Run your Flash apps in Xcode iOS Simulator with AIR 3.3

June 9th, 2012

AIR 3.3 adds a new feature to preview and debug your apps directly in iOS Simulator, which is part of Xcode on Mac. This speeds up testing and preview of an app or a game especially when you use native extensions.

[Download AIR 3.3 SDK]
[ADT command documentation]

Simulator support is not yet part of Flash Builder, but you can already use it via the command-line:

Compile for iOS Simulator
There are two new options available with adt for iOS Simulator compilation:
1) ipa-test-interpreter-simulator (for testing)
2) ipa-debug-interpreter-simulator (for debugging)

The command in Terminal.app on Mac:



Install to iOS Simulator
In order to install app to iOS Simulator use the -installApp switch. See usage below:

Launch app in iOS Simulator
To launch the app, there is the -launchApp switch used together with the -appid.

Uninstall app from iOS Simulator
Use the -uninstallApp switch. See below:

In the real world, it’s good to put the commands above in separate .sh or .bat files. You can also combine them into a single command to run your app even faster; for example:
run.sh
1) compile.sh
2) uninstall.sh
3) install.sh
4) launch.sh


Important note: in order to make native extensions run properly in iOS Simulator, you have to compile them with iPhone-x86 settings, not iPhone-ARM.
In extension.xml change the platform name

<platform name=”iPhone-x86″>

Waste Invaders running in the iOS Simulator.

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