Ios Simulator

A command-line wrapper for xcrun simctl that covers the full iOS Simulator workflow: spinning up devices, installing and launching apps, simulating push notifications and GPS coordinates, granting privacy permissions without dialogs, and capturing screenshots or logs. Useful when you're automating tests in CI, debugging location-based features without a physical device, or need to pre-grant camera or photo access to skip permission prompts. The skill includes JSON payload examples for push testing and shows how to stream app logs with os_log filtering. One thing to remember is that simulator push notifications bypass APNs entirely, so you still need real device testing before shipping anything that depends on remote notification delivery.

skills.sh installs: 3.2K
GitHub stars: 1.3K
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add dpearson2699/swift-ios-skills --skill ios-simulator --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

iOS Simulator

Load the simctl command reference when you need complete command tables, JSON parsing, privacy/status-bar values, Logger filter setup, or boot recovery commands.

Device Lifecycle
App Install and Launch
Testing Workflows
Screenshot and Video Recording
Log Streaming
Compile-Time Simulator Detection
Simulator Limitations
Common Mistakes
Review Checklist
References

Device Lifecycle

Listing Devices and Runtimes

# List all available simulators grouped by runtime
xcrun simctl list devices available

# List installed runtimes
xcrun simctl list runtimes

# List only booted devices
xcrun simctl list devices booted

# JSON output for scripting
xcrun simctl list -j devices available

Parse JSON output to find a specific device programmatically. See references/simctl-commands.md for jq parsing examples.

SKILL.md on GitHub