You could create a symbolic-link from your Desktop to make this easier: $ ln -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/atform/Developer/Applications/iPhone\ Simulator.app ~/Desktop (Xcode 6+): $ open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/iOS Simulator.app Assuming you have Xcode installed in /Applications, then you can do this from the command line to start the iPhone Simulator: $ open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/atform/Developer/Applications/iPhone\ Simulator.app
