this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2024
128 points (92.7% liked)
Technology
59589 readers
2946 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
AFAIK Apple does not release an iPhone emulator to the public. There is one third party emulator I’m aware of but that’s mainly intended for security research and not general development.
Hard disagree.
Xcode has a simulator that can run any model of iPhone or iPad. Works exactly like a real device.
Yup, that's exactly what I'm talking about. I think it's a real emulator given how crappy it runs, but I could be wrong.
Yes, that’s what I mean. It’s a simulator, not an emulator. It does not work exactly like a real device. For simple stuff, sure, but if you dive below the surface even a little it’s very different.
One example is anything to do with the GPU / Metal. It has a very different set of capabilities and limitations than actual iOS hardware.
Oh, I haven't needed to touch that yet. Good to know for the future!
If you want to test something performance sensitive, it sucks. But for regular edit/reload dev cycle, I much prefer it.
Also for anything UI related. You want to test how it actually feels to use, e.g. if you can reach the UI elements with one hand. Using it with a mouse on a monitor just doesn’t give you a good sense of that. Especially if your UI involves gestures.