# Simulate Airplane Mode and offline in the iOS Simulator | Lagsmith

> Put one iOS Simulator app in Airplane Mode. Requests fail like on a real device and NWPathMonitor and SCNetworkReachability report no network, without turning off your Mac’s Wi-Fi.

Source: https://lagsmith.com/simulate-airplane-mode-ios-simulator

# Airplane Mode for the iOS Simulator

To simulate offline in the iOS Simulator, most developers turn off their Mac’s Wi-Fi, and lose everything else with it. Lagsmith puts just one simulator app in Airplane Mode, and it behaves like a real device.

[Download for Mac](https://lagsmith.com/download)

## Offline that behaves like a real device

For simulator apps launched with request monitoring, Lagsmith’s Airplane Mode makes:

-   requests fail with _“The Internet connection appears to be offline”_,
-   `NWPathMonitor` report no network, so you can test your path-update handling in the simulator,
-   `SCNetworkReachability` report no network, so Alamofire’s `NetworkReachabilityManager` and Reachability.swift see it too.

Everything else on your Mac, including Xcode and your other simulator apps, stays online.

## Test the in-between states too

Real networks rarely go cleanly offline. Lagsmith can also:

-   refuse a percentage of connections,
-   time out every request,
-   drop connections after a number of seconds,
-   go offline and come back repeatedly, to test retries and reconnection,
-   take a [single endpoint](https://lagsmith.com/mock-api-ios-simulator) offline while the rest works.

## Automate offline tests

Set Airplane Mode from an XCTest UI test before launching the app, or let an AI agent do it through the MCP server. [Automation docs](https://lagsmith.com/docs/automation) · [AI agents](https://lagsmith.com/ai-agents-network-testing).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does the iOS Simulator have Airplane Mode?

Not a working one. The simulator shares the Mac’s network, so the usual workaround is turning off the Mac’s Wi-Fi. Lagsmith puts a single simulator app in Airplane Mode instead.

### Will NWPathMonitor report no network?

Yes, for simulator apps launched with request monitoring. NWPathMonitor and SCNetworkReachability (used by Alamofire and Reachability.swift) report no network, like on a real device.

### What error do requests fail with?

URLSession requests fail with “The Internet connection appears to be offline”, the same error a real device gives in Airplane Mode.

### Can I simulate a flaky connection instead of fully offline?

Yes. Lagsmith can refuse a percentage of connections, time out requests, drop connections after N seconds, or go offline and back repeatedly.

## Slow down one app, not your whole Mac

Free to download, with a 14-day Pro trial. No account, no card. Requires macOS 13 Ventura or later.

[Download for Mac](https://lagsmith.com/download) [Compare with Network Link Conditioner](https://lagsmith.com/network-link-conditioner-alternative)