iOS 14 Simulators not working in VS 19

Question

Recently, I started developing in VS 2019 with a new Mac Mini with the new M1 chip. With the most recent version of XCode installed (12.3) and most recent MacOS (11.1), I am getting a black screen when trying to use the iOS 14.3 simulators through VS.

However, instead of using the remote simulator in VS, the simulator works on the Mac.

I downloaded all the other iOS 14 Version simulators and they all do not work in VS. I also downloaded the iOS 13.7 simulator and that does work in VS. What steps can I take to find out why the iOS 14 simulators are not working properly.

Answer 1

I just upgraded Visual Studio 2019 (Windows) to 16.9.4, Visual Studio 2019 (for Mac) to 8.9.7 (build 8), and to the M1 Mac Mini to macOS 11.3 - still having similar issues. Now, instead of showing a black screen for the simulator, VS2019 shows an error stating "The device {simulator guid} was not found". I confirmed in XCode that the iPhone 12 14.5 simulator was installed and available as a simulator to be able to run apps against. See screenshot below. This is really getting frustrating, going on months with this issue and no response from Microsoft.

Answer 2

This issue has been widely reported
https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/remoted-ios-simulator-shows-up-as-black-screen/1320089?from=email&viewtype=all#T-ND1388416

Answer 3

Thank you all for posting the issue. Here's some information you can refer to:

"The device [GUID] was not found" problem is a known issue with the upgrade to Xcode 12.5. You can track it at https://developercommunity2.visualstudio.com/t/iOS-Simulators-No-Longer-Work-When-Upgra/1410183. We are working on it right now and hope to bring the fix to you as soon as possible.

And it does not appear related to the black screen problem (tracked at https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/remoted-ios-simulator-shows-up-as-black-screen/1320089?from=email&viewtype=all#T-ND1388416 ). Which is also under track.

The best place to report Visual Studio tooling issues is via Visual Studio's "Report a Problem" menu and then follow them on the developer community site. Please see How to report a problem with Visual Studio - Visual Studio | Microsoft Learn

Answer 4

I found out the issue. It is a resource issue on the Mac Book.
In the Mac simulator you can find the solution to the problems in the help section.

Answer 5

@JarvanZhang What you comment has to be used this way after Apple replaced the UILaunchStoryboardName key with UILaunchScreen, but that will just fix the splash screen when starting the app and doesn't fix the problem @John Linck is having, since the iOS 14 simulator doesn't work at all under Windows!

When enabling a simulator under Windows, any iOS simulator is "mirrored" in the paired Mac. During the booting process of any iOS 14 simulator, it's easy to see that the simulator running on the paired Mac closes, leaving the one under Windows stuck in a blank screen. Not even the booting image/progress bar of the Apple is shown.

As @John Linck stated, if you disable the iOS 14 simulator under Windows, it's easy to see that the simulator and the app runs perfect on the paired Mac, meaning the problem is not on the Mac's side.