Question

I would like to send someone the Xcode simulator version – not the device version – of my iPad app. I have located the .app file in the Finder. Do I just zip it up and send it off or is it more complicated than that?

Thanks,
Doug

UPDATE

Chrisbtoo got the answer on this one however he left of some critical bits for those of you trying this at home:

Path to Xcode simulator (the simulator can be run standalone.):
/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/Applications/iPhone Simulator.app

Path to app that appears in the home screen of the simulator:
/Users/turner/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/3.2/Applications/{GUID}

It is instructive to watch what happens in the app simulator directory as you build for simulation, delete apps from the simulator desktop and generally use the simulator as an actual device.

Bottom line: This is a viable approach for sharing apps in a “simulated” ad hoc manner without the mind numbing, soul sucking process of true ad hoc app sharing.

Cheers,
Doug

Answer 1

Assuming the other person already has the simulator installed, you can just zip up the stuff under ~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/3.2/Applications/{GUID} (includes both the .app and any data directories needed) and send it to them – they’ll need to unzip it under that same directory. What I’ve done in the past was to rename the {GUID} part to a more friendly name – the sim will still pick it up.

If they don’t already have the simulator, they will need to sign up for a free iphone dev account and download Xcode, etc.