[vetinari]

In the context of this debate it does not matter, whether it is emulator or simulator underneath.

What matters is, that you cannot run it on another OS, because Apple does not supply one. You cannot supply your own, because the emulator/simulator/whatever has to run Apple code inside, and you don't have permission to distribute it, even if you had the inclination to make your own emulator/simulator/whatever.

So OK, Microsoft made an agreement and can now provision iOS packages. They had to find a way to test-run them somehow, and their solution won't allow you to write against native frameworks, only against theirs, which they can run on their platform.

[scarface74]

And you think that developing on Android is better? The emulator is running in x86 with an ARM emulator that running a Java virtual machine is giving you any “guarantees” (your words in a previous post) on how it will work on the device?