Quick start

Any iOS pull request.
In Simulator. One click.

Set up one repository and each reviewer's Mac. Then every pull request gets a Run in Simulator button.

01

Getting started

Do these steps once. Your first preview can be ready in about five minutes.

  1. Connect a repository

    Sign in with GitHub. Choose the iOS repository in your workspace.

  2. Add the workflow

    Use the shared Xcode scheme that builds your app for Simulator.

  3. Prepare each Mac

    Install SimPreview and Xcode. Open the Mac app and sign in with GitHub.

You are ready. Open a pull request and select Run in Simulator.

02

Workflow

Add this file at .github/workflows/simpreview.yml. Replace MyApp with your shared scheme.

.github/workflows/simpreview.yml
name: SimPreview

on:
  pull_request:

permissions:
  contents: read
  id-token: write
  pull-requests: read

jobs:
  preview:
    runs-on: macos-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
      - uses: aryamansharda/simpreview-build@v1
        with:
          scheme: MyApp
Open a pull requestSelect Run in SimulatorReview the app
03

Xcode Cloud & other CI

Use a publish token when GitHub Actions does not build your app.

  1. 1

    Create a token on the repository page in your SimPreview workspace.

  2. 2

    Store the token in CI as SIMPREVIEW_TOKEN.

  3. 3

    Add ci_scripts/ci_post_xcodebuild.sh with this content.

ci_scripts/ci_post_xcodebuild.sh
#!/bin/sh
curl -fsSL https://simpreview.digitalbunker.dev/publish.sh | bash
04

Security

Keep access limited to the people and repositories that need it.

  • Choose only the repositories that may publish previews.
  • Ask each reviewer to use their own GitHub account.
  • Remove a repository or token from the workspace when it is no longer needed.
05

Troubleshooting

Start with the message shown in CI, the preview page, or the Mac app.

No Run button

Check that the pull request workflow finished. Confirm that its scheme is shared.

The app will not open

Install the iOS runtime named on the preview page. Then choose a matching Simulator.

The preview is no longer available

Run the pull request workflow again. Open the updated link in the pull request.

Ready to start?Set up your first repository