Can you run tests on multiple versions of ios simulators(9.1,9.0,8.4) using the same copy of Xcode?

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1

Can you run tests on multiple versions of ios simulators using the same Xcode?
I’m using the latest Xcode.

I see this info on the Appium documents and I’m a bit confused if this is still applicable to the current Xcode and iOS Simulator 9.1, 9.0, and 8.4.

Thanks.

http://appium.io/slate/en/master/?ruby#testing-against-multiple-ios-sdks

TESTING AGAINST MULTIPLE IOS SDKS

Xcode version 5.1 allows for automatic testing against iOS versions 6.0 and later. If using version 5.1, you can ignore the rest of this section.

For Xcode 4.6.3 to 5.0, Apple’s instruments binary, which Appium uses to launch the iOS simulator, by default uses the currently-selected Xcode, and the highest iOS SDK installed with that version of Xcode. This means that if you want to test iOS 6.1, but have iOS 7.1 installed, Appium will be forced to use the 7.1 Simulator regardless. The only way around this is to have multiple copies of Xcode installed with different sets of SDKs. You can then switch to the particular copy of Xcode that has the versions you want to test with before starting Appium.

In addition, it’s been discovered that testing against iOS 6.1 with Xcode 5 causes increased slowness and instability, so it’s recommended that for testing against iOS 6.1 and below we use Xcode 4.6.3, and for testing against iOS 7.0 we use Xcode 5. We can do this by, say, having Xcode 5 at /Applications/Xcode.app, and Xcode 4.6 and /Applications/Xcode-4.6.app. Then we use the following command:

sudo xcode-select -switch /Applications/Xcode-4.6.app/Contents/Developer/

To prepare for iOS 6.1 testing. We run it again with a different Xcode:

sudo xcode-select -switch /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/

To go back to iOS 7.1 testing.

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The short answer to your question is: yes
Specifically:

  1. Download latest Xcode (Currently it is 7.1)
  2. Xcode > Preferences > Downloads.
  3. Find: Components > iOS X.Y Simulator (X.Y goes as low as 8.1)
  4. Click Check and Install Now
  5. Allow Xcode to reboot.
  6. That’s it. you should have more simulator options to choose from next time.

I haven’t tried the above steps, but I can’t see a reason why this wouldn’t work.

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend keeping multiple versions of Xcode on your computer, but that’s just me.

Good luck!

3

Thanks shermaneric for answering my question.

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