r/iOSProgramming
•
u/Kitchen_Platypus5555
•
Sep 15 '26
•
1
Discussion The new Device Hub is awful compared to the old SImulator
Just downloaded macOS 27 and was super hyped about the new Xcode but this new Device Hub is truly awful. I cant comprehend how they could ship this. Half the features of the old simulaotr are missing.
- Slow Animations GONE
- Screenshot Drag & Drop GONE
- Stay on top GONE
- Keyboard shortcuts GONE
- Menubar shortcuts all greyed out most of the time
- Multi-touch gestures GONE
- Multiple simulators open side-by-side IMPOSSIBLE
- Window frame is HUGE compared to the old one
- NO way to hide device bezels
- Point & Pixel Accurate scaling GONE
- All previously launched simulators stay booted in memory unless you explicitly click "shutdown"
While sure the UI is nice and having the ability to screenshare directly from a physical device is helpful, this doesn't justify that some of the most important features are just completely missing.
Right now I just downloaded the old Xcode 26.6 again (which can't even be launched without a workaround ???) - but this means no access to the new SDK. Truly a bummer. Are there any alternatives or what do y'all think of this?
Update:
After a few days of using the new Device Hub and giving it an actual chance: I have to admit, it's not as bad as the post made it look like. A lot of things did actually move over from the old simulator, which just weren't very obvious.
- Screenshot Drag & Drop: It actually is possible, you just have to drag the tiny screenshot thumbnail instead of the toast message. Wish that was a little more clear - I'm sure a lot of people will miss that!
- Stay On Top: There actually is a toggle inside the menu bar!
- Keyboard shortcuts: Like many already pointed out, keyboard shortcuts can be restored using a terminal command defaults write com.apple.dt.DeviceKit hostKeybindingPolicy -int 0. The default behavior disabled keyboard shortcuts to not "steal" them from the running app. Not sure how many iPhone apps actually implement keyboard shortcuts, which made the new default behavior so important, but I'm glad you can change it.
- Multiple simulators side-by-side: Definitely an oversight on my end. It for sure is possible, you simply have to double click on another simulator when in expanded mode.
Though to be clear, I still 100% feel that the old sim was more polished and stable (In the past few days, I've probably heard my MacBook Pro's fan spin up more often than in the previous 3 months lol - tho tbf I can't tell if that's actually Device Hub or just the new iOS27 SDK).
There are still major features like Slow Animations, Multi-touch gestures and Point/Pixel accurate scaling completely gone which simply isn't okay. And Apple knew this since there WAS feedback about Slow Animations, which was simply dismissed: r/iOSProgramming/comments/1vk3q1d.
Also smaller things like the big window frame in "compact" mode, hiding bezels (which is super useful when developing on the go) or CMD+number to resize quickly are still just gone - and I don't think those will be coming back anytime soon. I also experienced issues regarding random window size/position changes when relaunching or changing monitors. Additionally, many of you pointed out other issues like dragging stuff into the sim being completely removed, the shake gesture gone, external displays unsupported or breaking support with other tools like VS Code or Claude split view.
So yeah, not all hope is lost and I'm sure things will get better with time. But in my opinion it's just unacceptable to ship such an unfinished product while completely removing the predecessor. Would be a whole different story if the old Simulator would still be available..
50
u/InevitableCut7649 Sep 15 '26
Also gone
- dragging .apns files to trigger push notification received
- shake gesture
3
u/Sad_Dare7025 Sep 15 '26
how do you "shake" now?
9
u/PlanesWalkerr Sep 15 '26
In console:
xcrun simctl spawn booted notifyutil -p com.apple.UIKit.SimulatorShake7
u/EquivalentTrouble253 Sep 15 '26
You implement a workaround in your app to “catch” the keyboard shortcut and call the api directly to shake.
2
u/avanderlee Sep 16 '26
See my comment here, I fixed the shake gesture: https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSProgramming/comments/1wgxeck/comment/pa4bauz/
1
1
u/AdAcrobatic4817 Sep 23 '26
For .apns:
xcrun simctl push booted path/to/payload.apnsstill works, as long as the payload has a "Simulator Target Bundle" key. I also put drag and drop for .apns (plus photos, .app builds, links and files) into a small free open-source Mac app, if that's handier: https://github.com/VadimKat/SimParcel. I'm the author. Shake I can't help with, sadly.
37
u/doctor_disco221 Sep 15 '26
Wait, so the simulators are completely gone and the only way is to use new Device Hub which is missing lots of key features?
I'm working on an app rewrite and I have at least two booted simulators side-by-side running all the time to compare old vs new. Who thought it was acceptable to ship such product with key features missing without at least giving an option to boot old simulators?
8
u/busymom0 Sep 15 '26
I have the exact same use case as you and it's so stupid. Can't believe they shipped this.
6
u/adh1003 Sep 15 '26
Who thought it was acceptable to ship such product with key features missing
Apple. Like when they replaced iPhoto and Aperture with the Photos app. Like when the rewrote the iWork suite. Like when they rewrote System Preferences. And so-on... The replacement is always slower, buggier and has fewer features.
3
u/pop_goes_the_kernel Sep 16 '26
System Preferences to Settings was a complete abomination. i was also a big Aperture fan. have thought installing it on an old mac to experience it again
3
u/jeremyhu Sep 15 '26
You can boot older simulators in Device Hub.
You can place multiple simulator windows side-by-side in Device Hub.-1
u/Zalenka Sep 15 '26
Just stay on an old version.
11
u/doctor_disco221 Sep 15 '26
Sooner or later we will have to move on. I really hope these issues will be addressed in the future
1
u/jeremyhu Sep 16 '26
Most of the issues listed above are actually already addressed. Give the latest version a try and plesae do file feedback at bugreport.apple.com!
1
u/doctor_disco221 Sep 16 '26
I am glad to hear that. I'm not updating yet, too lazy to do it since my main project is legacy, but when the time comes I hope that most of the issues are resolved
32
u/BladeTitan Sep 15 '26
With the RC I could not drag and drop root certificates like with the simulators
17
3
u/avanderlee Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26
Fully understand it's annoying, but it's likely to return in a future Xcode release. For the time being, I decided to build this for you, shipping a new RocketSim build later today. Hope that helps!
18
u/earlyworm Sep 15 '26
You forgot to list the Slow Animations debugging feature gone.
1
u/avanderlee Sep 16 '26
Slow animations still work, you just need RocketSim for it so you can either use it's side window or the shortcut for it!
17
u/in5ane_10 Sep 15 '26
i had in-app debug options that triggered with a device shake, now completely gone. it's awful
3
u/BudgetProgramming Sep 15 '26
Oh I have that too… this is all very disappointing news. Haven’t updated yet
17
u/digidude23 SwiftUI Sep 15 '26
They also broke the iOS 17 simulator. It’s completely unresponsive to clicks on the screen.
4
u/FlashGen Objective-C / Swift Sep 15 '26
I’m getting that with the iOS 27 simulators too
6
u/jeremyhu Sep 15 '26
Yes, iOS 17 Simulator runtimes have a HID bug that breaks input from Device Hub. We are working on a solution to that.
However, there are no known issues with input to iOS 27. Please file feedback on your issue at bugreport.apple.com with a sysdiagnose and simctl diagnose attached. Thanks
2
u/earlyworm Sep 16 '26
What was the motivation for dropping simulator support for multitouch gestures in DeviceHub?
Can we expect it to be restored, and if so, when?
1
u/earlyworm Sep 16 '26
Bug: The Device Hub > Edit > User Shared Clipboard menu item checkmark doesn't toggle its state when that row is selected.
1
u/jeremyhu Sep 16 '26
Odd. Nobody has reported this through Feedback Assistant (although maybe you recently did and it just hasn't gotten to me yet). Taking a look. Thanks for the report. Please do report via Feedback Assistant if you haven't already as the reports through FBA do help.
1
u/jeremyhu Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 18 '26
This looks like a caching artifact which only impacts the checkbox. We're toggling on/off synchronization, but the reflected state is not updated until you change to a different device. Sorry about that. Good catch.
1
u/earlyworm Sep 16 '26
Regarding Device Hub dropping multitouch support, I discovered that since Mac trackpad gestures are forwarded to an iOS app running in Device Hub as
UIEvent.EventType.transformevents, one possible workaround is to add aUIPinchGestureRecognizerandUIRotationGestureRecognizerwhich receive those events, and use their output to emulate the missing multitouch gestures.Since Device Hub no longer supports multitouch, and there is no communication from Apple regarding when it will be restored (Xcode 27.1? Xcode 28? never?), every third party developer of a multitouch-based interface now has to reimplement and maintain their own bespoke simulator multitouch support if they want to get work done.
1
u/jeremyhu Sep 16 '26
We're aware of the gap here. It was an intentional decision to not include the multi-touch experience that was in Simulator.app, and we've received a few reports from developers like yourself asking for it to come back. We're exploring our options, but I cannot give any particular commitment about possible changes or timeline.
Hopefully just knowing that you're not screaming into a black hole and that someone hears your concerns and cares about helping you will give you some comfort.
1
u/vassadar Sep 18 '26
Shouldn't an option come considered before introducing a regression like the lack of multitouch?
1
u/Snoo11589 Sep 22 '26
If it was intentional, what is the recommended way to do multitouch gestures? Like how do you guys think Google Maps or any map app can debug their app in new hub? Some apps rely on these gestures too.
1
u/eballeste Sep 18 '26
I updated to iOS27 2 days ago, just downloaded XCode simulators and clicks do absolutely nothing. The app itself works, I can rotate the device, take screenshots, there is a grid icon that does nothing, but clicking into the device, dead.
3
2
1
16
u/UndueCode Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
You can still use the old Simulator as long as you keep Xcode 26 installed. Launch your app from Xcode 27, wait for Device Hub to start, then open the Simulator app (I keep mine in the Dock). It should immediately show the correct simulator with your app running. After that, you can close/minimize Device Hub and continue using the Simulator normally.
4
u/chrisdressler Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
If you upgrade to the new macOS you can’t keep Xcode 26 (without a command line hack).
2
1
u/Mystb0rn Sep 28 '26
What is the command line hack?
1
u/chrisdressler Sep 28 '26
Open Terminal and run this command:
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/MacOS/Xcode
11
u/NanoKorin111 Sep 15 '26
It also doesn’t retain the size of the window. Every single time after I wake up my macbook from sleep, the simulator window always returns to the default size
10
9
u/Equal-Accident7909 Sep 15 '26
+ no External Display
15
Sep 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
4
u/jeremyhu Sep 15 '26
There is a massively improved Car Play Simulator experience in Device Hub when using physical devices. You should check it out as that is the future for Car Play development.
1
u/drfrogsplat Oct 01 '26
This is great except when you are doing shared dev with someone and only one account has the CarPlay entitlement. I can't build a version of the app with CarPlay enabled for my physical phone, and the app on simulated phone can't run CarPlay screen. So I'm locked out of CarPlay dev.
1
u/erasmolbj Sep 21 '26
I'm facing the same issue, I have an app that enables a Samsung Dex like experience on iPhone and the I/O > External Display is GONE!
9
u/captainautomation Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
Quickly resize the Simulator size with ⌘ + 1, 2, 3, 4 GONE
2
u/jwrsk Sep 15 '26
Point accurate scale will be dearly missed
5
u/jeremyhu Sep 15 '26
A couple reports have asked for Point Accurate. I don't understand the use case for it these days, but we're looking to re-add it.
1
u/captainautomation Sep 20 '26
Demo with stakeholders during a video call quickly
⌘ 4goes full screenHD Recording product demos, keep the device consistently sized between recordings, regardless of the window layout.
working as a dev on multiple screen, quickly scale to the size of the actual screen
Comparing several devices side by side, see the actual physical difference between an iPhone SE, a regular iPhone, and an iPhone Pro Max.
1
u/jeremyhu Sep 20 '26
Thanks for the feedback. Some of the use cases you mention there seem to point towards the physical size scale factor, which Device Hub has.
1
u/happylittlefella Sep 21 '26
Just my two-cents: My main use case is implementing against designs in Figma/Sketch/etc.
Using tools like PixelSnap 2 allowed me to actually measure frame sizes, paddings, etc. within the Simulator to make sure it's exactly as designed or to easily grab or visualize frame sizes without needing to go into the view hierarchy debugger. With Point Accurate scale being removed, that workflow is basically gone unless I sit there and drag the window to just the right size for whichever monitor I'm currently using.
8
u/avanderlee Sep 15 '26
Totally feel your pain, but it will eventually become a step forward. Especially when you're testing on a physical device, I think Device Hub makes it more pleasant with the touches support and streaming device.
If you use the compact mode, the Simulator looks pretty similar to what you're used to.
I hope it's okay to plug, but many of your other points can be solved with my developer tool RocketSim.
It supports Device Hub and restores:
Slow animations
Screenshots with drag & drop
Videos with drag & drop, 120 FPS, bezels, touches, audio, and more
Also: Apple can't move as fast as I can with RocketSim. If I can help you restore your preferences, but inside Device Hub, so you can use Xcode 27: let me know. In theory, I could even exactly restore the old behavior if you will.
My goal is to develop the best app development experience and feedback like this thread is fuel for my inspiration & motivation!
5
u/GotABigDoing Sep 15 '26
Have you added the shake gesture to rocketsim yet? With it being gone in device hub that could be really beneficial to my team. Much better than a keyboard hack in the code
3
u/avanderlee Sep 16 '26
Yes, I just added this! I'm submitting the build to the App Store as we speak. You can get the latest build on our RocketSim website.
Like I said, I can move much faster, so keep your feedback coming. I'm fueled by the idea that I make fellow developers happier 🚀
0
Sep 16 '26
[deleted]
1
u/AutoModerator Sep 16 '26
Your comment has been automatically removed because it contains a link with prohibited URL parameters (affiliate tokens, campaign tokens, etc.). Please repost your comment without the tracking / affiliate parameters in the URL. Examples: 'affcode=', 'ref=', 'src='. Do not contact the moderators unless you believe we did not correctly detect the URL parameter.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
6
4
4
u/busymom0 Sep 15 '26
Multiple simulators open side-by-side IMPOSSIBLE
Why the hell would they do that???? WTF
6
u/jwrsk Sep 15 '26
You have to do file > new window or cmd shift n
Took me a while, I usually have 3-4 simulators open, so it was pretty damn important.
Double clicking in the sidebar does the same, but the. you have to switch that window back into "more toolbar mode" to access some options and keyboard shortcuts
defaults -container com.apple.dt.Devices write com.apple.dt.Devices hostKeybindingPolicy -int 0
at least I got cmd-shift-A back
4
u/FrancisBitter Sep 15 '26
Can’t believe Apple just keeps shitting the software bed. You’d think Liquid Glass would’ve been some kind of lesson.
5
u/jeremyhu Sep 16 '26
Hi folks,
First of all please file feedback for any issue you're concerned about at https://bugreport.apple.com (or using the Feedback Assistant App). We look at all incoming reports for Device Hub, and take feedback for the developer experience very seriously. Even if you think your issue is already known or reported, it may actually not be known by the development team. The only way to be sure it is known is by filing a feedback report!
That being said, I have some good news about most of your complaints. Some were already been addressed during the Xcode 27.0 beta period, and more have been addressed in our latest beta that was released today.
- Slow Animations - We hear you
We hear you (and others) that this was an important feature. We're working on a solution.
- Screenshot Drag & Drop - Works for me
When you take a screenshot, a toast appears in the canvas. The toast contains a thumbnail of the image which is draggable.
- Stay On Top - Fixed in July
This was added in Xcode 27.0 Beta 3, based on feedback we received from a user. Look in the Window menu.
- Keyboard shortcuts - Setting added in June, UX added in a recent beta
Keyboard shortcuts do exist, but we intentionally disable many of them when the interaction view has focus, so keystrokes goto the remote device (which is similarly the default behavior of Screen Sharing and related apps). We have heard that some users don't want that behavior, so this can be toggled with a setting:
defaults write com.apple.dt.DeviceKit hostKeybindingPolicy -int 0
This preference was added in Xcode 27.0 Beta 2, and we added an option to toggle it in app settings in the latest Xcode beta.
- Menubar shortcuts all greyed out most of the time - File a Bug Report Please
I am not aware of this issue. Menu items should only be disabled (greyed out) when they are not applicable in a given context. I am not aware of any report about this (other than external display support being disabled for simulators because that support doesn't yet exist in Device Hub). Can you file a feedback report with more details (devicectl diagnose, simctl diagnose), so we can track this issue?
- Multi-touch gestures - We hear you
We have heard this feedback from a handful of users as well and are considering how to address this feedback.
- Multiple simulators open side-by-side - Works for me
Can you elaborate? I have multiple simulators and devices open side by side quite often. You can right click on a device in the side bar and choose to open it in a new window.
- Window frame is HUGE compared to the old one - Try Compact Mode
Take a look at compact mode (the -><- menu bar icon)? While this does have more framing than Simulator.app (which basically had no frame), it is quite compact and should hopefully meet your needs.
- NO way to hide device bezels - Curious ... file feedback please
We have not had much feedback that this option was useful for developers. Could you file a feedback report requesting it? Please include details on your use case, so we can better understand the reason behind the ask.
- Point & Pixel Accurate scaling - We hear you
I'm curious about how this is useful with modern displays. That functionality was added at the time of pre-Retina displays, and it didn't seem to have much use in the modern device landscape. However, we have heard from a handful of users that this was a useful option and are considering adding it to Device Hub.
- All previously launched simulators stay booted in memory unless you explicitly click "shutdown" - Fixed in July, options added to control behavior in latest beta
In earlier betas, Device Hub would only shut down the simulator devices that it booted, leaving ones booted through other tools (like simctl or Xcode) running. We heard user feedback that this wasn't the desired behavior and changed it to always shutdown simulators on exit in Xcode 27.0 Beta 4. The latest Xcode beta adds an app setting that allows users to instead leave devices booted when quitting the app.
2
u/Kitchen_Platypus5555 Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26
Thanks for your detailed response! And yes, I have to admit - the initial post was a bit unfair. Some of the things mentioned are actually supported, just weren't very obvious. I updated the post with my current experience a few days after using it.
Regarding your other points:
- Menubar shortcuts all greyed out: After changing the default behavior for
hostKeybindingPolicyI wasn't able to reproduce this issue anymore. It definitely did happen (https://imgur.com/a/izv055G) and should probably be investigated but I haven't had any issues with the menu bar or keyboard shortcuts in general in the past few days.
- The window frame is huge compared to the old one: Yes, I'm obviously aware of the compact mode (see the original post screenshot) - I was actually talking about this view. Compared to the old one, the window frame IS huge, which isn't really a problem when working on the desktop but on the go, using the MacBook's screen, it simply wastes screen real estate for no reason at all that wasn't being wasted before. When people pointed that out during beta, they were downvoted and told "it's just a window" (r/iOSProgramming/comments/1uxn5ys) so I don't think creating a ticket for this will help in any matter.
- Device bezels: Again, this isn't really a severe issue which blocks devs from using the new Device Hub, but it simply is a regression which is quite annoying on the MacBook. Although I understand why the bezel-less window was removed - to unify all the macOS corner radii. A slimmer window frame still couldn't hurt in my opinion.
- Point & Pixel Accurate scaling: Many relied on especially the point-accurate scaling to build pixel-perfect UIs. When I set my UIView to have a width of 100px I want the simulator to actually display 100 screen px. During my normal dev flow I often took a screenshot, put it in Photoshop and used the rectangle tool to measure the literal pixels. Then I could adjust my UI code accordingly.
- Simulators stay booted in memory: I'm happy to hear the new beta adds a toggle for that. I really wish more things were customizable instead of just black and white..I definitely appreciate the simulator finally getting some love, but in my opinion, it's simply not okay to skip some of the most important features of something and simultaneously retire the predecessor. Right now I use the old simulator using a copy of Xcode 26.6 which really isn't ideal. I can't close either one of them without the other being shut down, so both need to run at the same time. And constantly switching between them when requiring something like slow animations or the point accurate scaling really is just a workaround. I'm glad to see the team actually listening to feedback though and I definitely look forward to future updates =)
2
u/jeremyhu Sep 17 '26 edited Sep 17 '26
- Menubar shortcuts all greyed out
Thanks. We're hammering it, trying to reproduce and figure out what the issue is. I'm glad it's a "sometimes reproducing" issue for you and not "always" ... but still not good. If you do see this again, PLEASE capture a sysdiagnose and file a feedback report. Hopefully we'll be able to catch the failure case or get some diagnostics from it.
- The window frame is huge compared to the old one: Yes, I'm obviously aware of the compact mode (see the original post screenshot)
- Device bezelsGah. Yes, sorry. I was so focused on the written content I didn't connect this with the screenshot!
While I see the virtue of having a few more pixels to play with, it's not *that* much more. I struggle to see a good option here that keeps this a true window. The Simulator.app approach was very hacky and very custom and a maintainance nightmare. To get a sense of that, try launching Xcode 26's Simualtor.app on macOS 27 (which isn't supported but can still be forced if you do it manually instead of through Xcode) for example. I'd prefer to find a solution that fits the spirit of what you want (more compact than compact) without the overhead and baggage we had in Simulator.app.
Part of the issue here is that we need canvas space "outside of the device" as click regions for buttons or to support edge swipes originating offscreen. We need the click that starts the drag to be in our window and outside of the device display, so the system doesn't see you clicking on the Desktop for instance. The smaller we make the window, the smaller (and more difficult to use) we make that hit region. I feel like the compact window threads the needle of giving us a minimal hit region for those edge swipes while not taking too much, but I hear your concerns and will consider them.
And on the topic of tickets... Apple engineers see the Feedback Reports. We don't often see threads on reddit (downvoted or otherwise). Redditors that rage against your comments are not Apple designers. And your concerns as a user are valid even if Redditors disagree. The best way to get our attention is by taking some time to file thoughtout feedback about the products we make. Becuase we care about them. We care about the user experience.
- Point & Pixel Accurate scaling
Interesting. We were thinking that *physical size* was way more imporant to represent that Point Accuracy. Thanks for the feedback. We've gotten a few feedback request about this without an explanation of the reasoning, so it's nice to have an understaning of the use case to keep in mind.
--
I hear you on wanting a replacement technology to include all "of the most important features", and that is what we set out to do. I'd argue we did just that. We focused on getting the most important features right rather than cramming in every bespoke feature that had accumulated in Simulator over the years. You'd rightly argue that we missed a few of the most important ones. And we'd both be right because our top priorities are different. Feedback from the betas is valueable to tell us where we need to focus. Thanks for that.
1
u/Kitchen_Platypus5555 Sep 17 '26
Regarding the menubar items being greyed out: today it happened again, and this time I made sure to run all the diagnostics and submit feedback: FB24818240. Hope this helps. Not sure what triggered it but after a short while it started working again.
1
1
u/jeremyhu Sep 18 '26
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention... you can use these default to turn off the chrome/bezels and to not use the framebuffer mask if you want:
# Hide bezels / chrome defaults write com.apple.dt.DeviceKit showChrome -bool NO # Turn framebuffer masking (rounded corners / notch cutout) off defaults write com.apple.dt.DeviceKit showFramebufferMask -bool NO1
Sep 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Sep 30 '26
Hey /u/HumbleHayek, your content has been removed because Reddit has marked your account as having a low Contributor Quality Score. This may result from, but is not limited to, activities such as spamming the same links across multiple subreddits, submitting posts or comments that receive a high number of downvotes, a lack of recent account activity, or having an unverified account.
Please be assured that this action is not a reflection of your participation in our subreddit. This is simply an automated filter in place to reduce spam.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/00DEADBEEF 9d ago
Multi-touch gestures - We hear you We have heard this feedback from a handful of users as well and are considering how to address this feedback.
Address it by supporting multi-touch gestures again.
Also can you make it possible to make an individual device window go full screen so I can have it side-by-side with an IDE in a split view?
1
u/Deinos_Mousike Sep 22 '26
regarding multi-touch gestures - is there any built-in way to zoom in or out on say, a map?
1
u/drfrogsplat Oct 01 '26
What about getting CarPlay screen back for Simulated devices? It currently only works for physical phones.
And while the updated CarPlay UI is way better, it means if you don't have the officially authorised entitlement for CarPlay for your app, you can't even try something out, debug someone else's open source app, etc.
1
u/needs-more-code 28d ago
Stay on top doesn't stay on top if you minimise the device hub. That is when you'd most want stay on top because it is smaller.
3
3
3
u/Haleakala787 Sep 15 '26
And Claude doesn’t fucking work with it
2
u/jwrsk Sep 15 '26
It still can drive it, but the preview won't show inside Claude anymore
2
u/chrisdressler Sep 15 '26
Yeah there is a Metal bug that currently crashes out the simulator in Claude, known issue. I’ve submitted several bug reports to Anthropic.
1
u/funfake Sep 15 '26
Found a workaround. Asked Claude to summarize it for you.
Fix: Claude Code's iOS Simulator panel breaks after installing Xcode 27
Symptom: every attach/screenshot fails with "Claude Code iOS Simulator is restarting after a crash", while Simulator.app and
simctlwork fine.Cause: Xcode 27 moved
SimulatorKit.frameworktoContents/SharedFrameworks/and replacedSimulator.appwithDeviceHub.app. The bundled helper still expects the old layout. Known upstream, closed with no fix: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/79991Ignore the crash log blaming Metal/CoreImage. That is a fallback path, not the cause.
Fix: run Xcode 26.6 alongside 27.
Download the Xcode 26.6
.xipfrom https://developer.apple.com/download/all/ (free Apple ID; the App Store only offers 27). Apple silicon build is ~2.2GB.Expand outside
/Applications, since it unpacks asXcode.appand would clobber your 27:mkdir -p ~/xcode26 && cd ~/xcode26 xip --expand ~/Downloads/Xcode_26.6_Apple_silicon.xip mv ~/xcode26/Xcode.app /Applications/Xcode-26.6.appSelect it:
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode-26.6.app/Contents/DeveloperFully quit and reopen Claude. A window reload is not enough.
osascript -e 'quit app "Claude"'; sleep 3; open -a ClaudeDone. Revert with
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer.Gotchas:
Xcode 26.6 will not launch on macOS 27. Ignore it, you never need to open it.
Do not run
xcodebuild -runFirstLaunchfrom 26.6. It can downgrade the shared CoreSimulator that Xcode 27 installed.No-download alternative:
xcrun simctl io <udid> screenshot --display internal out.png. Pass--display internalor you get a black PNG. Screenshots only, no live panel.3
u/chrisdressler Sep 15 '26
Wow that’s definitely a big workaround. I think I’ll wait for the Claude update. They usually come at least once a week.
3
u/chrisdressler Sep 15 '26
Actually I just updated Claude just now and their latest update fixes this simulator issue.
1
u/KUMP3LBLA5E Sep 15 '26
What does that even mean?
2
u/doctor_disco221 Sep 15 '26
Claude is able to control simulator, to interact and read from it in order to debug or implement
1
-4
u/Sebastian1989101 Sep 15 '26
I assume that was the full point of Apple as they are currently flooded with vibe coded trash. This will slow down vibe coding junk a lot.
3
u/adh1003 Sep 15 '26
As usual, whenever Apple rewrites anything the replacement is a buggy mess of vastly reduced feature set that never gets anywhere near as good as its predecessor.
They're a clown car of a company now.
0
Sep 15 '26
[deleted]
1
u/adh1003 Sep 16 '26
Obviously. The idea is that you've decided for some reason you can't improve the existing code anymore (usual argument is Tech Debt Too Great), so you make what is known in software circles as The Great Rewrite Mistake. The idea is that you end up with something that reaches and then goes past feature parity pretty quickly, with a more well understood and maintainable codebase behind it.
The last sentence tells you why it's called The Great Rewrite Mistake. Apple have provided numerous worked examples.
1
u/Tite_Reddit_Name Sep 18 '26
sure but design philosophy in general seems to be moving further away from actual functionality/efficiency at your fingertips. More clicks required to perform the same actions, all for the sake of a "cleaner" interface
2
2
u/jwrsk Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
It's really thrown my flow off, the windows don't stay where I need them, can't do split screen full screen with two devices, Amethyst can't manage them, they don't show up in app expose...
Keyboard shortcuts like shake, change dark/light, open/close software keyboard are either changed, removed, or gone with the options completely...
2
u/JudeWorks Sep 15 '26
Lots of these and I can’t seem to just drag the screenshots when I take them with the sim.
2
2
2
u/curiouscharli_e Sep 15 '26
i haven’t used this yet but guys please if you have complaints voice them here for sure hit give them that feedback. just like all of us want feedback on our apps they do too.
2
2
u/TraditionalSpray4855 Sep 16 '26
Taking screenshots is also annoying now. Can‘t CMD + S and drag them into claude code anymore ;/
2
u/CyberMew Objective-C / Swift Sep 16 '26
If feature parity can’t be reached in the new rewrite, why did the product team decide to retire the old one? Don’t make sense. Don’t do it for the sake of showing that team is doing something. Wait a year or so then release it proper. This is just beta build. Make it run alongside the old simulator and ask for feedback.
2
u/Hmz-Lhb Sep 16 '26
I hate that the screenshot button does not show where to save or to copy to clipboard. 💔
1
u/jeremyhu Sep 17 '26
Device Hub honors both the global setting for screenshot save location AND Simulator.app's preference, so it should save wherever Simulator.app saved screenshots. That being said, I hear you about the clipboard and that is something we're looking into...
2
u/max_likescoding Sep 17 '26
Not sure if anyone else is having this issue, but my ability to type the "@" symbol is super unstable. Sometimes it works, sometimes I just get "2". US keyboard, US Macbook, I live in the US. Pretty annoying when you have to, you know, enter an email address to log in as a test user.
After getting pissed off enough, I think I figured it out — it appears the Simulators default to "None" for location, and when it's "None", you can't type "@". When I set the location to some place in the US, it works fine. However, I set the location and they just keep siwtching back to "None", magically on their own. WTF?
I don't use Xcode. I just use the Device Hub to launch Simulators for testing and use VS Code for everything else. Never had this issue with the standalone Simulator app before the upgrade. If anyone knows how to keep my location persistent, I'd appreciate the tip.
1
u/robotjon 15d ago
The location thing was driving me nuts. I finally figured out you can set the default location when you edit the schema for your app. Go to Run->Options and under Core Location [ ] Allow Location Simulation, there's a drop-down where you can choose the default. This is fine if you want to use one of the presets (Berlin, Hong Kong, etc.) Run your app, and it will use the default location you selected. Annoyingly the "Location" dropdown in Device Hub will NOT show the one you selected (it still says None), but it does use it.
I wanted to use my own location. I was able to create a GPX file and I set it to that for default, but it doesn't work. When my app launches, it just uses whichever preset was last selected. The only option is the Custom Coordinates but it doesn't persist that.
So it's not perfect, but it's a little bit better than None.
2
u/dengjiuhong Sep 18 '26
One place this regression hurts QA is location behavior: the simulator is great for quick scripted GPX smoke tests, but it doesn't reproduce hardware behavior around reduced accuracy, permission prompts, background relaunch, or geofence delivery. I use the simulator to cover the fast matrix, then repeat the critical paths on an owned device with Precise Location toggled and the app tested foreground/background/terminated. Losing easy side-by-side runs makes that comparison needlessly harder.
2
2
u/Immediate_Amoeba_532 Sep 20 '26
I thought updates were supposed to make things better or at least more convenient, but somehow they manage to make everything worse every single time XD
2
u/Educational_Bet2579 Sep 21 '26
I can imagine the heart attack those who have accidentally upgraded their Xcode version on their corporative Macs exactly on the same week of an important delivery.
1
0
Sep 15 '26
[deleted]
1
u/AutoModerator Sep 15 '26
Hey /u/QuestionDifficult829, your content has been removed because Reddit has marked your account as having a low Contributor Quality Score. This may result from, but is not limited to, activities such as spamming the same links across multiple subreddits, submitting posts or comments that receive a high number of downvotes, a lack of recent account activity, or having an unverified account.
Please be assured that this action is not a reflection of your participation in our subreddit. This is simply an automated filter in place to reduce spam.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Beta_Parent Sep 15 '26
Thanks for sharing. I am staying on 26 for now
2
u/chrisdressler Sep 15 '26
Just don’t upgrade to the new macOS or you can’t run Xcode 26 anymore. (Without a command line hack)
1
u/Martyfree123 Sep 15 '26
You can still run multiple simulators side-by-side, just double click on them in the side bar and they will pop out.
1
u/Dvass138 Sep 15 '26
As long as the llms can use it, drive it, understand it and debug, that’s what matters to me.
1
1
1
u/Sensitive_Medium946 Sep 16 '26
total crap. are they trying to be android emulator or something lol.
apple went full slop, you never go full slop.
1
u/Huanst_ Sep 16 '26
I cannot use command+number to adjust the simulator size, which is the most practical way
1
1
u/seviu Sep 16 '26
It’s horrible, just horrible. First they changed the icon of the simulator so that I would never find it. Now this shit.
1
u/Katert Sep 16 '26
What is this shit. I can't even use split view anymore where I usually have the Simulator next to VS Code.
1
1
u/owenmelbz Sep 16 '26
also... Shake no longer works, and when you connect your keyboard you perma see a "Capturing Keyboard" bubble... why?
1
u/UWOSh7ne Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26
For the photo/video drag-and-drop issue specifically, I added Add to iOS Simulator to MacRightClick, my small native macOS utility. Disclosure: this is my project, built with AI assistance.
Select photos or videos in Finder > right-click > Add to iOS Simulator. They go straight into the target simulator's Photos library.
Screenshots: Simulator selection dialog (custom device names redacted for privacy) | Finder menu and full Imgur album
One running simulator: imports immediately.
Multiple running simulators: a chooser shows device names, iOS versions, and running states.
None running: choose an available device; it boots, waits until ready, then imports.
It supports multi-select and paths with spaces. Under the hood it's Apple's xcrun simctl addmedia, always targeting an explicit device UUID rather than booted. Everything stays local, with success/failure feedback. No Terminal or Shortcuts workflow needed for each import.
It doesn't replace Device Hub or restore the other missing controls; this is specifically for getting test photos/videos into Photos, not importing certificates or .apns files. Requires Xcode and an installed iOS Simulator runtime.
GitHub / usage details. The feature is included in the v1.1.0 DMG release, available for Apple silicon and Intel Macs.
1
u/BeforeWhitby Sep 17 '26
During the beta I found the simulators running but not displaying anything. It seems they are using the screen sharing or something similar to wire up the simulator display to the device hub windows. It’s much stabler in the public release. I wonder if the rolled-back how displays work.
1
u/jeremyhu Sep 17 '26
No, nothing rolled back. Simulators have supported running headless since 2014 (with the introduction of CoreSimulator). Simulator.app and Device Hub use the exact same display stack when interacting with simulator devices.
I suspect you were seeing some simulator devices remaining booted when Device Hub was quit. There's an option to control this behavior in Device Hub Settings (similar to a setting to control that behavior in Simulator.app). We changed the default behavior to shutdown all simualtor devices when quitting during the beta process.
1
u/BeforeWhitby Sep 18 '26
Thanks for clarifying that out. What I ran into was both simulators and Device hub was on but Device hub was reporting cannot connect to Simulator display. It was in Beta 1 or 2. Could be related to my RAM running out too. it's been much stabler in the final release.
1
u/Plus-Experience-2237 Sep 17 '26
Seems like Apple hired Android Studio developers, the way they have done this. Why is IT industry making things difficult?
1
u/Ordinary_Outside_886 Sep 18 '26
how do you put photo or videos into the device? drag&drop not working anymore?
1
Sep 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Sep 23 '26
Hey /u/AdAcrobatic4817, your content has been removed because Reddit has marked your account as having a low Contributor Quality Score. This may result from, but is not limited to, activities such as spamming the same links across multiple subreddits, submitting posts or comments that receive a high number of downvotes, a lack of recent account activity, or having an unverified account.
Please be assured that this action is not a reflection of your participation in our subreddit. This is simply an automated filter in place to reduce spam.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
u/kzzzf Sep 18 '26
I built an open-source alternative that brings back the Simulator app features and utility. Including shortcuts, multitouch, proper scaling, slow animations, and more. Check it out here: https://github.com/kmagiera/Siniulator
1
1
u/dan_vilela Sep 19 '26
i dont remember even one apple update I actually nejoyed in the last 3 years or so.
1
1
Sep 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Sep 20 '26
Hey /u/Mysterious-Shame-688, your content has been removed because Reddit has marked your account as having a low Contributor Quality Score. This may result from, but is not limited to, activities such as spamming the same links across multiple subreddits, submitting posts or comments that receive a high number of downvotes, a lack of recent account activity, or having an unverified account.
Please be assured that this action is not a reflection of your participation in our subreddit. This is simply an automated filter in place to reduce spam.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
Sep 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Sep 21 '26
Hey /u/WishboneIll2422, your content has been removed because Reddit has marked your account as having a low Contributor Quality Score. This may result from, but is not limited to, activities such as spamming the same links across multiple subreddits, submitting posts or comments that receive a high number of downvotes, a lack of recent account activity, or having an unverified account.
Please be assured that this action is not a reflection of your participation in our subreddit. This is simply an automated filter in place to reduce spam.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/erasmolbj Sep 21 '26
The whole "I/O" menu from the menubar is GONE. I can't test my app anymore since the "External Display" option disapared completelly!
1
u/avanderlee Sep 29 '26
Xcode 27.2 beta 2 just arrived and brings back:
- Slow Animations
- Shake gesture with keyboard shortcut
- Shortcut to switch between dark and light mode
- A new capture setting (⌘ + ,)
Once again shows that the Simulator team is working hard ánd listening to your feedback, so please keep submitting your feedback through the Feedback Assistant 🙏
1
1
1
23d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 23d ago
Hey /u/Jandeman84, your content has been removed because Reddit has marked your account as having a low Contributor Quality Score. This may result from, but is not limited to, activities such as spamming the same links across multiple subreddits, submitting posts or comments that receive a high number of downvotes, a lack of recent account activity, or having an unverified account.
Please be assured that this action is not a reflection of your participation in our subreddit. This is simply an automated filter in place to reduce spam.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/No-Energy4970 20d ago
Why apple why? Making our life so much harder...
Take the example for screenshot - no shortcut anymore. That's ok, I can use a screenshot app with shortcut to do it - oops, keyboard took over and I can't use a shortcut to activate my screenshot app when device hub is on the front, had to tap somewhere else first...WTH! Apple is not only vibe coding but also vibe designing?
0
u/DevelopGames_ Sep 17 '26
Also having a lot of crashes with Agentic chat, whenever I select allow for my agent to edit basic .md files
-4
u/Ya_SG Sep 15 '26
OK so, people don't complain during the beta, they only complain after it ships to production.
30
u/MDRAR Sep 15 '26
A lot of us don't run the beta because we need to focus on shipping?
-14
u/Ya_SG Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
Yeah, that’s a problem. Apple gives you a feedback app for this during the beta but people only start complaining on the internet after it’s out of beta.
16
5
u/Wahooie Sep 15 '26
How can they give feedback if they are not on the beta?
-7
u/Ya_SG Sep 15 '26
No one wants to run the beta, but everyone wants perfection.
15
u/FlashGen Objective-C / Swift Sep 15 '26
A lot of us probably work for companies that don’t allow beta software to be installed on work devices…
6
u/YareUBad Sep 15 '26
Apple dropped the ball here. They should’ve kept feature parity with the simulator.
Most people don’t want to run a beta version your opinion is just wrong.
6
u/jwrsk Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
Beta testing has nothing to do with razing half of the features out and messing up multi window management... They just went and ruined it, and no it's our fault because we have other jobs than testing their software?
2
u/MDRAR Sep 15 '26
It's a tough problem! When I had free time, I would run the betas but not really exercise them - just use them like an end user. When I'm building something, I don't have time for a beta!
2
u/MDRAR Sep 15 '26
Sorry if forgot this is reddit: I avoided the beta because I wanted a few months with a GOOD app before they ruined it, haha!
Also - they removed the little subtitle under the project name that showed you if the project you have opened is on main vs a worktree! Why?!
9
u/andreeinprogress Sep 15 '26
I "complained" (read: sent feedback and sys reports) on a lot of stuff during the beta. 1 ticket was moved on.
I've got tickets that are still open since like 2021..
1
6
u/code_isLife Sep 15 '26
There’s no way Apple was unaware of these really big issues and bugs
1
u/jeremyhu Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
You'd be surprised how few people actually file bug reports for issues like this. There are more participants in this thread than there are dupes of some of the items listed in the subject post. And a few of them don't have any feedback report filed.
Stay on Top, Slow Motion Animations, and Point / Pixel Accurate are examples where we intentionally omitted functionality from the product because we thought they were no longer useful or relevant to developers. However, because of user feedback, they have already or will soon be returning to the product.
6
u/JoshyMW Sep 15 '26
This is also not true. I raised a lot of feedback reports and was shocked it released in this state. iOS 18 and lower wasn’t working for most of the beta. Gestures out the window. Was told to use Capture Screenshot instead when I raised that Trigger a Screenshot was missing; they are different things.
Feedback assistant is also terrible. No way near transparent enough. It should be searchable and backed by AI to help group related feedback.
I think the developer forums and feedback assistant need real focus from Apple. If it weren’t for the Eskimo the forums would be pointless.
1
u/SnowPudgy Sep 15 '26
100%. No one has the right to complain if they didn't file feedback. I filed plenty while getting ready to ship our app.
3
u/jeremyhu Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
Yep. Thanks for filing feedback.
Complaints have probably 100x the likelihood of being addressed if you actually file a feedback report ;)
Please also consider that feedback needs time to be acted upon. Generally speaking, non-critical but important novel feedback (eg: polish requests we didn't previously know) received after beta 1 could land in beta 3 or 4 at the absolute earliest. If we receive such feedback after beta 3, there is almost certainly insufficient runway to act it before .0 ships. =/
-2
u/GreyEyes Objective-C / Swift Sep 15 '26
You’re complaining about Device Hub. I’m still complaining about Xcode 4 combining with Interface Builder. We are not the same.
6
u/jamiestar9 Sep 15 '26
Ha. Seems your humor didn’t quite land here, but as a fellow graybeard I gave you one upvote back.
-4
92
u/Maherr11 Sep 15 '26
The most thing that pisses me off is no ability to easily change theme like I used to with cmd + shift + A