Some Macs recently received a macOS system update which disabled the simulator runtimes used by Xcode 15, including the simulators for iOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS. If your Mac received this update, you will receive the following error message and will be unable to use the simulator: The com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-17-2 simulator runtime is not available. Domain: com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimError Code: 401 Failure Reason: runtime profile not found using "System" match policy Recovery Suggestion: Download the com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-17-2 simulator runtime from the Xcode To resume using the simulator, please reboot your Mac. After rebooting, check Xcode Preferences → Platforms to ensure that the simulator runtime you would like to use is still installed. If it is missing, use the Get button to download it again. The Xcode 15.3 Release Notes are also updated with this information.

Anyone working with the 27.3 devices beta in Xcode 27.3 on macOS 27.3? Canvas and device hub/simulator are throwing this error while open, several on first load, then periodically (not sure of the periodicity). Any help is appreciated. Not sure if it's impacting at the code or app, but it is interfering with active work (it assumes modal position while working). Can reproduce from Device Hub only (all other apps, including XCode closed), screencast here - demos 27.2 for the time it is started no errors, 27.3 as soon as it is started "identityservicesd quit unexpectedly" errors. Looks like stages in the rendering also - noticed dock not displayed, error, then dock displayed, next - home icons not displayed, error, then home icons displayed, etc. https://app.screencast.com/iK0BaVIVpjt0O

It annoys me that Xcode keeps downloading Simulators automatically, even though I haven't asked for them. Under Settings > Components > Other Installed Platforms I see iOS Simulator iOS 18.0 uptil 18.5. These are eating space in /Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Caches/dyld/25E253. Is there a way to prevent these automatic downloads?

Tried three times now and absolutely cannot get Xcode 27 to install iOS 27 Simulators. I have done a complete uninstall of Xcode (including things in ~/Library). And even purged /System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_iOSSimulatorRuntime/ When Xcode 27 (27A266a; release version) is installed and run the first time, I'm greeted with the SDK screen. I select iOS and it downloads that runtime. I can see it in Xcode's Components panel in Settings. I only see Any iOS Device as a target device in Xcode. If I launch Device Hub, it's empty and I cannot add any devices since the Add dialog shows No Runtimes Available. Selecting "Add Platforms in Xcode" takes me back to Xcode, but I only ever see iOS 26.5 or older in the list. I've even tried the various xcrun simctl commands, but to no avail. Why is it so difficult to have a clean install of Xcode 27, have it install the iOS 27 SDK and then be able to build and run existing projects? I'm on the release version of macOS 27.0.1 though the problems persisted earlier today on macOS 27.0 as well.

Using Xcode 27.1 RC, the iPhone Duo simulator (Device Hub) only comes with the Settings and Safari apps. Am I missing something? Are there plans to have the usual simulator apps such as Photos, Calendar, Reminders, Maps, etc.? In these early stages it would be really nice to have some real apps to look at for examples of how some things should work/appear on the Duo in different layouts.

On Xcode 26 and earlier versions, two-finger touches were possible on Simulator by holding down the option key. On Xcode 27 with Device Hub, this is no longer possible. While the trackpad can be used for pinch and rotate gestures, two-finger taps and two-finger pans are not possible. This is a major regression that renders our app basically unusable in Device Hub. We rely on two-finger tap and pan gestures to navigate our 3D models. Not being able to do this in Device Hub and in Xcode previews would be a huge loss. Is this actually no longer supported or am I missing something?

I feel I'm missing something really obvious, but how are files copied to simulators in Device Hub now? From my MacOS Finder, there's no share with simulator option and drag and drop is ignored. What am I missing?

Before Device Hub (27.0), you could drag a photo onto an iOS Simulator window and the photo would be added to that simulated device's Photos library. This does not work in Device Hub (27.0). Bummer if your app has to do with photos.

Environment Mac mini with Apple M4 macOS 26.7.2 (build 25G332) Xcode 26.6 CoreSimulatorService 1051.55 External USB SSD formatted as APFS, mounted read/write, with ownership enabled Source simulator: iPhone 17 Pro running iOS 26.5, shut down Issue I am attempting to preserve a shutdown simulator using the supported simctl clone operation, with the destination CoreSimulator device set located on an external APFS SSD. Command form: xcrun simctl clone <source-UDID> "<preserved-device-name>" "/Volumes/<external-volume>/<device-set-path>" The destination directory is owned by the logged-in user and has ordinary writable POSIX permissions. The volume is mounted read/write with ownership enabled. No restrictive ACL entries or file flags were found on the destination directories. Observed result simctl reports: NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=22: Device was allocated but was stuck in creation state. CoreSimulator records the preceding data-clone failure as: NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=513 Underlying NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 Operation not permitted The temporary destination simulator entered the Creating state and CoreSimulator automatically rolled it back. At the same timestamp, unified logging attributes the rejected external-volume write to com.apple.CoreSimulator.CoreSimulatorService, rather than to simctl. The TCC and sandbox sequence shows: A check for kTCCServiceSystemPolicyAllFiles. A check for kTCCServiceSystemPolicyRemovableVolumes. Removable-volume access requiring a TCC prompt. Prompting being denied because the requesting CoreSimulatorService is an Apple platform binary. Launch Services being unable to create an application record for the CoreSimulatorService XPC bundle. No consent prompt was displayed. CoreSimulatorService's Info.plist contains an NSRemovableVolumesUsageDescription string specifically describing access when a simulator device set is configured on external storage. This is a development-tool/service issue; no application project or third-party framework is involved. Expected result CoreSimulatorService should either present or arrange the supported removable-volume consent workflow, or use a documented user-controlled Files & Folders permission that allows an external device set. Questions What is the supported procedure for granting SystemPolicyRemovableVolumes access to com.apple.CoreSimulator.CoreSimulatorService when the Apple platform XPC service cannot display the consent prompt? Should CoreSimulatorService appear in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Files & Folders with a Removable Volumes switch? Is cloning into an external APFS CoreSimulator device set supported with Xcode 26.6 on macOS 26.7.2? Is there a supported way to initiate the operation so consent is attributed to Xcode or another user-facing Apple process? Is the Launch Services application-record failure expected, or is this a known CoreSimulator/TCC issue with an available fix? I have not edited the TCC database, reset privacy decisions, granted broad Full Disk Access, disabled security controls, changed permissions, removed extended attributes, manually copied protected simulator records, or retried using an unsupported filesystem workaround. I can provide focused, redacted CoreSimulator, sandboxd, and tccd excerpts privately if an Apple engineer requests them.

I am seeking a supported public diagnostic or prerequisite for a standalone Siri UI test. Feedback: FB25377231. Developer Technical Support directed this question to the forums. Environment: Mac mini (2024), Apple M4, 32 GB, native arm64 macOS 26.7.2 (25G332) Xcode 26.6 (17F113), iOS Simulator SDK 26.5 iPhone 17 Pro Simulator; the original test's xcresult identifies iOS 26.5 (23F73) Classic Siri, en-GB A small test-host project compiled and ran one selected XCTest case. Its core public API call was: XCUIDevice.shared.siriService.activate( voiceRecognitionText: "What is two plus two?" )The exact recognition text reached the testing activation path, but SpringBoard logged: No network. Not starting the request for SASRequestSourceTestingNo arithmetic answer appeared during the configured 30-second wait. This was observed once; a repeatable frequency is not established. This reproducer has no product app, app-specific Siri intent, or CarPlay integration. In the original Simulator test runner, the first unconstrained NWPathMonitor callback was satisfied, with en0/wiredEthernet, but supportsIPv4, supportsIPv6, and supportsDNS were all false. Default-route SCNetworkReachability samples reported reachable. A separate, later diagnostic used the same simulated device with the installed iOS 26.5 (23F77) runtime. Identical public Foundation/Network helpers on the host and Simulator each issued one URLSession HEAD request to: https://www.apple.com/library/test/success.html Both received HTTP 200. The Simulator helper's initial path callback again reported satisfied with IPv4/IPv6/DNS capability flags false. This proves a response only for that helper/API/URL/time. It does not prove that the flags stayed false, that a fresh DNS lookup occurred, that Siri endpoints were reachable, or that the earlier 23F73 failure had the same cause. A setup confounder may matter: additional iOS platform support, including runtime 23F77, was installed while the original 23F73 Simulator remained booted. The arithmetic test ran afterward but still reported 23F73 in xcresult. The later HTTPS control ran separately on 23F77. There has been no further Siri activation. What supported Simulator/XCUISiriService prerequisite or public diagnostic can distinguish the cause of this specific request-start refusal? Is it expected for this configuration, a known issue, or evidence of an unmet prerequisite? The complete original results and a minimal test-host project are retained. Selected evidence and source are already attached to FB25377231; the same material can be supplied privately to DTS. I am seeking a supported approach rather than private preferences, service overrides, or repeated test requests.

We are installing Xcode for standard users, but as the standard users don’t have admin rights, they cannot install the system wide components they need admin access to do that, but we don’t want to grant admin access to our users. We have already developed a script where we are accepting the license and we are doing the run first launch, but they still need the iOS simulator and the other packages pre-installed, so how can we do that?

I'm trying to test the new “Describe a Shortcut” feature in iOS 27 using an iPhone 17 Simulator. When I open Shortcuts and tap “Describe a Shortcut”, it stays on: “Preparing support for describe a shortcut” and the text field remains disabled. I cannot enter anything or create the shortcut. My setup: Mac: MacBook Pro macOS: 27 Xcode: 26.5 (17F42) Simulator: iPhone 17 iOS: 27 I also have a physical iPhone 14 Pro, but I understand that it doesn't support Apple Intelligence, so I'm trying to test this using the iPhone 17 Simulator. Do I need to enable/download anything for Apple Intelligence on the Mac or Simulator? Or is “Describe a Shortcut” currently unsupported/not working in the iOS 27 Simulator? Any guidance on the correct setup would be appreciated.

The live Device Hub window shows my app's colors differently from a physical iPhone. The pixel values themselves are correct: a screenshot taken in Device Hub has the same colors as the device. Only the live window looks different — [e.g. more washed out / more saturated]. It happens in every project I've tried, including ones that use only plain sRGB colors and sRGB image assets, so it doesn't look app-specific. Setup Xcode 27.0 (27A266a) MacBook Pro, Apple M4 Max Built-in Liquid Retina XDR display (default "Color LCD" profile) and an external BenQ PD2705UA Simulated devices: iPhone 13 mini (iOS 26.1) and iPhone 14 (iOS 26.5) What I've ruled out Same result on both the built-in display and the external monitor True Tone and Night Shift are off on the Mac The simulated device is in light mode, with Increase Contrast, Invert Colors and Grayscale off The Device Hub screenshot matches the physical iPhone, so the rendered pixels are correct Questions Is the Device Hub window color-managed for the Mac's display, or is this expected behavior? Is there a setting to make the live window show accurate colors?

The Photos app in the iOS simulator instantly crashes when attempting to drag an image to another app in Split View mode. I’m using Xcode 15.4 (15F31d), which is the current App Store build and the iOS 17.5 runtime, running on an Intel MBP. N.B.: This is drag-dropping between apps in the simulator, rather than from macOS into the simulator. Is this a known issue?

The simulator and interface builder in Xcode 26.3 can not dispaly emojis, but macOS Sequoia highest supported version of Xcode is 26.3, and my iMac highest supported macOS is macOS Sequoia, so is it possible to provide a update for Xcode 26.3 for macOS Sequoia to fix this bug?

I'm getting persistent backboardd crashes in the iPadOS 27 simulator when my app and another app (Safari, Photos or Calendar, etc.) has windows visible on the screen at the same time, including slide over, etc. Steps to reproduce: Launch my app in an iPadOS 27 simulator. Open Safari or Photos in another window. Arrange both app windows so they're visible. Within a second backboardd crashes with EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT) in a com.apple.coreanimation.display.primary thread. The simulator log reports… -[MTLTextureDescriptorInternal validateWithDevice:]: error 'Texture Descriptor Validation MTLTextureDescriptor has invalid pixelFormat (0).' Xcode subsequently reports connection-interrupted messages and ends the app's debug session with: “Debug session ended with code 9: Terminated due to signal 9.” This works correctly in iPadOS 26.x simulators and on a physical device running iPadOS 27. I can reproduce this with both Xcode 27 and 27.1. Resetting the simulator and testing different simulated iPad models does not resolve it. Is anyone else seeing anything like this? It's presumably something I'm doing wrong, so I've double checked my UIScene handling and all seems well (it's been in there for a while) so I'm somewhat at a loss as to where to look next. This is on a Mac Mini M4 Pro running macOS 27.0.1 (26A434).

I have submitted a feedback report regarding Xcode 27.1 RC Device Hub: iPhone Duo screen captures function only work when the device is fully closed; alternative hinge positions produce a blank display.

Hi, xcodebuild -downloadPlatform iOS stays at "Preparing to download..." for the iOS 27.1 Simulator (24A94425). mobileassetd receives 0 bytes. Environment: MacBook Pro (M3), macOS 26.7.2, Xcode 27 Tried (no change): Reinstalled macOS from Recovery Safe Mode Reset Xcode preferences Network to Apple servers is OK This started in September when the iOS 27.1 beta Simulator install failed (low disk space). mobileassetd log: Failed to set xattr on '/System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_iOSSimulatorRuntime/1d40f…asset' (errno 2) SecKeyVerifySignature failed: CSSMERR_CSP_VERIFY_FAILED GetDecryptionKey: Failed to obtain decryption key Is there a supported way to reset the MobileAsset state or install the runtime manually? Feedback: FB25345300 Thank you.

Attempting to bring up the access point yields the following error log: [GameCenterOverlayService] Failed to create GameOverlayUI Dashboard Remote Proxy [GameCenterOverlayService] Could not create endpoint for service name: com.apple.GameOverlayUI.dashboard-service [GameCenterOverlayService] Failed to create GameOverlayUI Dashboard Remote Proxy [GameCenterOverlayService] Could not create endpoint for service name: com.apple.GameOverlayUI.dashboard-service [GameCenterOverlayService] Failed to create GameOverlayUI Dashboard Remote Proxy [GameCenterOverlayService] Failed to create GameOverlayUI Dashboard Remote Proxy The same code (which is a single line setting 'active' to true) works on physical devices and on the simulator in iOS 18.6 I haven't been able to find any mention of this issue online. Any suggestions or help greatly appreciated.

Xcode is completely broken since I installed Xcode 27.1 Beta for the first time. Since then every Xcode I installed is unable to properly install simulators. Even though the SDK appears as installed in settings: Device Hub doesn't show it: To fix it I have to manually add SDK image using "xcrun simctl runtime add" and then play with a couple more commands. I've just installed Xcode 27.2 with iOS 27.2 SDK and again the same problem: There is a problem with signature: Any idea how to fix it, so that I don't have to install it manually every time...?

On 25 October 2026, signing in to an Apple Account in the Simulator (Settings > Apple Account > Sign in Manually) fails on iOS 27.0 and iOS 26.5 runtimes (Xcode 27.1, macOS 27.0.1, Apple silicon), for a new account (SMS second factor) and for an established account (trusted-device second factor). The password and second-factor steps complete; then akd logs "Will check in with IDMS" and POST gsas.apple.com/grandslam/GsService2/postdata returns HTTP 401 with ec -22411, sec -42023 ("This action cannot be completed at this time"), followed by "Failed to check in with IDMS! ... AKAuthenticationError Code=-7026". Settings then says the account or password is incorrect. The host Mac checks in with IDMS successfully, and the account works on icloud.com. I need a second account in the Simulator to test CloudKit share acceptance. Is this a known issue, and is there a workaround? Feedback: FB25318712.