What is Control Room?
Control Room is a macOS app for driving the Xcode Simulator — iOS, tvOS and watchOS — through a window instead of `simctl` commands. It controls the simulator's UI appearance, its status bar, its location, and its notification and deep-link testing. It wraps Apple's own simctl tool, so Xcode 14.0 or later must be installed, and it needs macOS Big Sur to run. It is free and open source under the MIT licence.
Verified product facts
- Type
- simulator controlEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Pricing
- Open sourceDeveloper-stated
- Open source
- Yes
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Licence
- MIT
- Official website
- github.com/twostraws/ControlRoom
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What Control Room does at a glance.
Take simulator screenshots and movies, optionally
With device bezels
Set the system time and date
Including Apple's own 9:41
Override Wi-Fi, cellular and battery status
Override dark or light mode, language, accessibility options and Dynamic Type size
Send test push notifications or trigger deep links
Pick colours
From the simulator and convert them to UIKit or SwiftUI code
What you can use Control Room for
- Producing App Store screenshots with a clean status bar and device bezel
- Testing how an app looks in dark mode, another language, or a larger Dynamic Type size
Who is Control Room for?
- iOS developers who configure simulators often enough to want a window for it
- Anyone taking simulator screenshots that need a consistent status bar
Who is Control Room not for?
- Macs without Xcode — Control Room wraps simctl, so the command must be present
Strengths and trade-offs
What Control Room does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- Free and open source under the MIT licence, with no account and no paid tier.
- Takes simulator screenshots and movies with optional device bezels, and sets the clock to Apple's own 9:41 — which is what App Store screenshots are expected to look like.
- Overrides dark or light mode, language, accessibility options and Dynamic Type content size in one place, without relaunching the simulator.
- Picks colours out of the simulator and converts them to UIKit or SwiftUI code, or drags them straight into an asset catalogue.
Trade-offs
- Requires Xcode 14.0 or later and macOS Big Sur to run, because it wraps Apple's simctl command.
- It is a wrapper for simctl, so anything simctl cannot express is out of reach.Editorially reviewed
- If the simctl command line tools are missing, the app reports it and you have to set them up in Xcode's Locations tab yourself.
What it does
Control Room puts the Xcode Simulator’s settings behind a window. simctl can
already do most of this; the point of the app is that you stop assembling
command lines to change a status bar or force dark mode.
The features split into two groups. Some change what the simulator reports: Wi-Fi, cellular and battery status, a custom user location, test push notifications, deep links. Others change what it looks like: screenshots and movies with optional device bezels, the clock set to Apple’s own 9:41, dark or light mode, language, accessibility options and Dynamic Type content size.
That second group is the reason to keep it installed. App Store screenshots are expected to show a clean status bar and the 9:41 clock, and an app that adapts to Dynamic Type has to be checked at the sizes a user might actually pick — Control Room changes both without relaunching anything.
Where it fits
It wraps Apple’s own simctl tool, which sets the requirement plainly: Xcode 14.0 or later, and macOS Big Sur to run, because the app is built with SwiftUI. If Xcode’s command line tools are not selected in its Locations tab, the simctl command is missing and the app will tell you so rather than guess.
It is a wrapper, not a replacement. Anything simctl cannot express, Control Room cannot either — the value is in the settings you reach through it, not in new capabilities layered on top of the simulator.
Questions about Control Room
Is Control Room free?
Yes. It is free and open source under the MIT licence.
Which simulators does it control?
iOS, tvOS and watchOS simulators.
Do I need Xcode?
Yes. Control Room wraps Apple's simctl command-line tool, so Xcode 14.0 or later must be installed.
How do I install Control Room?
Download the source and build it in Xcode; it is built with SwiftUI, so it needs macOS Big Sur or later.
Alternatives to Control Room
Apps that could replace this one — the same job, a different trade-off.
AXe
CLI tool for controlling iOS Simulators through Accessibility APIs and HID automation.
Both drive iOS simulators from a Mac. AXe is a command-line tool built on Accessibility APIs and HID automation; Control Room is a SwiftUI window over Apple's simctl.
Works well with
Not a replacement — apps commonly used alongside this one.
Blink
A little robot that watches your running dev servers and iOS simulators, and restarts them without going back to the terminal.
Control Room changes what a running simulator reports; Blink watches simulators and dev servers and restarts them when they stop.
Cleaner for Xcode
Remove unwanted Xcode files.
Both tidy up after Xcode: Control Room configures the simulator, Cleaner for Xcode removes the generated files Xcode leaves behind.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
