Hi,
I just updated to 5.8.1 and noticed the iOS Simulator target is gone. Traced it back to this commit:
https://github.com/EpicGames/UnrealEngine/commit/da2ad814bfc74a9b29b0804b8be01605fe4cc594
This is a real bummer for me. I’m an individual developer working on a personal demo, and it runs perfectly on the iOS Simulator on my M4 Pro. The simulator was my main way of testing — I don’t own an iPhone/iPad, and buying a device just for a hobby demo is a hard sell.
A few questions:
- What’s the reason for removing it? A bug, a Metal issue, or just deprecating an experimental feature?
- Was this announced anywhere? I couldn’t find it in the release notes.
- Any chance it comes back, or is there a workaround to still build/run for the simulator in 5.8.1 (even unofficially)?
I know it was marked experimental, but it worked great on Apple Silicon and was super useful for quick iteration without a device. Would love to understand the thinking behind this and whether there’s any path forward that doesn’t involve buying hardware.
Thanks!
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Hi Game Next,
Unfortunately, Simulators in their current form no longer meet the UE min spec for Metal support. As such, support was removed. Your main alternative here to keep it open would be to back out the CL locally and build UE from source.
Best regards.
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Hi Game Next,
Just a quick follow up here. Would running the ‘Mac (designed for iPad)’ target serve as an acceptable substitute in this context?
Best regards.
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Hi Game Next,
You’re very welcome. Glad that works for your workflows. If Apple upgrades simulators to support UE Metal requirements, the functionality will likely be restored in future versions.
Best regards.
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how to use Mac (designed for iPad) on UE5?
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Hi Game Next,
In 5.8, the Mac (designed for iPad) should show up as the run targets in both UE (Platforms -> Quicklaunch Current Level -> IOS -> Mac (designed for iPad)). It should also show up as a run target in the client app iOS Xcode project for debugging just like the simulators did in the past. You can also package an iOS build with iPad support enabled and launch the exported .app directly from Finder on your Mac.
Best regards.
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