Hi,
Is it possible to develop and debug Network Extension (such as app-proxy) using iOS simulator?
I was trying to add profile with app-proxy configuration to simulator and then run app. It is clear visible that network extension is not loaded. All netwoking (in my case it is just web view request) is not handling by network extesnion.
If I run app with network extesnion in real iPhone - I see that network extension catch request from the app.
Not possible (Simulator is using the MacOS networking and not the iOS')
This came up in another thread and I wanted to expand a bit on roee84’s correct answer.
The iOS Simulator is not an emulator. It’s a coordinated group of processes running natively on macOS. This means it uses the macOS kernel for its networking, which makes it infeasible to run iOS network extension providers.
In contrast, if you had a macOS provider installed, processes running in the simulator would use that (-:
Unless this architecture changes, you will not be able to test iOS NE providers in the simulator.
If you’re building an NE provider and don’t have ready access to an iOS device to test on, consider creating a macOS version of your app. This doesn’t have to be a real product, just enough to load your provider. The vast bulk of NE provider code can be shared between iOS and macOS, and it works largely the same on both platforms.
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