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

StackOverflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/458304

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.

Was it helpful?

Solution

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.

OTHER TIPS

Updated code:

This is purported to work officially.

#if TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR
NSString *hello = @"Hello, iPhone simulator!";
#elif TARGET_OS_IPHONE
NSString *hello = @"Hello, device!";
#else
NSString *hello = @"Hello, unknown target!";
#endif

Original post (since deprecated)

This code will tell you if you are running in a simulator.

#ifdef __i386__
NSLog(@"Running in the simulator");
#else
NSLog(@"Running on a device");
#endif

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
}

The best way to do this is:

#if TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR

and not

#ifdef TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR

since its always defined: 0 or 1

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.

In case of Swift we can implement following

We can create struct which allows you to create a structured data

struct Platform {
    static let isSimulator: Bool = {
        #if arch(i386) || arch(x86_64)
            return true
        #endif
        return false
    }()
}

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
}

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

Works for Swift 4 and Xcode 9.4.1

Use this code:

#if targetEnvironment(simulator)
   // Simulator
#else
   // Device
#endif

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.

In swift : 

#if (arch(i386) || arch(x86_64))
...            
#endif

From Detect if app is being built for device or simulator in Swift

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.

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() -> 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()
}

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<NSString *, NSString *> *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);
    }
}

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
}

With Swift 4.2 (Xcode 10), we can do this

#if targetEnvironment(simulator)
  //simulator code
#else 
  #warning("Not compiling for simulator")
#endif

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
}

/// Returns true if its simulator and not a device

public static var isSimulator: Bool {
    #if (arch(i386) || arch(x86_64)) && os(iOS)
        return true
    #else
        return false
    #endif
}

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

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
    }

}

This worked for me best

NSString *name = [[UIDevice currentDevice] name];


if ([name isEqualToString:@"iPhone Simulator"]) {

}

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.

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