node-simctl

What is node-simctl?

The node-simctl package is a Node.js wrapper for simctl, a command-line utility used to control the iOS Simulator. It allows developers to manage iOS simulators programmatically, including creating, deleting, booting, and shutting down simulators, as well as installing and uninstalling apps.

What are node-simctl's main functionalities?

Create a new simulator

This feature allows you to create a new iOS simulator with a specified name, device type, and iOS version. The code sample demonstrates how to create an iPhone 8 simulator running iOS 13.3.

const simctl = require('node-simctl');

async function createSimulator() {
  const udid = await simctl.createDevice('My Simulator', 'iPhone 8', '13.3');
  console.log('Created simulator with UDID:', udid);
}

createSimulator();

Boot a simulator

This feature allows you to boot an existing iOS simulator using its UDID. The code sample demonstrates how to boot a simulator by providing its UDID.

const simctl = require('node-simctl');

async function bootSimulator(udid) {
  await simctl.bootDevice(udid);
  console.log('Booted simulator with UDID:', udid);
}

bootSimulator('your-simulator-udid');

Install an app on a simulator

This feature allows you to install an app on a specified iOS simulator. The code sample demonstrates how to install an app by providing the simulator's UDID and the path to the app.

const simctl = require('node-simctl');

async function installApp(udid, appPath) {
  await simctl.installApp(udid, appPath);
  console.log('Installed app on simulator with UDID:', udid);
}

installApp('your-simulator-udid', '/path/to/your/app.app');

Shutdown a simulator

This feature allows you to shut down an existing iOS simulator using its UDID. The code sample demonstrates how to shut down a simulator by providing its UDID.

const simctl = require('node-simctl');

async function shutdownSimulator(udid) {
  await simctl.shutdownDevice(udid);
  console.log('Shutdown simulator with UDID:', udid);
}

shutdownSimulator('your-simulator-udid');

Other packages similar to node-simctl

ios-sim

The ios-sim package is a command-line utility that launches an iOS application on the iOS Simulator. It provides functionalities to start the simulator, install apps, and launch apps. Compared to node-simctl, ios-sim is more focused on launching and managing apps on the simulator rather than managing the simulators themselves.

appium

Appium is an open-source tool for automating mobile applications. It supports iOS and Android platforms and allows you to write tests using various programming languages. While Appium provides broader functionality for mobile automation, including interacting with simulators, node-simctl is more specialized in managing iOS simulators.

detox

Detox is an end-to-end testing library for mobile apps. It supports both iOS and Android and allows you to write tests that run on simulators and real devices. Detox includes functionalities to manage simulators, but its primary focus is on testing and automation, whereas node-simctl is specifically designed for simulator management.

README

node-simctl

ES6/7 Node wrapper around Apple's simctl binary, the "Command line utility to control the iOS Simulator". simctl is run as a sub-command of xcrun

Installation

Install through npm.

npm install node-simctl

Api

Exported methods:

installApp(udid, appPath)

• udid - the unique identifier of the simulator to which to install the application
• appPath - the path to the application to be installed

removeApp(udid, bundleId)

• udid - the unique identifier of the simulator from which to remove the application
• bundleId - the bundle identifier of the application (e.g., com.corp.app)

launch(udid, bundleId)

• udid - the unique identifier of the simulator on which to launch the app
• bundleId - the bundle identifier of the application (e.g., com.corp.app)

openUrl(udid, url)

• udid - the unique identifier of the simulator on which to open the url (in safari)
• url- the url to navigate to

shutdown(udid)

• udid - the unique identifier of the simulator to be stopped

createDevice(name, deviceType, runtime)

• name - any name you choose for this simulator
• deviceType - e.g., "iPhone 6" or "iPad Air", see more possibilities from the output of getDevices
• runtime - iOS sdk version. eg "8.3"

returns: udid of the created simulator.

deleteDevice(udid)

• udid - the unique identifier of the simulator to be deleted

eraseDevice(udid)

• udid - the unique identifier of the simulator to be erased

getDevices()

output looks like:

{
  '7.1': [
   { name: 'iPhone 4s',
     udid: 'C09B34E5-7DCB-442E-B79C-AB6BC0357417',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPhone 5',
     udid: 'B236B73C-8EFA-4284-AC1F-2A45F3286E4C',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPhone 5s',
     udid: '8E248C90-0F79-46AD-9CAA-8DF3B6E3FBA6',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPad 2',
     udid: 'B4179FA5-B9C4-4F79-BDDF-314ED66B889C',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPad Retina',
     udid: '707AC76E-319C-4215-BAF7-5D6D3B3BA4D2',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPad Air',
     udid: 'FA5C971D-4E05-4AA3-B48B-C9619C7453BE',
     state: 'Shutdown' } ],
  '8.1': [
   { name: 'iPhone 4s',
     udid: '0829568F-7479-4ADE-9E51-B208DC99C107',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPhone 5',
     udid: 'B5048708-566E-45D5-9885-C878EF7D6D13',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPhone 5s',
     udid: '2F7678F2-FD52-497F-9383-41D3BB401FBD',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPhone 6 Plus',
     udid: '013D6994-B4E6-4548-AD77-C0D7C6C6D245',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPhone 6',
     udid: '1CA836DA-2A2D-428A-846D-C378E0C39B09',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPad 2',
     udid: '47D8FF29-4E76-4E7B-A412-FCE9C3B8A9AC',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPad Retina',
     udid: '82071785-2C47-4AF2-BD27-1FAF2B12DF32',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPad Air',
     udid: '342872EB-7559-4D42-B601-0FCF816B2E78',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'Resizable iPhone',
     udid: 'E46EFA59-E2B4-4FF9-B290-B61F3CFECC65',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'Resizable iPad',
     udid: '6DAB91C9-CCD1-4C17-9124-D765E2F0567A',
     state: 'Shutdown' } ],
  '8.3': [
   { name: 'iPhone 4s',
     udid: '3D1A8D2A-615A-4C1E-A73C-91E92D6637FF',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPhone 5',
     udid: '813AAB6A-32C8-4859-A5CF-F3355C244F54',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPhone 5s',
     udid: '9D3A405E-65D6-4743-85DA-E644DA9A8373',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPhone 6 Plus',
     udid: 'D94E4CD7-D412-4198-BCD4-26799672975E',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPhone 6',
     udid: '26EAADAE-1CD5-42F9-9A4C-50554CDF0910',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPad 2',
     udid: 'C8E68217-82E6-42A8-8326-9824CA2E7C7C',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPad Retina',
     udid: '8F4A3349-3ABF-4597-953A-285C5C0FFD00',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'iPad Air',
     udid: '7DEA409E-159A-4730-B1C6-7C18279F72B8',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'Resizable iPhone',
     udid: 'F33783B2-9EE9-4A99-866E-E126ADBAD410',
     state: 'Shutdown' },
   { name: 'Resizable iPad',
     udid: 'DFBC2970-9455-4FD9-BB62-9E4AE5AA6954',
     state: 'Shutdown' } ]
}

spawn(udid, executablePath, env)

• spawns a process on the simulator specified by udid with given environment variable in env

spawnSubProcess(udid, executablePath, env)

• spawns a process on the simulator specified by udid with given environment variable in env
• returns a (SubProcess)[https://github.com/appium/node-teen_process#teen_processsubprocess] object.

getScreenshot(udid)

• returns a base64 png screenshot of device specified by udid

Usage

See specs for examples of usage.