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iosobjective-cios-simulator

iOS: Handling TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR macro

My environment: ObjectiveC using Xcode 6.4 in OS X El Captain (10.11.1). In Xcode, target is set to iOS 8.

TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR always resolves to true in the code below even when I select iPad2 as iOS simulator.

#if TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR
  // block of code
#endif

Shouldn't TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR be set to false when selecting iPad2 as an iOS simulator?

Solution

  • That macro is true for any simulator build. The macro existed long before the iPad came along. Back when "iOS" was "iPhone OS".

    So think of it as "TARGET_IOS_SIMULATOR".

    It's used when you have something in your code that should only be compiled when building for a simulated iOS device.

    If you need something to run differently between the iPhone simulator and the iPad simulator, you may want something like this:

    #if TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR
    // This code is only for a simulator
    if ([UIDevice currentDevice].userInterfaceIdiom == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone) {
        // iPhone/iPod touch simulator
    } else {
        // iPad simulator
    }
#endif