Emulate Ios Apps On Mac

Considering how robust a privacy and protection plan Apple’s iOS follows, it becomes quite tricky to use the various iOS exclusive apps on other operating systems. This is where Emulators and Simulators come into the picture.

The difference is they have different compatibilities, so if you take an.ipa (iOS app) file and install it onto the Simulator, the app will crash. My question is are there any iOS emulators out there where I can install real apps from the App Store, or from an.ipa file. The iOS app will be installed like any other Mac app and can be opened up from Launchpad or the Applications folder. Note that you can also search for ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ app names in the. MobiOne Studios. The first iOS emulator on the list is MobiOne Studios. Before we begin, I must add.

So, what is an Emulator? An emulator is basically software that enables one operating system to behave like another. If you are a developer who is looking for software that will allow you to run iPhone Apps on Windows or Mac, an emulator can help you install and run all the iPhone Apps on your Windows PC.

Here is a list of the best iOS emulators available in the market that you can trust!

Contents

1 The best 15 iOS Emulators for your PC

The best 15 iOS Emulators for your PC

One of the best emulators in the market, iPadian is a flexible emulator that comes both in a free and paid version. The reason why most professionals refer this emulator because of its strong UI which will make the user interface of your PC look like that of an iPad. It is easy to install and lets you have full access to the iOS App Store which provides a broad list of iOS applications to choose from. It works both on Mac and Windows PC, provided that you have Adobe Air installed.

SmartFace is your best option if you are an app developer by profession. Designed to test the performance of iOS apps, SmartFace is a little costly and comes for a price of $99. Considering its efficiency, I can vouch and say that you are not going to regret paying for this particular simulator. However, you can use the free version too if you are sceptical about it. Known for being brilliantly feature-packed, you can use it to develop iOS applications that can be used across multiple platforms. Coming with features of debugging and a Javascript library, you can also test the apps on various screen resolutions.

This iOS emulator is another favourite among developers as it allows you to test iOS apps or games on your PC without any hassles. You can run it on almost all kinds of devices (i.e., both Mac and PC) as well as on Android. This particular emulator is known for its ability to replicate the iOS status notifications. Developed using an open-source framework of PhoneGap, the emulator is based on HTML 5 hybrid application model and works as a visual designer which allows you to keep your apps organized. Even although the emulator has been discontinued, apps still run smoothly after being downloaded. So you can download it and install it on your PC.

This too is an iOS emulator that not only allows you to run iOS apps on your PC but also lets you develop cross-platform apps on the cloud. If you are a game-lover and like to spend hours playing games on your PC, then this might be just the emulator for you. It lets you use all iOS apps and games on your PC, and you can even run Android apps alongside. You can use the emulator for free for the first 100 hours, and after exhausting the limit, you can use it at the cost of a minimal charge of just $0.05 per hour. You can use it to develop and test apps too. All you have to do is create an Appetize.io account, which you can log into and use.

Ripple is one of the favourites among developers for two of its best feature – first being the emulator coming as a Chrome extension and the second being its ability to test both old and new apps on it. Although the software is in an early and developing stage which creates a space for some bugs, and yet you will want to go for this one only because you do not have to go through all the ordeal of installing the software in your PC first. You can develop both applications and games with this one. And it does not end here – you can test and see how well your apps run. So if you are looking for an iOS emulator that is simple and agile at the same time, the Ripple Emulator should be your first choice.

Owned by Apple and known as the official Apple emulator that was primarily made for testing iOS apps, Xamarin TestFlight is hugely popular among professionals. The emulator is a little complicated to use at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will love using it on your PC. You can use this emulator to develop, run and test all your iOS applications on all the three platforms of iOS, Windows, and Mac. The only drawback of Xamarin is that it can only run iOS apps that are developed for the iOS 8.0 version or on later versions.

App.io is a free emulator that is a favourite among its users for its simple structure and hassle-free settings. The app is straightforward to use, and all you need to do is sync the app bundle or the apk files on your PC with this emulator to use it however you want. On a more professional level, you can use App.io to beta test the iOS applications that you have developed. App.io has some fantastic features like the option of being able to share the demo video of your application with others, which makes it a favourite among entrepreneurs. And if you are looking for a lightweight emulator for playing iOS games on your PC, then this free emulator might be the best shot for you too.

Air iPhone Emulator

Considering how brilliant Adobe AIR framework performs, you would be happy to know that the AIR iPhone emulator is based on the same framework and therefore is magic to use. To install the emulator, all you need to do is to download it and install it along with the AIR framework. The AIR Phone Emulator provides the exact interface of an iPhone, and you can use it to create applications using Adobe’s Flex, Flash and ActionScript software.

Nintendo 3Ds Emulator

It is quite evident from the name itself that the Nintendo 3DS Emulator was primarily developed for playing iOS games on a PC. The application lets you play even heavy games on your laptop or desktop. The emulator runs quite smoothly without any issues. You can download this emulator for free, and we promise you that you are going to love the experience.

Electric Mobile Studio

Mostly used by professionals, you can use the Electric Mobile Studio for developing applications for both iPhone and iPad. It is a powerful emulator, and at the same time, it is easy to use. There is a free trial available, but the pro version comes at a whopping amount of $40. So we would suggest that you invest in this one only if you looking for a heavy-duty emulator that can assist you to fulfill your professional needs as an application developer. If you are looking for an emulator that is multi-faceted, then the Electric Mobile Studio should be your first choice.

iMame

Quite like the previous one, iMAME mainly focuses on games and thus allows you to play exclusive iOS games on your PC. It is a lightweight and agile software that is a favourite amongst gaming lovers and for obvious reasons. With iMAME, you can play almost all the iOS games, and you can also use it to run other applications. However, the only downside to the emulator is that it cannot be used to test or develop applications.

iDOS Emulator

The iDOS Emulator comes for free and has an extremely simplified setup. You can also move other DOS applications into the Apps or iDOS folder and then run them in on the iDOS emulator. The app comes with some amazing features like a PC compatible soft keyboard, a virtual mouse, a gamepad and a joystick. Believe it or not, but you can force a 4:3 screen aspect ratio (640 x 480) too.

iPhone Simulator

Before we start talking about this simulator, let us first understand the difference between an emulator and a simulator. A simulator is mainly used to replicate the visuals and the software implementation of iOS. It does not consider internal functions. Whereas an Emulator is a replica of the internal features of the iOS system on a different host model like Mac, Windows, etc. now talking about the iPhone Simulator – it was primarily developed for gaming purposes, and that is precisely why the visuals of this particular simulator are excellent. It lets you replicate the iPhone and play iOS exclusive games smoothly. If you are a starter, then this simulator is for you.

iPad Simulator

The iPad Simulator is very easy to use and install since it comes as a Chrome extension. You do not have to go through the hassle of installing the emulator and can get the extension on your PC and use it without any issues. The iPad simulator replicates the interface of an iPad and allows you to use the exclusive features of an iPad like iMessenger and Siri on your desktop. And what is more? The extension of this simulator lets you store Apk files in the cloud using the drag and drop feature. Plus, the extension comes free of cost.

Remoted iOS Simulator

The Remoted iOS Simulator is another product from Xamarin which is installed automatically as part of Xamarin in Visual Studio 2017. The simulator has a simple interface and therefore, it is quite easy to use. You can install this to use almost all iOS apps on your Windows PC. You can also use the Windows Visual Studio Enterprise in case there is a bug in the software. The toolbar at the top of the simulator’s window contains some useful buttons like the replica of the Home button etc.

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Be it for playing exclusive iOS games on your PC or for developing and testing iOS applications, these emulators are the best when it comes to replicating the iOS framework. So what are you waiting for? Choose one and start off!

Using an Android or iOS emulator to run a mobile app on your desktop has many advantages.

For example, you can duplicate the mobile device’s behavior without any added hardware cost.

You can run games like PUBG and Pokemon Go on your computer by using an emulator. It also helps app developers find unexpected behavior during the testing phase of the apps.

OR If you’d like to know how a particular app will appear and function on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch from a Windows laptop or desktop, you’ll need an iOS emulator for PC.

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 14 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.

We will be including both types of emulators(Windows & Mac) in this list. So, regardless of your use-case, you will find something that fits your needs.

Most of the listings in this article are free, and others let you use the emulator program for a certain trial period.

1. TestFlight

Platform: Mac

Pricing plans: Free

TestFlight, which is now owned by Apple, is often used by developers to beta test their iOS apps coded using Xamarin.

You can also consider it as Apple’s officially recommended method for testing the apps.

TestFlight’s extensive documentation is a plus point for this iOS emulator for PCs. This free app supports apps for iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and iMessage.

It also includes an option for external beta testing of the apps before the final review. The downside of this emulation service is a comparatively technical setup, and one also needs to create an App Store distribution profile.

2. 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.

With Appetize, you get access to iPhones from iPhone 5s to the iPhone 11 Pro Max, and a couple of options from iPads and iPod Touch as well.

You can choose the OS version from iOS 10 to iOS 14. That’s pretty cool.

Appetize is mainly meant for developers. As such, you can’t install just about any app on the emulator here. You need a public key for the app you want to install. The reason I have included this at the top of this list is because it’s incredibly easy to use, and it offers a nice free tier that allows you 100 minutes of usage in a month.

Running Ios Apps On Mac

You can also pay for additional use time and more features.

3. RunThatApp

Platform: Web Browser

This is another platform from where you can run iOS apps on virtual iPhones via your web browser.

Notably, it allows the user to upload their apps, and then with the help of an access link can be used on the emulator.

It is one of the best ways to test out the waters of the beta app, if you are a developer, and see how your app would look and operate in the actual environment.

4. Air iPhone

Air iPhone runs on the very popular Adobe Air Framework.

If you are familiar with Adobe Air Framework, then you may know that Adobe Air is very impressive. The Air iPhone creates a virtual screen on your PC which resembles the iPhone Screen.

Installing the Air iPhone is very simple, just download the Air iPhone and install it with Adobe Air, done. You can work with this without any issues.

Simple installation setup.
Runs on Adobe Air.
Runs all basic features to give you a complete feel of the iPhone.

5. Remote iOS Simulator for Windows

Platform: Windows

Pricing plans: Free, Paid

Another popular option to test iOS applications on your Windows PC is Remoted iOS Simulator for Windows.

It’s a developer-focused tool that comes pre-loaded as a part of Xamarin in Visual Studio. Microsoft has detailed documentation available on its website that users can follow and test their apps with the iOS simulator.

The tool’s window shows a useful toolbar at the top that has useful options like Home, Lock, Settings, and Screenshot. From Settings, you can enable Touch ID-like functionality, simulate static and moving conditions, shake gestures, rotation, etc.

The tool also provides iPhone-like touch gestures and stylus input.

It is important to note that it’s a remote iOS emulator for windows.

To put it simply, it requires a Mac to run the iOS simulator, which then sends the feed to a Windows computer.

6. Smartface

This is an exclusive app for developers.

The Smartface houses some of the most powerful features to test your App. Smartface generally caters for professional App developers.

Smartface makes it easy to develop for iOS and Android on Windows with a new perspective for developing applications on Cross-Platform technologies. You can test the App on different screen resolutions.

Features of Smartface:

The application works as Android and iOS debugger for Windows
Cross-platform development
Pretty Clean App and is much recommended for app development and testing

Pros:

Frequently updated to keep up with operating system updates.
Reliable and user friendly.

Cons:

A slight performance loss for CPU-intensive apps.
Requires an Apple device to work.

7. Ripple

Ripple is another Chrome extension emulator that can save you from all the installation complications.

You can use this tiny extension to test old, older, and new Apps on Chrome. The extension App is quite popular due to its wide range of support for App testing and also it offers some good substance for its small size.

Features of Ripple:

Small size without any download complications.
A wide range of test support
Simple interface.

Pros:

A minimal learning curve for those unfamiliar with emulators.
Ideal for testing websites for iOS devices.

Cons:

Hasn’t been updated in a few years.
Isn’t supported by its developers.

8. Corellium

Platform: Web (browser-based)

Pricing plans: $99/ month for a 2-core CPU plan; $295/ month for a 6-core CPU plan

Corellium is another iOS emulator for PCs, mostly used by security researchers to run a simulated iOS device within the browser.

The people behind Corellium are one of the earliest members of the iPhone jailbreak scene, so you are in safe hands.

Earlier, Corellium was only available to enterprise users but now individuals can also use the iOS virtualization software.

However, getting your hands on the tool is difficult since Corellium doesn’t want it to be used by the wrong people.

9. iPadian

Platform: Windows, Mac

Pricing plans: Paid | $35

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. Like other simulators, you don’t get things like the App Store with iPadian.

You only get access to a particular set of apps, although there are over a 1000 of these apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, and others.

iPadian is pricey, as far as emulators go, which is the only reason that it’s not number 1 on this list.

However, if you’re looking to get an iPad experience on your Windows machine, you can definitely consider using iPadian.

10. iPhone Simulator

It is a plain iPhone simulator to run iPhone Games and Apps on laptop PC.

The app mainly focuses on running the games thus you can expect the simulator to be good on graphics.

Though the App lacks some useful features, if you wish to have it just for gaming then I recommend going for it without any second thought.

Features of iPhone Simulator
Power Application for gaming.
High-quality graphics.
The UI is similar to iPhone

11. Xcode

Platform: Mac

Pricing plans: Free

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.

The best thing about the built in Xcode emulator is the fact that you get access to a variety of devices and screen sizes with different iOS versions.

What’s more, the emulator works really fast and it’s really smooth which is pretty awesome. Obviously, you can’t install any random app on these emulators either, you will have to have the source code for the app you want to install on the emulator.

12. iMame (Game Emulator)

Platforms: Windows and Mac

This emulator is more focused on allowing the user to run games and running other applications.

iMame can be said as an emulator without any App testing or development feature. The sole purpose of the emulator is to allow the user to run iPhone Apps on the PC.

The App works without any clutter and any average computer can load the games on the emulator without any issues.

Features of iMame

Low resource and power consumption.
More centric towards gaming.
Simple and sleek user interface.

13. Electric Mobile Studio

Pricing plans: Freemium

Electric Mobile Studio is another powerful application for professional App developers.

This is a paid app mostly used 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 you are looking for both iPhone and iPad app development, then this Studio is for you. The App generally caters to heavy-duty App developers. There is a free version with limited features and a paid version for $40 with completely unlocked features.

The cost may seem a little high but this single emulator can be a full-blown application to all its alternatives.

Features of Electric Mobile Studio:

All in one emulator for app testing
Powerful and easy to use

14. App.io

This is by far one of the best emulators I have loved the most.

Apple App Emulator

The few reasons which made me love this application are hassle-free installation, free services, and ease to use among many others. The App.io focuses more on simplicity, you just need to sync your App bundle with the Application and you are good to go.

Use this app for testing cross-platform apps or to just play any iPhone exclusive games.

To use the emulator and test apps or games before finalising the code, upload iOS app .zip file or Android.Apk file.

Once uploaded, you can properly interact with your application and test it yourself. App.io provides a capable ecosystem for checking and enhancing applications.

Once you sync your iOS app with App.io you can use this cloud-based service on Windows, Mac, and Android devices.

Features of App.io:

Completely free service
Easy setup along with simplicity in use.
Play games or test Apps.

Conclusion

Run Ios Apps On Mac Simulator

That’s pretty much it! So, there are Best iOS Emulators For PC (Windows And Mac) To Run iOS Apps and Games.

If you have any other favorite iOS Emulators For PC (Windows And Mac) then don’t forget to share them with us in the comment below. Also, if you liked this article, Share on your favorite Social media platform.

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