Where Can I Find the Remoted iOS Simulator for Windows PC?

Question

Where can I find the Remoted iOS Simulator for Windows PC?

Where in Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 should I find the Remoted iOS Simulator for Windows PC?

Is it somewhere in a directory like “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community?”

Answer 1

the remote IOS simulator is installed as part of the Maui workload for VS 2022. This is just the bridge to the simulator running on the paired Mac.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/maui/ios/remote-simulator?view=net-maui-8.0

note: Xamarin is no longer supported, so you should be using vs 2022 and Maui.

Answer 2

Hello,

Bruce is right, and you could refer to the following details and docs：

iOS Simulator is a part of Apple's build tools, and it only runs on a Mac. Visual Studio 2022's Pair to Mac feature allows to build a native iOS app through the Remoted iOS Simulator, it means that VS connects to a network-accessible Mac to build iOS apps.

The Remoted iOS Simulator for Windows is installed automatically as part of Xamarin or MAUI.

Since Xamarin support ended on May 1, 2024, it is recommended that you upgrade your Xamarin projects to .NET MAUI.

Please see

Xamarin official support policy | .NET (microsoft.com)

Upgrade from Xamarin to .NET - .NET MAUI | Microsoft Learn

Pair to Mac for iOS development - .NET MAUI | Microsoft Learn

Remote iOS Simulator for Windows - .NET MAUI | Microsoft Learn

Is it somewhere in a directory like “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community?”

No, you can only see the build agent at C:\Users\``{username}\AppData\Local\Temp\Xamarin\XMA\Remote.

In addition, I'm not sure if your main issue is being able to pair with a Mac but not be able to select a specific iOS simulator in the "Debug Target" dropdown in the Visual Studio toolbar. If so, please create a new thread and share the Xcode version, VS version and some other environment information with me, and attach the thread link here, so that we can work together to figure it out.

If not, please feel free to post in here if you have any other questions.

Best Regards,

Wenyan Zhang

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