The Best iOS Emulators for Mac in 2023: Test and Run iOS Apps on Your Macbook

iOS emulators for PC essentially allow testers to run an iOS app without an iPhone or iPad. The iOS interface is viewed and operated through a web browser or on tools running on a Mac or Windows computer.

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The simulator replicates the configuration and (partly) real-world behavior of the device. It creates a test environment working at a much smaller range than even emulators and certainly real devices.

Since every app is expected to have a robust iOS version that is accessible via most iPhones and iPads, real device testing is completely non-negotiable. iOS emulators for PC, whether running on Mac or Windows, will not provide the scope for sufficiently extensive testing or adequately accurate results. Given that iOS emulators for Windows or Mac cannot replicate end-user conditions in their entirety, tests run on them cannot be relied on for the final release. Apps solely tested on iOS emulators will invariably throw up bugs when being operated by end-users, contributing to a sub-par user experience, low-start reviews on App Store, and lowered brand credibility.

These solutions make it possible for iOS applications to be used on different operating systems, such as Android and Windows. Here is a handpicked list of some best iOS emulators, selected after extensive research of about 50+ emulators.

Xamarin TestFlight is an authentic iOS emulator to beta test iOS applications with Visual Studio Enterprise on Windows. It enables you to run iOS apps on Windows PC and airplay the content from iPhone to Mac. This emulator software previously belonged to Microsoft and is currently owned by Apple.

Appetize.io is a useful iPhone emulator for PC and Windows. It allows users to run iPhone apps directly from a web browser, requiring no downloads, plugins, or administrator privileges. It is one of the iOS emulators is utilized for mobile application demonstration, training, developer testing, and general app emulation.

Corellium is a premium iOS emulator to run and test iOS applications. It helps application developers and security teams to create, test, and secure mobile and IoT apps, hardware, and firmware, through the power of Arm virtualization. It is one of the best iOS emulators, which security researchers primarily use to emulate an iOS device in the browser.

Smartface is considered one of the best iOS emulators for PC due to its incredibly user-friendly experience. It offers many advanced features, including cross-platform compatibility. It is widely utilized by developers to code and test mobile applications. It is ideal for creating a mobile application with a platform-based approach, including Java and Objective-C/Swift.

RunThatApp is a cloud-based iOS emulator for Android smartphones. Through RunThatApp, you can host your App from anywhere, with any device having a standard browser that can run your iPhone App. RunThatApp enables you to run your mobile applications smoothly in any browser enabling the users to test and promote the apps.

Delta is one of the best iOS emulators that offers easy controls and also allows you to save cheat codes. With it, you can connect wireless PS4, Xbox One, and MFi controllers, as well as Bluetooth or wired keyboards.

iOS emulators are programs that replicate the hardware of an iPhone on other operating systems. These emulators often test iPhone software on Windows or Mac computers. It also makes running and testing iOS apps on Windows PC or Mac devices easy.

Smartphone application developers often use iOS emulators to test iPhone-related software on Windows or Mac computers. With the help of iOS emulators, you can run a mobile app or your favorite mobile game like PUBG, game boy, or if you are a software or mobile applications developer, this emulator for iPhone will help in the testing of apps before launching them.

But people do not leave their favorite games as quickly as Nintendo left their product. Soon Nintendo-specific emulators started emerging in the market that not only allowed just playing Nintendo games but also playing them in upgraded hardware with 4K resolution. As a result, Nintendo games are still alive and in use.

This short case study highlights the power of emulators. A software that can not only keep the legacy going but can also help reach audiences who are otherwise not in a position to download/purchase/use another software. On the same line of thought, we will discuss a few desktop-based emulators that help us run iOS apps without actually owning an iOS device.

To the developers and people involved in creating applications for iOS, the primary goal of downloading and working on an emulator is to test the application. For a developer, you cannot keep packing the binaries on the system, copy them over to the physical iOS device and install them just to see a debug statement. The quickest path is to use the emulator for the same. With just a single reload button click, you are ready to see the changes.

Similarly, the testers cannot keep all the physical iOS devices to themselves and test every little patch while performing mobile testing. Theoretically, they can, but this would result in time wastage that could have been used for other useful stuff. Also, emulators resemble physical devices in many fields and are safe to use and get accurate results. We have crafted a special post just to highlight the differences and comparisons between emulators and real devices. Check out this post to learn insights into the methods you can use for quality iOS app testing.

To explain this point, PUB-G stands to be the best example. A gaming application with 30 million daily active users, PUB-G has enjoyed great success in this department. However, since multiplayer games like PUB-G are played by multiple real persons in a single match, the games become competitive. Hence, we see the use of hacks, loopholes, cheats, etc., in the game. Similarly, players started using emulators to run the mobile version of PUB-G on their PCs. Since iPhone users had a smaller screen, they used emulators well.

This is a popular example, but the practice remains the same with other applications. There is a large chunk of applications just made for mobile without any web application or desktop application for the user. You can open your iPhone now and find a majority of applications would be mobile-based (as simple as Gallery or Messages). To use any application on a PC, you can use an emulator and operate it more conveniently.

Testsigma is an automation testing tool covering various domains, one of which is mobile automation testing. The perfect mix of test cases with efficient emulators for iOS applications gives Testsigma an added advantage over other emulators. While others allow you to upload and manually inspect the application, Testsigma gives you the freedom to write test cases that can be used on other iOS-based devices later. All this without knowing any programming language.

In our list of best iOS emulators for PC, we cannot settle on generic emulators. General emulators are costly to develop, and there may be only a few of them that work best in every field. Therefore, it is better to focus on a single domain if the emulator is worth it. Some emulators are best used for a specific purpose such as Eclipse for games and some are best used for testing, such as Smartface.

Smartface, as a complete package, is an IDE rather than a standalone emulator. Although, it ships with an in-built emulator. The software, however, is only recommended for testing purposes from our side.

One of the most advanced iOS emulators for PC is Corellium. A good contender to be one of the best iOS emulators for PC, Corellium has taken the lead in optimizing not only the virtual devices but also the hardware behind them. They explain their methodology in a self-explanatory picture:

This part on Xamarin concludes our list of best iOS emulators for PC (Windows and macOS). On the internet, you may find additional emulators such as XCode or iPadian. Since we wished to make this generic and cover every domain (not only testing), this looked like the best combination. If you have any special requests or queries regarding emulators, let us know in the comment section.

In this blog, we went through the best iOS emulators for PC to run iOS applications on the desktop running Windows or macOS. We tried to maintain the range for all the domains for all types of readers. I hope this blog helps you next time you think about installing an emulator on your PC. Thank you for giving this post your valuable time.

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iPadian is more of a simulator than an emulator. That is, it does not create a local version of iOS on your device but gives you a taste of using it. You cannot access the iOS app store, but you can use the apps that have been specially designed for iPadian. These include the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Tiktok, Whatsapp, Crossy road, and more.

This is one of the best iOS emulators for PC because it provides an incredibly user-friendly experience. It is widely utilized by developers to test the iOS apps that they are creating. This requires an Apple device with the Smartface app to be connected to a Windows system that has iTunes installed.

Although one can only use this for 100 minutes a month for free, it is an emulator that very closely resembles what an actual iPhone would run like. This is due to features that help users easily develop, test, and update iOS and Android apps. Moreover, it also offers iCloud access, which is an additional benefit. 2ff7e9595c