr233/vphone-cli#firmware-variants
  - rvz 1mo ago
    Exactly. It means it cannot download apps from the App Store or use Apple services and Apple knows this deliberate limitation.
VladVladikoff 1mo ago
Spam. Click farms. Etc.
- trollbridge 1mo ago
  It would also make testing far easier. I got bit with something that failed on real life iPhones with language set to es_US that worked fine on the simulator.
- trueno 1mo ago
  oh. is this why icloud spam texts are running wild now
  - greggsy 1mo ago
    No, it’s just trivial to generate iCloud email addresses that won’t get picked up by spam filter.
whynotmaybe 1mo ago
The simulator doesn't have a camera. The android emulator allows to configure the camera and use a picture, it's very handy to test your qr/barcode reader without needing to use a physical device. Maybe this also allows to use an image as camera?
gcampos 1mo ago
You cannot run Network Extensions on the simulator
landr0id 1mo ago
It's useful for security research since you can do kernel debugging and inspection of the device not possible in the simulator. As others pointed out it's also useful for e.g. click/spam farms which need a "real" iPhone.