Help center › Mobile app development

Install Xcode and simulators

Sign in with your own Apple Account, install Xcode, accept the licence, add simulators.

Xcode isn’t preinstalled: it’s tied to an Apple Account, and yours should own it.

Install

  1. Open the desktop with Screen Sharing.
  2. Open the App Store, sign in with your Apple Account and install Xcode. It takes about 15 minutes on our connection. Specific versions are on developer.apple.com.

Finish setup over SSH

sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app
sudo xcodebuild -license accept
xcodebuild -runFirstLaunch
xcodebuild -downloadPlatform iOS

These select the Xcode you installed, accept its licence, install its required system components, and download the iOS simulator runtime (use watchOS, tvOS or visionOS for other platforms). Apple documents them in Downloading and installing additional Xcode components.

Only your Apple Account is ever signed in. We never ask for it, and it’s erased with everything else when the lease ends.

Related

Set up your Mac for iOS developmentThe order to do things in: connect, Xcode, your Apple Account, GitHub, then your first build.Build and test from the command linexcodebuild and the simulator over SSH: list schemes, pick a simulator, build and run tests.Testing on a real iPhone or iPadDevices can’t be cabled to our Macs; use simulators here and TestFlight for real hardware.

Still stuck?

Signed-in customers can message us from the portal; we reply within 24 hours on business days (AEST).

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