iPhone development is typically a Mac OS X only proposition so, naturally, Apple hasn’t released an iPhone simulator for other platforms, such as Windows. It dawned on developer Shaun Sullivan, however, that Webkit is both available on Windows (within Safari) and that it can render iPhone-specific content well.. so why not combine the two into an iPhone simulator?
Shaun’s iPhone Simulator for Windows is called iBBDemo and you can get it here. You can watch a screencast of it in action too if you like.
Why’s this useful? Well, it gives iPhone webapp developers stuck on Windows a pretty useful tool and.. if you’re a regular iPhone app developer who has to give a presentation with only a Windows computer to spare, this could be a life saver. As a “no frills, weekend project”, it’s pretty simple (no gestures, zoom, scrollbars, shrink to fit..) but perhaps it’ll pave the way for something better.
Note: This is not an iPhone Simulator in the full sense, but a simulation of the iPhone’s Safari browser.
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Benjamin Ragheb 02.23.09 at 2:17 pm
It’s a MobileSafari Simulator, not an iPhone Simulator. In other words, good for testing your web site but unable to test native iPhone Apps. Do you realize this post is misleading?
OisÃn 02.28.09 at 10:59 am
Agreed, the post title is extremely misleading. It is not an iPhone simulator.
Markelein 03.03.09 at 12:04 pm
I have noticed small inconsistencies in rendering on the iPhone compared to Safari on a desktop. Pages that render fine in Safari 3.2 have layout problems (e.g. overflowing page) on iPhone. The iBBDemo is cool and looks right but unfortunately renders just like desktop Safari.
stevo 09.28.09 at 3:14 pm
can the ibbdemo turn on its side to simulate landscape the same way as the iphone can?
Diane 03.02.10 at 10:00 am
It doesn’t seem to test local files so you can use it for development before upload. Any ideas how to do this testing for iPhone on a Windows machine?
Prasanna 03.05.10 at 3:44 pm
How do I use https URLs. Every time I type https, it adds http in front of it. How do I use this similator for https?
artofj 03.25.10 at 4:24 am
hi, where can I get the simulator?
microphone 04.26.10 at 5:04 am
really?
microphone 04.26.10 at 5:06 am
shure microphone
Arno.Nyhm 04.27.10 at 10:34 am
i would like to it also as a mac program ..