Open URL
Deep Link Testing for iOS Simulator
SimDock’s Open URL tool sends a link to the iOS Simulator selected in SimDock — a custom URL scheme or an HTTP/HTTPS URL — so you can test how your app is opened without switching to Terminal.
The problem it solves
Testing deep links means opening the same handful of URLs over and over, often with long query strings, on the right simulator. Typing them into a simctl command each time is slow and easy to get wrong when the URL contains characters a shell would interpret.
How SimDock opens a link
SimDock checks the URL first, then passes it to xcrun simctl openurl <device> <url> as a single argument — never through a shell — so characters like &, ?,# and % arrive exactly as typed.
simctl openurl can’t target a particular app. For a custom scheme, iOS opens whichever installed app has registered it. For an HTTP or HTTPS URL, iOS decides — exactly as it would for any link — whether an app’s associated domains claim it as a universal link or whether it opens in Safari. SimDock doesn’t change or bypass that decision.
What you can do
- Open custom-scheme and HTTP/HTTPS URLs on the selected simulator.
- Start from a declared scheme. SimDock lists the URL schemes your installed apps declare in their
Info.plist(CFBundleURLTypes). - Recents keep the links that opened successfully, newest first.
- Favorites keep the links you test often, with your own labels.
- Scenarios can include a deep-link step, so a link opens as part of a repeatable setup.
Limits
- Success means the simulator accepted the URL — not that a particular app handled it. If no installed app handles a custom scheme, SimDock says so.
- The scheme list shows what apps declare in
Info.plist. SimDock doesn’t inspect associated domains or apple-app-site-association files. - The simulator must be booted.
Does my app need changes?
No. Your app handles the URL exactly as it would when the link is opened any other way on the simulator.