How to Simulate different form-factors in iOS? - swift

Question

Normally, I'd like to test my iOS-App for different devices. Since I don't have the money to buy all devices, I use the Simulator to do so :)
Often times, code looks slightly different for the different form-factors of Apple products. Therefore I came up with the following switch case (see below...) to distinguish programmatically between devices.
The switch-case works very well for actual HW-devices - but it is still somehow a bad solution for using the Simulator.
The Simulator is its own Device ! And I need to uncomment/comment in each and every switch-case if I change to a Simulator-target with different form-factor !
Is there a better solution that takes better care of the Simulator and its form-factors programmatically ?
switch UIDevice.current.modelName {
// Here there is still the need to uncomment/comment the Devices.Simulator
// for any new form-factor that is being simulated....
// as an example: If simulating an iPhone-8S then the Devices.Simulator needs to be uncommented in the according switch-case...
case Devices.IPhone5, Devices.IPhone5S, Devices.IPhone5C: //, Devices.Simulator:
print("do whatever...")
case Devices.IPhone6, Devices.IPhone6S, Devices.IPhone7, Devices.IPhone8: //, Devices.Simulator:
print("do whatever...")
case Devices.IPhone6Plus, Devices.IPhone6SPlus, Devices.IPhone7Plus, Devices.IPhone8Plus, Devices.Simulator:
print("do whatever...")
case Devices.IPhoneX: //, Devices.Simulator:
print("do whatever...")
default:
print("do whatever...")
}
With, of course, the following somewhere in your code-base:
public enum Devices: String {
case IPodTouch5
case IPodTouch6
case IPhone4
case IPhone4S
case IPhone5
case IPhone5C
case IPhone5S
case IPhone6
case IPhone6Plus
case IPhone6S
case IPhone6SPlus
case IPhone7
case IPhone7Plus
case IPhoneSE
case IPhone8
case IPhone8Plus
case IPhoneX
case IPad2
case IPad3
case IPad4
case IPad5
case IPadAir
case IPadAir2
case IPadMini
case IPadMini2
case IPadMini3
case IPadMini4
case IPadPro_9_7
case IPadPro_12_9
case IPadPro_12_9_2ndGen
case IPadPro_10_5
case AppleTV_5_3
case AppleTV_6_2
case HomePod
case Simulator
case Other
}
And ...
public extension UIDevice {
public var modelName: Devices {
var systemInfo = utsname()
uname(&systemInfo)
let machineMirror = Mirror(reflecting: systemInfo.machine)
let identifier = machineMirror.children.reduce("") { identifier, element in
guard let value = element.value as? Int8 , value != 0 else { return identifier }
return identifier + String(UnicodeScalar(UInt8(value)))
}
switch identifier {
case "iPod5,1": return Devices.IPodTouch5
case "iPod7,1": return Devices.IPodTouch6
case "iPhone3,1", "iPhone3,2", "iPhone3,3": return Devices.IPhone4
case "iPhone4,1": return Devices.IPhone4S
case "iPhone5,1", "iPhone5,2": return Devices.IPhone5
case "iPhone5,3", "iPhone5,4": return Devices.IPhone5C
case "iPhone6,1", "iPhone6,2": return Devices.IPhone5S
case "iPhone7,2": return Devices.IPhone6
case "iPhone7,1": return Devices.IPhone6Plus
case "iPhone8,1": return Devices.IPhone6S
case "iPhone8,2": return Devices.IPhone6SPlus
case "iPhone9,1", "iPhone9,3": return Devices.IPhone7
case "iPhone9,2", "iPhone9,4": return Devices.IPhone7Plus
case "iPhone8,4": return Devices.IPhoneSE
case "iPhone10,1", "iPhone10,4": return Devices.IPhone8
case "iPhone10,2", "iPhone10,5": return Devices.IPhone8Plus
case "iPhone10,3", "iPhone10,6": return Devices.IPhoneX
case "iPad2,1", "iPad2,2", "iPad2,3", "iPad2,4":return Devices.IPad2
case "iPad3,1", "iPad3,2", "iPad3,3": return Devices.IPad3
case "iPad3,4", "iPad3,5", "iPad3,6": return Devices.IPad4
case "iPad4,1", "iPad4,2", "iPad4,3": return Devices.IPadAir
case "iPad5,3", "iPad5,4": return Devices.IPadAir2
case "iPad6,11", "iPad6,12": return Devices.IPad5
case "iPad2,5", "iPad2,6", "iPad2,7": return Devices.IPadMini
case "iPad4,4", "iPad4,5", "iPad4,6": return Devices.IPadMini2
case "iPad4,7", "iPad4,8", "iPad4,9": return Devices.IPadMini3
case "iPad5,1", "iPad5,2": return Devices.IPadMini4
case "iPad6,3", "iPad6,4": return Devices.IPadPro_9_7
case "iPad6,7", "iPad6,8": return Devices.IPadPro_12_9
case "iPad7,1", "iPad7,2": return Devices.IPadPro_12_9_2ndGen
case "iPad7,3", "iPad7,4": return Devices.IPadPro_10_5
case "AppleTV5,3": return Devices.AppleTV_5_3
case "AppleTV6,2": return Devices.AppleTV_6_2
case "AudioAccessory1,1": return Devices.HomePod
case "i386", "x86_64": return Devices.Simulator
default: return Devices.Other
}
}
}

Answer 1

I found a better solution see "With the input from Martin R,...."

Answer 2

With the input from Martin R, I have now a nice solution without any need of the user to ever type something manual into the code when making distinctions between iOS-devices' form-factors (whether HW or Simulator) ! [of course, new future Apple devices excluded...]
And best of all: It is also a solution to distinguish iPhoneSE from iPhone6/7/8 form-factors !
struct AppConstants {
// feature flags
struct FEATUREFLAG {
static let DEVICE_MODEL_NAME = { () -> Devices in
switch UIDevice.current.modelName {
case Devices.Simulator:
// set featureFlag for different form-factors to be simulated...
return UIDevice.current.simulatorModelName
default:
// set featureFlag for different form-factors on actual device...
return UIDevice.current.modelName
}
}()
}
}
And the change in the Device extension :
public extension UIDevice {
public var modelName: Devices {
var systemInfo = utsname()
uname(&systemInfo)
let machineMirror = Mirror(reflecting: systemInfo.machine)
let identifier = machineMirror.children.reduce("") { identifier, element in
guard let value = element.value as? Int8 , value != 0 else { return identifier }
return identifier + String(UnicodeScalar(UInt8(value)))
}
return self.getDeviceFromIdentifier(identifier: identifier)
}
public var simulatorModelName: Devices {
if let simulatorModelIdentifier = ProcessInfo().environment["SIMULATOR_MODEL_IDENTIFIER"] { return getDeviceFromIdentifier(identifier: simulatorModelIdentifier) }
var sysinfo = utsname()
uname(&sysinfo) // ignore return value
return getDeviceFromIdentifier(identifier: String(bytes: Data(bytes: &sysinfo.machine, count: Int(_SYS_NAMELEN)), encoding: .ascii)!.trimmingCharacters(in: .controlCharacters))
}
private func getDeviceFromIdentifier(identifier: String) -> Devices {
switch identifier {
case "iPod5,1": return Devices.IPodTouch5
case "iPod7,1": return Devices.IPodTouch6
case "iPhone3,1", "iPhone3,2", "iPhone3,3": return Devices.IPhone4
case "iPhone4,1": return Devices.IPhone4S
case "iPhone5,1", "iPhone5,2": return Devices.IPhone5
case "iPhone5,3", "iPhone5,4": return Devices.IPhone5C
case "iPhone6,1", "iPhone6,2": return Devices.IPhone5S
case "iPhone7,2": return Devices.IPhone6
case "iPhone7,1": return Devices.IPhone6Plus
case "iPhone8,1": return Devices.IPhone6S
case "iPhone8,2": return Devices.IPhone6SPlus
case "iPhone9,1", "iPhone9,3": return Devices.IPhone7
case "iPhone9,2", "iPhone9,4": return Devices.IPhone7Plus
case "iPhone8,4": return Devices.IPhoneSE
case "iPhone10,1", "iPhone10,4": return Devices.IPhone8
case "iPhone10,2", "iPhone10,5": return Devices.IPhone8Plus
case "iPhone10,3", "iPhone10,6": return Devices.IPhoneX
case "iPad2,1", "iPad2,2", "iPad2,3", "iPad2,4":return Devices.IPad2
case "iPad3,1", "iPad3,2", "iPad3,3": return Devices.IPad3
case "iPad3,4", "iPad3,5", "iPad3,6": return Devices.IPad4
case "iPad4,1", "iPad4,2", "iPad4,3": return Devices.IPadAir
case "iPad5,3", "iPad5,4": return Devices.IPadAir2
case "iPad6,11", "iPad6,12": return Devices.IPad5
case "iPad2,5", "iPad2,6", "iPad2,7": return Devices.IPadMini
case "iPad4,4", "iPad4,5", "iPad4,6": return Devices.IPadMini2
case "iPad4,7", "iPad4,8", "iPad4,9": return Devices.IPadMini3
case "iPad5,1", "iPad5,2": return Devices.IPadMini4
case "iPad6,3", "iPad6,4": return Devices.IPadPro_9_7
case "iPad6,7", "iPad6,8": return Devices.IPadPro_12_9
case "iPad7,1", "iPad7,2": return Devices.IPadPro_12_9_2ndGen
case "iPad7,3", "iPad7,4": return Devices.IPadPro_10_5
case "AppleTV5,3": return Devices.AppleTV_5_3
case "AppleTV6,2": return Devices.AppleTV_6_2
case "AudioAccessory1,1": return Devices.HomePod
case "i386", "x86_64": return Devices.Simulator
default: return Devices.Other
}
}
}
And :
public enum Devices: String {
case IPodTouch5
case IPodTouch6
case IPhone4
case IPhone4S
case IPhone5
case IPhone5C
case IPhone5S
case IPhone6
case IPhone6Plus
case IPhone6S
case IPhone6SPlus
case IPhone7
case IPhone7Plus
case IPhoneSE
case IPhone8
case IPhone8Plus
case IPhoneX
case IPad2
case IPad3
case IPad4
case IPad5
case IPadAir
case IPadAir2
case IPadMini
case IPadMini2
case IPadMini3
case IPadMini4
case IPadPro_9_7
case IPadPro_12_9
case IPadPro_12_9_2ndGen
case IPadPro_10_5
case AppleTV_5_3
case AppleTV_6_2
case HomePod
case Simulator
case Other
}