How do I remove app from iOS 8 Simulator from command line?

Question

I have an automation running in the iOS Simulator that I have to remove before another run. How do I remove the app from the iOS Simulator from the command line?

For each simulator device directory (located at ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/*), I tried to delete ./data/Containers/Bundle/Application/ and ./data/Containers/Data/Application/.

Even when I tried to delete the app by long pressing the app in the Simulator (the app becomes jiggly) and click on the X button, the user defaults were not being cleared. I want the app state to be 100% clean.

I found a good solution to solve this problem.

Solution 1

One approach that we found for deleting user defaults is to delete all files in the ./data/Library/Preferences/* in addition to deleting application and data directories.

However, in Xcode 6, the command xcrun has new subcommand called simctl that allows me to manage iOS Simulator including resetting the simulator, and installing the application.

The solution that I came up with is to use the command

xcrun simctl erase [device ID]

Example

If xcrun simctl list(†) returns

9DDA0CFE-7CEC-40B6-A343-1EC01F282B22 (active, disconnected)
    Watch: Apple Watch Series 2 - 42mm (88474523-163E-4021-B591-2AECBFA26997) (Shutdown)
    Phone: iPhone 7 Plus (5785E680-15CD-42D3-82AB-597286A270C5) (Shutdown)

then run these 2 commands

xcrun simctl erase 88474523-163E-4021-B591-2AECBFA26997
xcrun simctl erase 5785E680-15CD-42D3-82AB-597286A270C5

---

(†) The device ID can be obtained from running

xcrun simctl list

This will reset the simulator (equivalent to iOS Simulator > Reset Contents and Settings... menu item).

With Xcode 6.0.1 (Build 6A317), there is either a bug or a change in behavior where when you uninstall an application, user defaults are not removed.

Usage: simctl [--noxpc] [--set <set path>] <subcommand> ... | help [subcommand]
Command line utility to control the iOS Simulator

For subcommands that require a <device> argument, you may specify a device UDID
or the special "booted" string which will cause simctl to pick a booted device.
If multiple devices are booted when the "booted" device is selected, simctl
will choose one of them.

Subcommands:
    create        Create a new device.
    delete        Delete a device.
    erase         Erase a device's contents and settings.
    boot          Boot a device.
    shutdown      Shutdown a device.
    rename        Rename a device.
    getenv        Print an environment variable from a running device.
    openurl       Open a URL in a device.
    addphoto      Add a photo to the photo library of a device.
    install       Install an app on a device.
    uninstall     Uninstall an app from a device.
    launch        Launch an application by identifier on a device.
    spawn         Spawn a process on a device.
    list          List available devices, device types, or runtimes.
    notify_post   Post a darwin notification on a device.
    icloud_sync   Trigger iCloud sync on a device.
    help          Prints the usage for a given subcommand.

Solution 2

With Xcode 6.1, to uninstall an app, use the following command:

xcrun simctl uninstall booted com.example.apple-samplecode.UICatalog

where com.example.apple-samplecode.UICatalog is the bundle identifier of the application you wish to uninstall.

Solution 3

Reset all Content & Settings in a single command

1. Quit iPhone Simulator

2. In Terminal, run:

   xcrun simctl erase all
   

This will reset content and settings of all the simulators for the active version of Xcode (the one referenced by xcode-select -p).

Solution 4

xcrun simctl uninstall simulatorIdentifier appBundleId

View more solutions

Comments

[Jeremy Huddleston Sequoia]

If all you want to do is delete the single app, you should use uninstall instead of erase.

[Frank]

In Xcode 6.0.1, even if you use uninstall command, the user defaults remain intact (it's a bug). That's why I suggest using erase.

[Jeremy Huddleston Sequoia]

Ah, yes. Good point, however that is not an issue with Xcode 6.0.1 but with iOS 8.0. If you use 'delete' on a simulated 7.x device, it will work fine.

[Glen T]

This is a much cleaner implementation, especially with the inclusion of 'booted'

[tfe]

Is there a way to fail silently if there is no booted simulator?

[tfe]

I guess I could simply do xcrun simctl uninstall booted com.example.apple-samplecode.UICatalog || true.

[atineoSE]

When running on several simulator devices simultaneously, the one on which the app in uninstalled is undefined. In that case, use the UDID of the device instead of booted (get the available UDIDs with xcrun simctl list)

[Pan Mluvčí]

exactly what we needed! I searched for method to wipe all contents while developing UITests every time it starts.

[Ricardo Barroso]

In completion to the @atineoSE suggestion if you want only the list of running simulators use the command: xcrun simctl list | grep "Booted". Then you can remove the app from a specific simulator with: xcrun simctl uninstall [UDID] [BUNDLE_ID].