Where Does Xcode Simulator Write Files?

When working with Xcode and running apps in the Simulator, looking at files written to your system is often a necessity to verify all is well. For example, I’m working on a project at the moment that requires updating a plist (XML file) when the application exits. Once the content is written to the plist, as part of the test cycle I need to open the file and make sure the content is written and updated as I expect.

Path to Xcode Simulator Files

The path to the simulator files is here:

/Users/USER_NAME/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/User/Applications

USER_NAME is the current user logged in on the machine. There is a unique identifier created by the simulator, one value for each application. The figure below shows how this looks on my machine, notice there are two entries in the Applications folder, one for each of the current applications I am working on.

In the application App-Vol1 you can see that I am creating a custom plist file Favorites.plist and storing the file in the Documents directory. This is the file I referred to earlier that I update whenever the user quits the application.

Easy Access to Simulator Files

To make access to the simulator files quick and easy, I keep an entry on the left side of Finder titled iPhone Simulator. Simply navigate your way to the simulator files and drag/drop the folder on the left sidebar. You can rename this folder by right-clicking and choosing Rename.