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Use the Simulator pane

When an agent builds an iOS app, you want to see what it made without leaving the conversation. The Simulator pane shows the iOS simulators on the session's Mac. You can boot one, see its screen, and tap on it, from the Mac, an iPhone, an iPad or the web page.

Before you start

  • A session on a Mac with Xcode. The simulators are the ones on the session's host, not on the device you look from. A session on a Linux server has none: the pane says Simulators run on a Mac. This host is not a Mac.
  • At least one iOS simulator, made in Xcode.

Open the pane

  • Mac: open the session's conversation. Click Simulator at the top of the sidebar on the right, or choose View ▸ Simulator (Command-7).
  • iPad: open the conversation, tap Panes at the top, then choose Simulator.
  • iPhone: open the conversation, open the Actions menu and choose Simulator.
  • Web page: open the conversation and click Files in the chat's header (on a narrow page, Files in the ··· menu). Then click the Simulator tab.

On the iPhone and iPad, the pane is not offered while the Remote cannot reach the Mac.

Steps

  1. Choose a simulator in the menu at the top of the pane. Each one shows its name and its iOS version, and Shut Down when it is not running. Running ones are listed first.
  2. If it is shut down, the pane says ‹name› is shut down. Boot it to see its screen. Click Boot. The pane says Booting ‹name›… until it is done.
  3. Its screen shows in the pane. The pane reads it again each second.
  4. Click (on the Mac and the web page) or tap (on the iPhone and iPad) on the screen. That is a tap at that place on the simulator. The pane reads the screen again at once, so you see what the tap did.
  5. Click Home to press the simulator's Home button.
  6. When you are done, click Shut Down. The pane asks first, Shut down ‹name›? The apps that run on it stop., because an agent or you may still need them. Click Shut Down to go on.

Click ↻ (List the simulators again) after you make or delete a simulator in Xcode.

The pane boots or shuts down a simulator only when you press the button. It reads the screen only while the pane is on screen and its window can be seen, so a hidden pane costs the host nothing. A tap goes to the simulator directly and does not move your pointer on the Mac.

What it needs

  • Xcode on the session's Mac. Without it the pane says Xcode is not on this Mac, so it has no simulators. Taps and Home use the Xcode that the Mac has selected.
  • Agents Host on that Mac. It carries the helper that sends taps. A host without it says This host cannot touch a simulator: agents-watch is not beside agentsd. You can still boot a simulator and see its screen.
  • A host that has the pane. An older host says This host needs an update to do this. See Versions.

The pane takes no lease. An agent can boot or drive the same simulator under a lease while you look at it. See Leases on shared resources.

If it doesn't work

  • This Mac has no iOS simulators. Make one in Xcode. Make one in Xcode, then click ↻.
  • Couldn't list the simulators: ‹why›, with Try Again: the host did not answer, or simctl failed. Click Try Again.
  • Not updating: ‹why›: a screen read failed. The last screen stays, dimmed, until a read works again.

See also