How can I programmatically determine if my app is running in the iphone simulator

Question

As the question states  I would mainly like to know whether or not my code is running in the simulator  but would also be interested in knowing the specific iphone version that is running or being simulated   EDIT  I added the word  programmatically  to the question name  The point of my question is to be able to dynamically include   exclude code depending on which version   simulator is running  so I d really be looking for something like a pre-processor directive that can provide me this info

User · Answer

Updated code  This is purported to work officially   if TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR NSString  hello     quot Hello  iPhone simulator  quot    elif TARGET OS IPHONE NSString  hello     quot Hello  device  quot    else NSString  hello     quot Hello  unknown target  quot    endif   Original post  since deprecated  This code will tell you if you are running in a simulator   ifdef   i386   NSLog   quot Running in the simulator quot     else NSLog   quot Running on a device quot     endif

User · Answer

In my opinion  the answer  presented above and repeated below    NSString  model     UIDevice currentDevice  model   if   model isEqualToString   iPhone Simulator            device is simulator     is the best answer because it is obviously executed at RUNTIME versus being a COMPILE DIRECTIVE

User · Answer

The best way to do this is    if TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR   and not   ifdef TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR   since its always defined  0 or 1

User · Answer

Returns true if its simulator and not a device  public static var isSimulator  Bool        if  arch i386     arch x86 64    amp  amp  os iOS          return true      else         return false      endif

User · Answer

Already asked  but with a very different title   What  defines are set up by Xcode when compiling for iPhone  I ll repeat my answer from there   It s in the SDK docs under  Compiling source code conditionally   The relevant definition is TARGET OS SIMULATOR  which is defined in  usr include TargetConditionals h within the iOS framework  On earlier versions of the toolchain  you had to write    include  TargetConditionals h    but this is no longer necessary on the current  Xcode 6 iOS8  toolchain   So  for example  if you want to check that you are running on device  you should do   if TARGET OS SIMULATOR        Simulator-specific code  else        Device-specific code  endif   depending on which is appropriate for your use-case

User · Answer

All those answer are good  but it somehow confuses newbie like me as it does not clarify compile check and runtime check  Preprocessor are before compile time  but we should make it clearer  This blog article shows How to detect the iPhone simulator  clearly   Runtime  First of all  let   s shortly discuss  UIDevice provides you already information about the device    UIDevice currentDevice  model    will return you    iPhone Simulator    or    iPhone    according to where the app is running   Compile time  However what you want is to use compile time defines  Why  Because you compile your app strictly to be run either inside the Simulator or on the device  Apple makes a define called  TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR  So let   s look at the code     if TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR  NSLog   Running in Simulator - no app store or giro      endif

User · Answer

Apple has added support for checking the app is targeted for the simulator with the following     if targetEnvironment simulator  let DEVICE IS SIMULATOR   true  else let DEVICE IS SIMULATOR   false  endif

User · Answer

Updated code  This is purported to work officially   if TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR NSString  hello     quot Hello  iPhone simulator  quot    elif TARGET OS IPHONE NSString  hello     quot Hello  device  quot    else NSString  hello     quot Hello  unknown target  quot    endif   Original post  since deprecated  This code will tell you if you are running in a simulator   ifdef   i386   NSLog   quot Running in the simulator quot     else NSLog   quot Running on a device quot     endif

User · Answer

All those answer are good  but it somehow confuses newbie like me as it does not clarify compile check and runtime check  Preprocessor are before compile time  but we should make it clearer  This blog article shows How to detect the iPhone simulator  clearly   Runtime  First of all  let   s shortly discuss  UIDevice provides you already information about the device    UIDevice currentDevice  model    will return you    iPhone Simulator    or    iPhone    according to where the app is running   Compile time  However what you want is to use compile time defines  Why  Because you compile your app strictly to be run either inside the Simulator or on the device  Apple makes a define called  TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR  So let   s look at the code     if TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR  NSLog   Running in Simulator - no app store or giro      endif

User · Answer

For Swift 4 2   xCode 10  I created an extension on UIDevice  so I can easily ask for if the simulator is running      UIDevice CheckSimulator swift  import UIKit  extension UIDevice            Checks if the current device that runs the app is xCode s simulator     static func isSimulator   - gt  Bool                    if targetEnvironment simulator              return true          else             return false          endif           In my AppDelegate for example I use this method to decide wether registering for remote notification is necessary  which is not possible for the simulator      CHECK FOR REAL DEVICE   OR SIMULATOR if UIDevice isSimulator      false           REGISTER FOR SILENT REMOTE NOTIFICATION     application registerForRemoteNotifications

User · Answer

This worked for me best  NSString  name     UIDevice currentDevice  name     if   name isEqualToString   iPhone Simulator

User · Answer

Already asked  but with a very different title   What  defines are set up by Xcode when compiling for iPhone  I ll repeat my answer from there   It s in the SDK docs under  Compiling source code conditionally   The relevant definition is TARGET OS SIMULATOR  which is defined in  usr include TargetConditionals h within the iOS framework  On earlier versions of the toolchain  you had to write    include  TargetConditionals h    but this is no longer necessary on the current  Xcode 6 iOS8  toolchain   So  for example  if you want to check that you are running on device  you should do   if TARGET OS SIMULATOR        Simulator-specific code  else        Device-specific code  endif   depending on which is appropriate for your use-case

User · Answer

The previous answers are a little dated  I found that all you need to do is query the TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR macro  no need to include any other header files  assuming you are coding for iOS     I attempted TARGET OS IPHONE but it returned the same value  1  when running on an actual device and simulator  that s why I recommend using TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR instead

User · Answer

I had the same problem  both TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR and TARGET OS IPHONE are always defined  and are set to 1  Pete s solution works  of course  but if you ever happen to build on something other than intel  unlikely  but who knows   here s something that s safe as long as the iphone hardware doesn t change  so your code will always work for the iphones currently out there     if defined   arm      defined   thumb    undef TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR  define TARGET OS IPHONE  else  define TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR 1  undef TARGET OS IPHONE  endif   Put that somewhere convenient  and then pretend that the TARGET   constants were defined correctly

User · Answer

In case of Swift we can implement following  We can create struct which  allows you to create a structured data  struct Platform       static var isSimulator  Bool            if targetEnvironment simulator                 We re on the simulator             return true          else                We re on a device              return false          endif           Then  If we wanted to Detect if app is being built for device or simulator in Swift then    if Platform isSimulator          Do one thing   else          Do the other

User · Answer

if nothing worked  try this  public struct Platform        public static var isSimulator  Bool           return TARGET OS SIMULATOR    0    Use this line in Xcode 7 or newer

User · Answer

With Swift 4 2  Xcode 10   we can do this   if targetEnvironment simulator      simulator code  else     warning  Not compiling for simulator    endif

User · Answer

The previous answers are a little dated  I found that all you need to do is query the TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR macro  no need to include any other header files  assuming you are coding for iOS     I attempted TARGET OS IPHONE but it returned the same value  1  when running on an actual device and simulator  that s why I recommend using TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR instead

User · Answer

Apple has added support for checking the app is targeted for the simulator with the following     if targetEnvironment simulator  let DEVICE IS SIMULATOR   true  else let DEVICE IS SIMULATOR   false  endif

User · Answer

THERE IS A BETTER WAY NOW    As of Xcode 9 3 beta 4 you can use  if targetEnvironment simulator  to check    if targetEnvironment simulator    Your simulator code  endif   UPDATE Xcode 10 and iOS 12 SDK supports this too

User · Answer

The best way to do this is    if TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR   and not   ifdef TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR   since its always defined  0 or 1

User · Answer

In swift              if  arch i386     arch x86 64                    endif   From Detect if app is being built for device or simulator in Swift

User · Answer

Has anyone considered the answer provided here   I suppose the objective-c equivalent would be      BOOL isSimulator       NSOperatingSystemVersion ios9    9  0  0       NSProcessInfo  processInfo    NSProcessInfo processInfo       if   processInfo isOperatingSystemAtLeastVersion ios9             NSDictionary lt NSString    NSString   gt   environment    processInfo environment           NSString  simulator    environment objectForKey   SIMULATOR DEVICE NAME            return simulator    nil        else           UIDevice  currentDevice    UIDevice currentDevice           return   currentDevice model rangeOfString   Simulator   location    NSNotFound

User · Answer

In case of Swift we can implement following  We can create struct which  allows you to create a structured data  struct Platform       static var isSimulator  Bool            if targetEnvironment simulator                 We re on the simulator             return true          else                We re on a device              return false          endif           Then  If we wanted to Detect if app is being built for device or simulator in Swift then    if Platform isSimulator          Do one thing   else          Do the other

User · Answer

My answer is based on  Daniel Magnusson answer and comments of  Nuthatch and  n Drake  and I write it to save some time for swift users working on iOS9 and onwards   This is what worked for me   if UIDevice currentDevice   name hasSuffix  Simulator          Code executing on Simulator   else        Code executing on Device

User · Answer

Already asked  but with a very different title   What  defines are set up by Xcode when compiling for iPhone  I ll repeat my answer from there   It s in the SDK docs under  Compiling source code conditionally   The relevant definition is TARGET OS SIMULATOR  which is defined in  usr include TargetConditionals h within the iOS framework  On earlier versions of the toolchain  you had to write    include  TargetConditionals h    but this is no longer necessary on the current  Xcode 6 iOS8  toolchain   So  for example  if you want to check that you are running on device  you should do   if TARGET OS SIMULATOR        Simulator-specific code  else        Device-specific code  endif   depending on which is appropriate for your use-case

User · Answer

Works for Swift 5 and Xcode 12 Use this code   if targetEnvironment simulator        Simulator  else       Device  endif

User · Answer

Updated code  This is purported to work officially   if TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR NSString  hello     quot Hello  iPhone simulator  quot    elif TARGET OS IPHONE NSString  hello     quot Hello  device  quot    else NSString  hello     quot Hello  unknown target  quot    endif   Original post  since deprecated  This code will tell you if you are running in a simulator   ifdef   i386   NSLog   quot Running in the simulator quot     else NSLog   quot Running on a device quot     endif

User · Answer

In swift              if  arch i386     arch x86 64                    endif   From Detect if app is being built for device or simulator in Swift

User · Answer

I had the same problem  both TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR and TARGET OS IPHONE are always defined  and are set to 1  Pete s solution works  of course  but if you ever happen to build on something other than intel  unlikely  but who knows   here s something that s safe as long as the iphone hardware doesn t change  so your code will always work for the iphones currently out there     if defined   arm      defined   thumb    undef TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR  define TARGET OS IPHONE  else  define TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR 1  undef TARGET OS IPHONE  endif   Put that somewhere convenient  and then pretend that the TARGET   constants were defined correctly

User · Answer

Not pre-processor directive  but this was what I was looking for when i came to this question   NSString  model     UIDevice currentDevice  model   if   model isEqualToString   iPhone Simulator            device is simulator

User · Answer

Has anyone considered the answer provided here   I suppose the objective-c equivalent would be      BOOL isSimulator       NSOperatingSystemVersion ios9    9  0  0       NSProcessInfo  processInfo    NSProcessInfo processInfo       if   processInfo isOperatingSystemAtLeastVersion ios9             NSDictionary lt NSString    NSString   gt   environment    processInfo environment           NSString  simulator    environment objectForKey   SIMULATOR DEVICE NAME            return simulator    nil        else           UIDevice  currentDevice    UIDevice currentDevice           return   currentDevice model rangeOfString   Simulator   location    NSNotFound

User · Answer

Updated code  This is purported to work officially   if TARGET IPHONE SIMULATOR NSString  hello     quot Hello  iPhone simulator  quot    elif TARGET OS IPHONE NSString  hello     quot Hello  device  quot    else NSString  hello     quot Hello  unknown target  quot    endif   Original post  since deprecated  This code will tell you if you are running in a simulator   ifdef   i386   NSLog   quot Running in the simulator quot     else NSLog   quot Running on a device quot     endif

User · Answer

if nothing worked  try this  public struct Platform        public static var isSimulator  Bool           return TARGET OS SIMULATOR    0    Use this line in Xcode 7 or newer

User · Answer

To include all types of  simulators   NSString  model     UIDevice currentDevice  model   if  model rangeOfString   Simulator  options NSCaseInsensitiveSearch  location   NSNotFound           we are running in a simulator

User · Answer

THERE IS A BETTER WAY NOW    As of Xcode 9 3 beta 4 you can use  if targetEnvironment simulator  to check    if targetEnvironment simulator    Your simulator code  endif   UPDATE Xcode 10 and iOS 12 SDK supports this too

User · Answer

Already asked  but with a very different title   What  defines are set up by Xcode when compiling for iPhone  I ll repeat my answer from there   It s in the SDK docs under  Compiling source code conditionally   The relevant definition is TARGET OS SIMULATOR  which is defined in  usr include TargetConditionals h within the iOS framework  On earlier versions of the toolchain  you had to write    include  TargetConditionals h    but this is no longer necessary on the current  Xcode 6 iOS8  toolchain   So  for example  if you want to check that you are running on device  you should do   if TARGET OS SIMULATOR        Simulator-specific code  else        Device-specific code  endif   depending on which is appropriate for your use-case

User · Answer

With Swift 4 2  Xcode 10   we can do this   if targetEnvironment simulator      simulator code  else     warning  Not compiling for simulator    endif

User · Answer

My answer is based on  Daniel Magnusson answer and comments of  Nuthatch and  n Drake  and I write it to save some time for swift users working on iOS9 and onwards   This is what worked for me   if UIDevice currentDevice   name hasSuffix  Simulator          Code executing on Simulator   else        Code executing on Device

User · Answer

For Swift 4 2   xCode 10  I created an extension on UIDevice  so I can easily ask for if the simulator is running      UIDevice CheckSimulator swift  import UIKit  extension UIDevice            Checks if the current device that runs the app is xCode s simulator     static func isSimulator   - gt  Bool                    if targetEnvironment simulator              return true          else             return false          endif           In my AppDelegate for example I use this method to decide wether registering for remote notification is necessary  which is not possible for the simulator      CHECK FOR REAL DEVICE   OR SIMULATOR if UIDevice isSimulator      false           REGISTER FOR SILENT REMOTE NOTIFICATION     application registerForRemoteNotifications

User · Answer

This worked for me best  NSString  name     UIDevice currentDevice  name     if   name isEqualToString   iPhone Simulator

User · Answer

Returns true if its simulator and not a device  public static var isSimulator  Bool        if  arch i386     arch x86 64    amp  amp  os iOS          return true      else         return false      endif

User · Answer

In my opinion  the answer  presented above and repeated below    NSString  model     UIDevice currentDevice  model   if   model isEqualToString   iPhone Simulator            device is simulator     is the best answer because it is obviously executed at RUNTIME versus being a COMPILE DIRECTIVE

User · Answer

To include all types of  simulators   NSString  model     UIDevice currentDevice  model   if  model rangeOfString   Simulator  options NSCaseInsensitiveSearch  location   NSNotFound           we are running in a simulator

User · Answer

Not pre-processor directive  but this was what I was looking for when i came to this question   NSString  model     UIDevice currentDevice  model   if   model isEqualToString   iPhone Simulator            device is simulator

User · Answer

Works for Swift 5 and Xcode 12 Use this code   if targetEnvironment simulator        Simulator  else       Device  endif

[ios] How can I programmatically determine if my app is running in the iphone simulator?

Updated code:

Original post (since deprecated)

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