iPadian

Pros

• Simulates the iOS environment quite well on your computer and shows you what this system is like
• Has a good selection of apps to choose from for common needs
• You can easily switch between this and your original OS

Cons

• The speed is somewhat slower than a real iOS installation
• While you get a good number of common apps, you likely won't find many for specialty needs

The iPadian program is an iOS simulator that brings many Apple features to a different operating system. This allows you to use Siri, iMessage, the Apple App Store and more without needing an Apple computer. It's important to distinguish this from an emulator because the simulator is made to work with your original OS.

Simulator

Being an iPad simulator rather than an emulator has some advantages and disadvantages. Using an emulator requires a lot of power and often most computers have a hard time with certain features. You also have to boot the emulator separately, which can be annoying if you want to switch back to your original OS.

A simulator is just launched in another window and it uses Apple's features within your computer's architecture. This means you gain all the Apple-specific features while still being able to switch back to your OS with ease.

At the same time, making a stable simulator means that some aspects must be balanced or removed. In this case the main thing removed is the wealth of apps in the Apple App Store. You can still download and use many of them, but it's a controlled list and only approved apps will show up. This likely won't be a huge issue, but you may want to think about this if you were hoping to install a certain app.

Aside from this you'll find that it's nearly identical to using an iOS system.

Easy Interface

The iPadian simulator is a nearly perfect recreation of an iOS device. You have the bottom bar with all your most common apps, widgets that display relevant information, apps for common websites and services and a simple browser to view your favorite websites. The bottom dashboard also has a search bar so that you can easily search through the computer for a certain file or program.

The design is nearly the same as a native iOS program, but current iOS users might notice some small differences. The icons look a little stiff compared to an actual installation. It's not a huge difference, but it might look a little strange until you get used to it.

Despite the minor design differences, this is an adequate program for seeing how iOS works and using some of the proprietary features like Siri and certain messaging apps.

The simulator only runs in full screen mode. You can minimize the simulator by clicking a button in the bottom-right corner. This will make the simulator go away so that you can access your original OS. Switching between the two operating systems should be fast.

Paid Version

You can get some more features by buying the paid version called iPadian Pro. The main reason for purchasing this is that you have access to more apps. If you wanted to install as much Apple-specific software as possible, then this might be a good option for you.

Another benefit is that the paid version gets rid of the advertisements. The free version of iPadian does have some ads that run along the sides of the program. This allows the developers to get some money for their hard work, but it can be annoying to see the ads there. If they bother you a lot, then paying for the premium version might be worth it.

Somewhat Slow

This is something that occurs with all emulators and simulators, so it's not that surprising in this case. Most simulators run a little slower than an actual installation running on its intended hardware. This is usually because of hardware limitations and because a software replication isn't the ideal way to run an operating system.

At the same time, this should be fine if you're only using smaller apps and just using the simulator for fun. It isn't fast enough to be your main system, but it should be good for smaller processes.

Total Number of Apps

While you can't download all the App Store apps, you'll find that iPadian supplies you with over 300 different apps to choose from. This wide selection allows you to find several programs for common needs. For example, there are apps for viewing videos, a photo editor, music player, audio editor, social media apps and utility programs.

There are also some games, but don't expect to find new indie games that were just released. You'll mostly find classic and super popular games that everyone wants to play. In general this gives you a good selection of iOS apps to choose from.

Pros

• Simulates the iOS environment quite well on your computer and shows you what this system is like
• Has a good selection of apps to choose from for common needs
• You can easily switch between this and your original OS

Cons

• The speed is somewhat slower than a real iOS installation
• While you get a good number of common apps, you likely won't find many for specialty needs