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On my old Mac running Snow Leopard, I could type "ios" into spotlight and it would start up the iPhone/iPad simulator by itself.

I have since had to get a new machine running Lion. I have installed Xcode for Lion. I have installed the developer tool options from the preferences panel.

But the "ios" option is no longer there. The only way now seems to be to run Xcode, create an empty project and then launch the simulator with the run option.

I have searched and searched the Internet and Facebook, but nothing helps.

Does anyone know how to run only the simulator on Lion?

Update: In response to @ike_love thread below. that answer is not assured to work on all Yosemite machines.

enter image description here

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  • 19
    type "simulator" instead of "ios" ;) Commented May 1, 2016 at 11:49

20 Answers 20

Reset to default
430

Assuming you have Xcode installed in /Applications, then you can do this from the command line to start the iPhone Simulator:

$ open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/Applications/iPhone\ Simulator.app

(Xcode 6+):

$ open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/iOS Simulator.app

You could create a symbolic-link from your Desktop to make this easier:

$ ln -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/Applications/iPhone\ Simulator.app ~/Desktop

(Xcode 6+):

$ ln -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/iOS Simulator.app ~/Desktop

As pointed out by @JackHahoney, you could also add an alias to your ~/.bash_profile:

$ alias simulator='open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/De‌​veloper/Applications/iPhone\ Simulator.app'

(Xcode 6+):

$ alias simulator='open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/iOS\ Simulator.app'

(Xcode 7+):

$ alias simulator='open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/Simulator.app'

Which would mean you could start the iPhone Simulator from the command line with one easy-to-remember word:

$ simulator
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16 Comments

echo "alias iphone='open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/Applications/iPhone\ Simulator.app'" >> .bash_profile;. .bash_profile
Searching for it in Finder and dragging it to the Dock is clearly the way to go.
@HenrikErlandsson Add a new answer to the question then. Your downvote seems a little unfair as the answer I provide will do as the OP asks...
This should be updated per @daniel below: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/iOS Simulator.app
It is now open -a "Simulator" and open -a "Simulator (Watch)" for, obviously, the watch :)
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249

The easiest way without fiddling with command line:

  1. launch Xcode once.
  2. run ios simulator
  3. drag the ios simulator icon to dock it.

Next time you want to use it, just click on the ios simulator icon in the dock.

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7 Comments

This should have been accepted as the answer. The terminal commands mentioned in the accepted answer may change for a future version of OS X. But the suggestion mentioned in this answer is not likely to change over versions.
Ehm no, the title says explicitely without starting xcode. Then second point is, if you restart your mac the icon is gone...
If you want to work with the app itself, do what this post says but, right click the dock icon and "Show in Finder" to reveal the location of the app in Finder. The location of the app has recently changed since the accepted answer above.
yeah! this way also works fine with spotlight quick search as well +1!
What worked for me is a variation of this. With the simulator (and Xcode) running there is an icon for the simulator in the dock area. Right-click on that icon and select Options - Keep in Dock.
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146

In XCode 7+ the location is now

/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/Simulator.app

Run it from the command line

$ open -a Simulator
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2 Comments

$ open -a Simulator is the correct answer as of MacOS 10.14, XCode 10.1. Thanks!
So /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/Simulator.app/Contents/MacOS/Simulator runs the simulator
75

From Terminal you have to run:

open -a Simulator
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32

No need to do anything on the commandline.

Just use spotlight to run simulator.app

screenshot of spotlight searching simulator.app

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3 Comments

You can do basically this same thing with Alfred alfredapp.com
Spotlight on my machine (M1 Pro, Monterey 12.5) doesn't find this. It is there in /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/Simulator.app/Contents/MacOS/Simulator
This answer describes how to access it via Spotlight: stackoverflow.com/a/22871068/535071
24

is it helpful to you see the image enter image description here

Edit

Now with new Xcode if the icon of the Xcode is on dock you can just right click it and form the menu you can select Open Developer Tool and in the sub menu you can select the iOS Simulator to open the simulator without opening the Xcode.!enter image description here

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1 Comment

It's worth pointing out here, that Xcode still needs to be open and running in order to access this submenu. This submenu will NOT display, if Xcode isn't already running - which is what your answer implies.
20

You can get it to launch via spotlight if you create an Automator launcher for it:

  1. Open Automator.app
  2. Choose type of Application
  3. Select Actions > Library > Utilities > Launch Application
  4. Open the dropdown of applications that can be launched and choose Other
  5. You can't directly select the Simulator app because it's inside the Xcode.app package. So instead you'll have to navigate to it in a separate Finder window and drag it onto the file selector window. It will be at one of the following paths depending on your version of Xcode (oldest to newest):
    • /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/iOS Simulator.app
    • /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/Applications/iOS Simulator.app
    • /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/Simulator.app
  6. Finally, save this Automator app in your applications folder as iOS Simulator.app

Create Automator app

To get a nice icon for the Automator app you just made, you can do the following:

  1. Right click iOS Simulator.app and choose Get Info
  2. Click the icon in the upper left corner and do Cmd-C to copy it
  3. Right click your Automator app and choose Get Info
  4. Click the icon in the upper left corner and do Cmd-V to paste

Copy icon

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1 Comment

Great idea, as it's also usable in Alfred and easy to find later
16

As the multitude of answers indicate, there are lots of different ways to address this issue. Not all of them address what is my number one issue, and what seems to be the asker's priority, as well: The ability to launch from Spotlight.

Here's the solution that works well for me, and should work with any OS X and XCode versions. I've tested it on OS X 10.11 and XCode 7.3.

Initial setup does require launching XCode, but after that, you won't need to just to get to the Simulator.

Setup

  1. Launch XCode
  2. From the XCode menu, select Open Developer Tool > Simulator
  3. In the dock, control (or right) click on the Simulator icon
  4. Select Options > Show in Finder
  5. While holding down Command and Option, drag the Simulator icon to the applications directory. This creates an alias to it.
  6. If desired, rename the alias from "Simulator" to "iOS Simulator". Whatever you name it is what it will show up as in Spotlight.

Note: There are other ways to get to the location of the Simulator app (steps 1-4), such as using Go to Folder… in the Finder, but those require knowing the location of the Simulator to begin with. Since that has changed from version to version of XCode, this way should work regardless of these changes.

Use

  1. Launch Spotlight (command-space, etc.)
  2. Type "simulator" or "ios" (if you renamed the alias).
  3. If necessary, use the down arrow to scroll to the Simulator alias. Eventually, spotlight should learn and make the alias the top choice so you can skip this step.
  4. Hit return
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4 Comments

on Sierra, simulator can be found with spotlight without any special setup.
@johnywhy For some reason, Spotlight doesn't find Simulator for some people, including me on a fairly fresh Sierra install. I'd love to find out how to get it to find it, but in the meantime, these steps help.
This is the most consolidated answer and makes it available on Finder as well.
This was not available to me via Spotlight in a fresh install of High Sierra.
13

With Xcode 6 the location of the simulator has changed to:

/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/iOS Simulator.app

It can no longer be found here: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/Applications/iPhone Simulator.app

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12

Try below instruction for launching iphone simulator:

Goto Application Folder-->Xcode app-->right click to Show Package Contents-->now show files in xcode contents-->Developer-->Platforms-->iPhoneSimulator.platform-->Developer-->Applications--> now show iOS Simulator app click to launch iphone simulator...!

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10

The solutions above didn't work for me in ZSH. I needed to escape the dot in the iPhoneSimulator.platform. This works for me:

alias simulator="open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/iOS\ Simulator.app"

This could be even more resilient version:

alias simulator="open -a 'iOS Simulator'"
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2 Comments

Thanks this do the job
its not worked in x-code 5.1 + mavericks , but above tricks by @trojanfoe worked successfully...
10

I know it is an old question, but this might help someone using Xcode11+ and macOS Catalina.

To see a list of available simulators via terminal, type:

$ xcrun simctl list

This will return a list of devices e.g., iPhone 11 Pro Max (6A7BEA2F-95E4-4A34-98C1-01C9906DCBDE) (Shutdown). The long string of characters is the device UUID.

To start the device via terminal, simply type:

$ xcrun simctl boot 6A7BEA2F-95E4-4A34-98C1-01C9906DCBDE

To shut it down, type:

$ xcrun simctl shutdown 6A7BEA2F-95E4-4A34-98C1-01C9906DCBDE

Alternatively, to launch a simulator:

open -a simulator

Source : How to Launch iOS Simulator and Android Emulator on Mac

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9

Yes, you can still easily access iOS Simulator using Spotlight.

  1. Hit command + space, Spotlight Search will appear
  2. Type in iOS Simulator and hit return

Done.

enter image description here

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8 Comments

The question states that ios will not show up when running spotlight. Your answer, in fact, does not work since OSX Lion.
@E.Maggini, you are wrong. Above is a screenshot of iOS Simulator showing up in Spotlight using latest OS X Yosemite. So yes, in fact, my answer is correct and has been all along. If your OS X Lion does not show it, then there's something wrong with your OS X installation.
Too bad I can't add a screen shot here, because on my Yosemite machine at work which has a completely different install from my old machine at home....still no iOS results. Either way, the question asks for a solution BESIDES this....so.....
On my machine that is version 10.10.5 with xcode-beta(7.0), this answer does in fact work.
iOS simulator has been renamed to simply simulator. That's why it doesn't work anymore.
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In the terminal: For Xcode 9.x and above

$ open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/Simulator.app

For Xcode-beta 9.x and above

$ open /Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/Simulator.app
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5

The easiest way is to use Spotlight Search. Just click CMD+Space and type in search Simulator. Just like this:

enter image description here

And in few seconds emulated device will be loaded:

enter image description here

To switch to another device you can use menu under Hardware -> Device

There are few different cool instruments you can use under Hardware menu, such as orientation change, gestures, buttons, FaceID, keyboard or audio inputs.

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5
  1. Go into Finder.
  2. On the sidebar, click applications.
  3. Find Xcode in Applications.
  4. Right click Xcode by whatever settings you have (usually two finger click [not tap]).
  5. Click "Show Package Contents."
  6. Go into the Contents folder.
  7. Search simulator.
  8. Wait 30 secs for it to load.
  9. Scroll down and find iOS Simulator.
  10. You may drag this onto the dock for easier access.
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3

In case you were trying to open multiple distinct simulators at once:

Open the Simulator app, not Xcode.

Then File >> Open Device >> Select iOS version >> select device.

enter image description here

The location of the 'open device' has changed in different Xcode versions so it may be at a different place

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3

For Xcode-15.2 version if you double press on mac on the Xcode icon in the doc.it will show Open Developer Tool as one option if you click on it will open the tooltip with option like Instruments, Simulator. Click on Simulator and It should open simulator for you without opening xcode project.

Xcode opened, double finger press the XCode icon, click on `Open Developer Tool

enter image description here

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0

From Terminal just run this command:

ios-sim  start

Or,add this to your ~/.profile to save yourself a few keystrokes:

alias ios="ios-sim  start"

Not sure which version of Max OS X and Xcode this command became available. I'm running 10.10.3 and 6.3 respectively.

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This is not a part of OS X but a phonegap utility: github.com/phonegap/ios-sim
-1

Click on the apple logo at the top right corner and select System Settings, After select GENERAL and click on DLEVELOPER then delete the xcode caches and quit the emulator(if running) and run it again

This worked for me

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