iPhone Simulator is a tool that allows you to quick debug your applications. It’s almost the perfect copy of the real device, but it has some major and minor differences. The main advantage of using the simulator is that applications get loaded within few seconds. You can/should use simulator on the early stage of development.

Differences:

• although there is almost the same environment, iPhone simulator doesn’t run as much system application as the real devices, so the bigger applications can run smoothly on simulator bot do not on real device
• internet access to simulator is only passed via computer and treated like WiFi a, you cannot test how your application is using 3G or other cellular data transfer
• you can’t control acceleration, you can turn the iPhone landscape and portrait mode, but you cannot tilt it to controls the games using accelerometer
• you can’t use GPS feature to get location or track its changes
• you can “touch” the simulator using one “finger” or two (hold the option key), but it’s impossible to use most of multi touch gestures or touch simulator with more “fingers”
• you can’t use vibration alert
• many sounds or musics won’t play on simulator, what is more some frameworks and classes to hold the sounds cannot be compiled to run on simulator
• you can’t use a camera
• you don’t risk damaging the real device if you get frustrated
• iPhone simulator cannot be jailbroken, or I don’t know how
• you can’t put any case on it

iPhone Simulator has almost the same functionality as a real device. You terminate an application by pressing the home button, you can turn it left, right, toggle in-call status bar, simulate memory warning and lock it. When installed you have access to apps like: Photos (with some albums), Settings (General, Safari and Photos settings), Safari and Contacts. To install your own app on simulator, in Xcode set Simulator – iPhone OS [firmware version] as Active SDK an Debug as Active Build Configuration.

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