Upload and Test an iOS Build in the Browser
Aurimas Mickys — Founder, VibeViewPublished 2026-07-27Updated 2026-07-27
What you need
- An iOS simulator build — a
.appbundle, compressed as.zip,.tar.gz, or.tgz - A browser
- A VibeView account
You do not need a Mac, an Xcode install, or a local simulator runtime. You do need a
simulator build to begin with — see Preparing Your App Build
if you only have a device build (.ipa) today.
Steps
-
Upload your build. From the sidebar, open Apps, click Upload App, and select your zipped
.appbundle. An.ipawon’t work here — that’s a device build, and simulators need a build compiled against the simulator SDK instead. The file is validated on upload, so a mismatched file is caught immediately rather than at launch. -
Start a session. Open Device Sandbox, pick an iOS device, and click Start Session. Or, from the Apps page, click the Start button on your app’s card — this opens Device Sandbox with your app preselected and installs it automatically once the session is live.
-
Interact with the app. Tap, scroll, type and rotate directly in the browser. Your keyboard types into the app.
How you’ll know it worked
The device screen appears and responds to your input within a second or two of starting the session. If your app was preselected, it installs and launches automatically once the session is active.
Simulators do not expose device hardware. Camera capture, cellular radios and biometric authentication behave differently from a physical handset — flows that depend on them need testing elsewhere.
Troubleshooting
The upload is rejected. The most common cause is uploading an .ipa — that’s a
device build and won’t install on a simulator. Export a simulator .app bundle instead;
see Preparing Your App Build for per-framework steps.
The app installs but immediately closes. This is usually a crash on launch rather than an install failure. Reproduce it in the session and check the logs from the session view.
Typing does nothing. Tap into the text field first so it takes focus, then type.
Next steps
- Getting started — the full product walkthrough
- VibeView compared with Appetize — if you’re evaluating options
- Run an iOS simulator in your browser — the full platform page, including device coverage, supported build formats and the live-session workflow