SimCam

Stream your MacBook camera into the iOS Simulator in real time. Build camera features without a physical device.

Why

The iOS Simulator has no camera. Any iOS app that opens AVCaptureDevice — QR scanners, photo capture, AR previews, live filters — fails or shows black. Teams paper over this with stub images or build-and-install loops, both of which kill iteration speed.

SimCam gives the simulator a live camera feed from your Mac. No extra hardware, no device builds.

Install

1. Download SimCam-1.0.0.dmg from the latest release.
2. Open the DMG and drag SimCam to /Applications.
3. Launch SimCam. The menu bar item appears.

First launch will prompt for camera access. Video stays on your Mac.

Use

1. Click the SimCam menu bar item.
2. Pick a camera from the Cameras list.
3. Click Start Streaming.
4. Open any iOS Simulator and launch your app — your Mac camera shows up live.

If your iOS app was already running before you started streaming, SimCam shows a Reopen prompt — tap it and SimCam will relaunch the app so it picks up the camera.

Display controls

• Fit / Fill — Fit shows the whole frame (photo-style apps); Fill crops to fill the preview (selfie/social apps).
• Mirror On / Off — flip horizontally for selfie-style preview.

Both apply live; no restart needed.

Requirements

• macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, Apple Silicon
• Xcode 26 with the iOS 26.4 Simulator runtime (tested)

Privacy

• Video stays on your Mac.
• The macOS camera permission prompt at first launch is the only system-level interaction.

Troubleshooting

The iOS app shows a black preview. The app was launched before you hit Start Streaming. Use the Reopen prompt in the SimCam HUD, or quit and relaunch the app from the simulator.

SimCam says "Blocked". Either no camera is selected, or no iOS simulator is booted. The HUD names the gap and the fix.

Camera access denied. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera and toggle SimCam on.