iOS emulator is useful for running iOS or iPhone applications that are not compatible with the PC operating system. For example, you cannot run Android apps on windows or MAC because the operating systems differ. But we have emulators like BlueStacks which will create a virtual environment for running Android apps on windows. Similarly, there are iOS emulators available in the market, here is a list of 15 best iOS emulators for Windows Computer and MAC PC.
Emulators make it easy to run and test iOS apps on Windows PC or Mac. These are especially useful for developers who want to know how a specific app will appear and function on the iPhone and iPad. Emulator software works by replicating Apple’s design, interface, and some limited functionality. 6 Best IOS Emulators. Tips: If you ever lost important notes or messages on iPhone, you can also use Gihosoft iPhone Data Recovery for Mac to get them back easily even without backup. Also read: 6 Best iOS Emulator For Windows To Build & Run iOS Apps. Top 15 Gaming Emulators for Mac Computers 1. Virtual PC for Mac. The first step is downloading Xcode and installing the iOS simulator on your Mac. Here’s how to install the iOS simulator on your Mac: Download and install Xcode from the Mac App Store. Right click on the Xcode icon in the Applications folder and select Show Package Contents, as shown below. Open the iPhone Simulator application. If you are a website or app developer, trying to find a software that will let you run the iPhone Apps on Windows or Mac computers, a good emulator is exactly what you need. 1 Best iOS emulators that web developers often recommend. Whilst it is virtually impossible to run iPad and iPhone apps natively on Windows and Mac, there are some ways to get the same experience and features through the best iOS simulators/ emulators. For developers, this list also includes ways to upload your dev code for your iOS apps to test on a PC or Mac.
Contents
Test Object
Test Object is an online iOS emulator for MAC computers. An emulator is nothing but a virtual device replicating the features as it is mostly used for developing purposes. Test Object has plenty of features like cloud test, GitHub integration, faster loading time and has many iOS devices in its list to select and run.
You can upload your project to Github and link the account to Test Object. It may take time initially but once loaded, the emulator works faster.
Xamarin
This iOS emulator comes with Microsoft visual studio. This can be used to test your apps on iOS platform using emulator. Code once – publish on various platforms is the flexibility given by visual studio to developers. Usually, the code is written in c# and can be published to different platforms like iOS and Android with slight modifications.
This is beneficial as developers will not have to rewrite code for every single platform that wastes time. Emulator consists of many handy options such as home, lock, settings, screenshots and other options. This emulator in windows has touchscreen support too.
Adobe Air iPhone
Air iPhone is an emulator that can be used for testing purposes and normal usage of iOS apps. This software is totally free. You can download this software from the official website. After installation, open it up. Start downloading app, games and enjoy the iOS look and feel from the emulator. If you want to test your app, upload the file and Air iPhone will let you execute in the emulator.
Ripple
Ripple is an emulator but is different from others. It is a chrome extension. Ripple is a multi-platform emulator useful for testing apps on various devices without actually connecting them. There is no need to download any software as it is a chrome extension.
You can emulate any iOS device for testing your app. It offers many tools like Javascript debugging, automated testing, HTML DOM Inspection and much more.
Appetize.io
Appetize.io is an online emulator. In simple terms, it emulates iOS apps using cloud service online. You do not need to download any software for this. This is mainly useful for developers who want to test their apps.
The process is pretty simple. Make a zip of your project. Go to Appetize.io website. Click on upload button located in the top right position of the navigation bar. Upload the zip file and enter your email address. It takes some time and eventually you will get an email. Click on the link, and you can see that the app uploaded as zip will be streamed online.
Smart face
Smart Face is useful for developing applications on cross platforms. Generally, Apple is strict towards the usage of their operating system. You can develop Android apps using Andy Android Emulator on Windows platform, but you would need MAC to test and build iOS apps. This is the main reason for Android having so many useful apps when compared to iOS.
But with the help of a smart face, you can emulate iOS devices and test your apps. For all the iPhone, iPad models available, you can select one device and emulate. Debugging features like watches, breakpoints and real-time code are also available.
MobiOne Studios
MobiOne Studios iOS emulator is mainly useful for developers. With the help of MobiOne Studios, you can develop iOS apps with less coding. Drag and drop feature makes it easier to develop apps.
If you are not a developer and just want to try out iOS apps and games, this emulator can also be used for this purpose. You can download and use apps in the same way as if you had an iPhone. iPad UI templates are available for a quick start. Design the app using this software and testing process can also be performed with ease. This is a useful software for developers and is a too powerful emulator to load apps and games without lag.
IPadian
If you are searching for a software to just get an understanding of how iOS UI looks like or how it works then IPadian is for you. It is a simulator but not an emulator. You can only run apps designed especially for this software. You will not be able to access iTunes.
Apart from downside, significant advantage using this is that you will get the feeling of using a real iOS device after using IPadian. Majority of the apps you find in the store are working, but few apps connecting to servers will have connectivity issues.
Appy Pie
Appy Pie is an online iOS app creator which also provides iOS Simulator. You can create and test iOS apps by running in emulators. Another option is that you can upload your project to the website and can run Simulator.
Appy Pie works smoothly. It has enough features for quick testing your apps without any software installations on Mac.
iPhone Simulator
Download the iPhone Simulator and install in your Windows. This will have the same look and feel just like iOS devices. You can use it to know more about its options. Especially if you are an Android user, you will feel a little discomfort using iOS. This is the best emulator to get yourself used to the iOS operating system.
Download apps and games to try on this emulator. However, you will have access to a limited number of apps or games due to certain rules and restrictions.
Electric Mobile Studio
Electric Mobile Studio is one of the powerful emulators to run almost all apps of the app store. After writing code, you can deploy in the iOS emulator to debug the functionality and can also check in terms of design. This is really useful for developers.
This point is not considered as a downfall, but Electric Mobile Studio needs at least 6GB RAM to be able to run iOS apps smoothly. During or after development, you can use this software for testing various components in the app. Redesigning is also possible. This tool is a complete professional kit for developers. Prices are high, but it is worthy of its features.
App.io
App.io is an online emulator with robust features and flexible workflow. All you need to do is upload your project zip file in the website. Time taken to upload will be based on your internet connection. Once uploaded, you can now test using App.io as it loads the iOS app in the online emulator itself. No extra software or plugins are needed to make this emulator work.
Keep the browsers up to date. Compatible browsers for this online emulator to work are Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.
RunThatApp
This is a relatively new online emulator in the market. The working procedure is the same just like the others. You upload the zip file of your project, and this emulator will do the work for you and loads the application in whichever iOS device you choose.
As it is new or for some reasons, you have to pay to test your apps. This same feature is available in other emulators for free, but the apps run smoothly once loaded. The responsive touch, UI, features resemble an iOS device.
iMAME
IMame emulator is useful for running iOS games on windows. While most of the emulators are used for developing and trying existing apps, iMame emulator enables you to play games. That being said, it does not mean that it won’t run apps. This emulator runs both iOS apps and games with ease without lag.
This emulator supports only a limited number of apps and games. To be precise, this emulator cannot run apps below iOS 8.
Nintendo 3DS Emulator
As we all know, Nintendo 3ds is not an iOS emulator but it is a popular gaming console with exciting games. You can play all video console its games with the help of Nintendo 3DS Emulator. This creates a virtual environment and lets you play the console games. The options are configurable. Gameplay will be smooth without any lags. This emulator is available on all major platforms like Mac and Windows.
All above mentioned iOS emulators are not the only ones available online but these are the best iOS emulators reviewed and rated by users. The list includes both free and paid versions. Basically, you will get softwares for free, but contains ads. You have to pay a subscription to remove ads and can unlock more iOS features. If you have ever encountered bags, kindly send an email to developers explaining the issue. This is your contribution towards developing a bug-free emulator.
While there are dozens of worthy Android emulators out there, such solutions are not common for running iOS apps on both Windows and Mac. To help you out I have been curating a list of the best PC and Mac iOS emulators. In this article, most of the listings are free of charge and others allow you to use the emulator program for a given trial. The emulator is software that enables the users to use third-party applications on their operating systems without installing that supporting OS. An iOS emulator basically creates a suitable environment and install the iOS OS on your Windows PC to run iPhone and iPad. Testing IOS apps are a task compare to Android apps testing, because of very few IOS emulator available as compare to android emulators available in the market. Due to Android emulators, we quickly test, run and execute Android apps on Windows, MAC and Linux computer. Hence, to test IOS apps for iPhone, iPad.
- You can’t natively run iPad apps on a Mac computer without using an emulator, though that will change with a new generation of Macs, set to come out by the end of 2020.
- The new Macs will run on new Apple-designed chips that are similar to the ARM chips in iPadOS devices, making them compatible.
- Older Intel-based Macs can’t run iPad apps without an emulator, which isn’t easy to use and has many limitations.
- Visit Business Insider’s Tech Reference library for more stories.
If you want to run apps from your iPad on a Mac, the traditional answer is that you can’t – at least not ordinarily. There is an exception — you can use an iPadOS emulator on your Mac. Read more about that below. But at this time, iPad apps are fundamentally incompatible with the architecture and operating system on a Mac computer. That is changing, though.
You’ll be able to run iPad apps on some Macs soon
At the beginning of 2020, Apple announced that it would soon start to produce Mac computers with its own Apple-designed chipsets, abandoning the Intel chips it has used for many years. When it does this, the new Macs — which will share a similar architecture to iPadOS devices — will be able to run iPad apps.
Apple has made its own ARM-based chips for iOS and iPadOS devices for years. ARM chipsets are characterized as low-power processors commonly found in mobile devices like phones, tablets, and some laptops, optimized to deliver the best battery life. Starting late in 2020, Apple is expecting to release MacBooks and other Mac computers with similar high-performance ARM chips.
Ios Emulator For Mac Os
Because of the similar architecture, Apple has already announced that this will allow Apple computers to natively run iPad apps with no further changes or modifications. You’ll be able to install iPad apps directly from the Mac’s app store.
The exact timing is uncertain, but the first of these new Macs are expected before the end of 2020. Keep in mind that for quite some time to come, there will be both Intel chipset and Apple chipset Macs around, and only the ones with Apple chipsets will be able to run iPad apps. This might be a little confusing until most Intel-based Macs have been retired.
Running iPad apps with an emulator
Free Ios Emulators For Mac
The new Macs may be coming soon, but that’s not the entire story. Because software developers need to be able to test iPadOS apps quickly and easily, they sometimes use emulator software to run iPad apps on their Macs.
There are a handful of emulators available for the Mac that can run iPad apps, but these programs are not easy to install or manage, and it’s generally not possible to install apps from the Apple App Store – you’re limited to just apps you developed yourself and have stored locally. One of the most common emulators to use is Xcode, which is a simulator offered by Apple.
Ios App Emulator For Mac Pro
Insider Inc. receives a commission when you buy through our links.