macOS · iOS Simulator · AVFoundation
The iOS Simulator has no camera — so every camera app falls over the moment you hit run. SimAV feeds any video, image, webcam, screen or QR code into the front & back cameras. Unmodified apps just work.
SIMAV40 code to save 40% during launch week 
Camera live DemoVideo.mp4 The simulator blind spot
Build anything that touches AVCaptureDevice — a scanner, a KYC flow, a
custom camera, AR — and the Simulator hands you nothing. So you tether a real device,
juggle cables, and lose your hot-reload loop. Every. Single. Time.
let device = AVCaptureDevice
.default(.builtInWideAngleCamera,
for: .video, position: .back)
// → nil on Simulator
guard let device else {
fatalError("No camera available")
} // 💥 you, every demolet device = AVCaptureDevice
.default(.builtInWideAngleCamera,
for: .video, position: .back)
// → a live virtual camera ✅
session.addInput(input)
preview.session = session
session.startRunning() // pixels!From zero to live in under a minute
SimAV lives in your menu bar. It spots every booted Simulator and arms it in one click — no Xcode project changes, no rebuild of your app.
simctl · launchdPer camera position, choose a video, image, your Mac webcam, a screen, or a live QR code. Front and back can run completely different feeds.
front ⇄ backLaunch any camera app in the Simulator. Preview, switching, photo capture and movie recording all light up — driven by your chosen source at 30 fps.
30 fps · liveEverything a camera app expects
SimAV swizzles AVFoundation into a virtual graph — so preview layers, data outputs, photo and movie capture all behave exactly like real hardware.
Point any camera position at a source — and switch it live while your app runs.
Two cameras, two separate feeds — switch between them and each keeps its own source.
Snapshots return the live virtual frame; recordings write a real, playable H.264 .mov.
Full AVCaptureMultiCamSession support — run back full-screen and front picture-in-picture at once.
Nothing to import, link or fork. Your app's existing AVFoundation code runs untouched.
Lives quietly in the menu bar, detects booted Simulators and arms them automatically. Quit, and it cleans up after itself.
30 fps shared-memory pump · ad-hoc & notarized buildsReal screens, real apps
Every frame below is Apple's unmodified AVCam sample and a real multi-cam app running on the Simulator — with SimAV doing the seeing.
back 
front 
capture 
multi-cam Verified end-to-end
SimAV runs Apple's unmodified AVCam app on iPhone 17 Pro (iOS 26) — and a real multi-cam app — with the entire capture pipeline behaving like hardware. If your app uses AVFoundation, it's already supported.
AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer distinct feed per position AVCapturePhotoOutput AVCaptureMovieFileOutput AVCaptureVideoDataOutput AVCaptureMultiCamSession Pay once · no subscription
SIMAV40 code to save 40% during launch week. Applies to both packages at checkout. The ready-to-run virtual camera for your Mac.
SIMAV40 code to save 40% during launch week Everything in the App, plus the full source to build and extend.
SIMAV40 code to save 40% during launch week Requires macOS · runs alongside Xcode & the iOS Simulator · all sales final (no refunds).
When something's off
Most issues come down to launch order — start the Simulator first, then SimAV. Email us →
Launch the iOS Simulator first, then open SimAV. On launch SimAV scans for every already-booted Simulator and arms it automatically — so the order matters. If you opened SimAV before the Simulator finished booting, it had nothing to arm. Boot the Simulator, then quit and relaunch SimAV (or re-arm from the menu-bar item), and start your camera app.
Arming injects only into apps the Simulator launches afterward. Any camera app that was already running when you armed needs to be relaunched to pick up the feed — stop it in Xcode and run again, or quit and reopen it in the Simulator.
No. SimAV works at the AVFoundation layer inside the Simulator, so your app runs completely unmodified — nothing to import, link, fork or configure. If it builds a normal capture session today, it gets a live camera tomorrow.
Any app built on AVFoundation. Live preview, front/back switching, photo capture, movie recording and AVCaptureMultiCamSession are all supported — verified against Apple's own unmodified AVCam sample and a real dual-camera app.
A video file, a still image, your Mac's webcam, a screen, a live-generated QR code, or the bundled demo clip. Front and back positions can each use a different source, and you can switch them live while the app is running.
No — and that's the point. SimAV exists to give the iOS Simulator a camera it never had, so you can build and demo camera features without tethering a device. On real hardware your code already has a real camera.
It's verified on current Xcode with iOS 26 on the iPhone 17 Pro simulator, including multi-cam. Because it hooks AVFoundation rather than a private API surface, it tracks new Simulator runtimes closely.
The App ($19.99) is the ready-to-run, signed and notarized macOS build. App + Source ($49.99) adds the full buildable Swift and Objective-C++ source — the loader, core, feeder and host app — so you can build, run and modify SimAV yourself under a source license for personal or internal use. Use the SIMAV40 code to save 40% during launch week on either package at checkout. Both are a one-time purchase; pick your package on the checkout page.
Watch the demos above to see it working end-to-end before you buy. SimAV is a one-time purchase for macOS — a notarized, signed build, with free updates within v1. No subscription, ever.
All sales are final — we don't offer refunds. SimAV is a digital product and the App + Source package includes the full source code, which can't be returned once delivered. Please watch the demo and email us with any pre-sales questions before purchasing.
Stop tethering devices
one-time license · no subscription · Use the SIMAV40 code to save 40% during launch week