We all know that there are plenty of Android emulators out in the world for both Windows and macOS devices. But what about iPhone emulators? Well, if you’re looking for an iOS emulator for testing your new app, or just to run some iOS apps on your computers, we’ve got you covered. Here are 5 iOS emulators for Windows 10 and macOS you can try.
There are not many iOS emulators out there. Apple is very stringent about emulation and always blocks and kills such apps. That said, there are still a few iOS emulators that you can use for both testing new apps and running iPhone apps on your Windows or Mac computer. We will be including both types of emulators in this list. So, regardless of your use-case, you will find something that fits your needs.
- Appetize.io
- Xcode
- iPadian
- TestFlight
- Electric Mobile Studio
- Bonus: Apple M1 Macs
1. Appetize.io
Appetize.io is one of the easiest to use iOS emulators. It’s cloud-hosted which means you don’t need to install any apps on your computer. Plus it’s compatible with Windows 10 and macOS.
If you’re an iOS developer, you obviously already use Xcode on your Mac (or hackintosh) to build your apps. If you do, you probably don’t need another iOS emulator or simulator on your computer just to test your app. Xcode has a really good iOS emulator built in for testing purposes and so you can run your app on a virtual device instead of deploying it on a physical device.
One of the best iOS emulators for Windows 10, iPadian is a completely paid solution, so you can’t really get a free trial or anything for it. As the name suggests, this is an iPad simulator.
TestFlight, which is now owned by Apple is pretty much the official way that Apple wants its developers to beta test their apps once it’s ready to roll out to users.
Lastly, you can check out Electric Mobile Studio as well. This is also a paid app for testing out and running iOS apps. However the interface here isn’t all that good. Plus, EMS iOS emulator is mostly aimed at testing HTML 5 and JS apps on iPhones and iPads.
It comes with WebKit and Chrome debugging tools to allow developers to test out their web apps. You can also run multiple instances of emulators with Electric Mobile Studio which can be helpful if you’re trying to test out your app in multiple devices at the same time.
If none of the emulators seem to be doing the job for you, currently the best way to run iOS apps on a computer is just by using the new Apple M1 MacBooks and Mac Mini. These devices run on Apple’s new ARM chipsets and they can run iPhone apps with ease.
There aren’t a lot of iOS emulators out there these days. Most iOS simulators have been discontinued, or are aimed purely at developers. While simulators like the one built-into Xcode and options like TestFlight are pretty good, there are other options out there as well, especially if you’re looking to test your iPhone apps on Windows 10.
