Build and test an iOS app · NoMac

Build and test an iOS app

From your repository to a passing test run on a cloud Mac, with the build, the results and screenshots back on your side. The next build is incremental.

1 Put the project on the Mac

Clone it onto the drive, so the next session starts from it:

Terminal

git clone https://github.com/acme/app ~/drive/src/app

Or send the folder on your machine: nomac sync . puts it in ~/drive/src/<folder> and sends only what changed, and --watch keeps sending as you edit. A private repository's token can come from your secrets.

2 Build

Terminal

cd ~/drive/src/app
xcodebuild -scheme App \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 17 Pro,OS=27.0' \
  build | xcbeautify

Give builds time: over MCP, wait_seconds: 40 and a timeout_seconds of up to 3600; with the CLI, nomac exec --wait 600. Each iOS runtime has devices with the same names, so name the OS version too.

Expo and Capacitor apps make their ios folder first: npx expo prebuild -p ios or npx cap sync ios.

3 Test

Terminal

xcodebuild test -scheme App \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 17 Pro,OS=27.0' | xcbeautify

The first Simulator boot on a new Mac takes about 90 seconds, so give the first test run a longer timeout. A crash leaves its report in ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports.

4 Look at the app

simulator-use is on every Mac. simulator-use run builds, installs and launches the project in the current folder, simulator-use look reads the screen as text, and simulator-use act 'tap "Sign In"' taps by label.

screenshot_mac with target simulator returns the Simulator's screen as an image, and xcrun simctl io booted screenshot shot.png saves one.
Launch arguments open a screen without tapping: xcrun simctl launch booted com.acme.App -ShowPaywall YES.

5 Get the results back

nomac pull ./out --from build/export copies a folder to your machine. Over MCP, create_mac_link with direction download makes a link to a file or folder of up to 2 GiB that keeps working after the Mac stops, and read_mac_file reads a file of up to 3 MiB.

Your backend

Run it on the Mac with nomac-service start api -- npm run dev. The Simulator reaches it at http://localhost:PORT, and nomac ssh --forward 8787:8787 reaches it from your machine.

Apple Intelligence is not available in a virtual Mac. Test on-device generation on a device, and give the app a stand-in model here.