iOS 9 Simulator in Xcode 10.3 missing

Question

I am unable to download and install a iOS 9 simulator in current Xcode.

This is driving me nuts.

The Release notes for Xcode 10.3 say that it supports on-device debugging for iOS 8 and later (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode_release_notes/xcode_10_3_release_notes/). So I suppose that should include iOS 9 simulators?

but it's not available to download for me:

What I tried:

• Upgrading macOS to the most recent version (10.14.6)
• Rebooting
• Downloading an older Simulator image and copying it to Xcode, so that might pick it up (https://gist.github.com/NicholasTD07/3ffbaee9973ae06b5a12)
• Downloading Xcode 7 and copying the SDK and Simulator SDK into my current Xcode (https://stackoverflow.com/a/13061104/4202492)
• Also copying the simruntime folder (https://stackoverflow.com/a/26530576/4202492)

Answer 1

Apple seems to have a history of removing simulators without announcing it.

Anyway, the solution was quite simple:

• Download Xcode 10.2.1 and start it
• Download and install the iOS 9 simulator in preferences
• Quit and remove Xcode 10.2.1
• Start Xcode 10.3 and use iOS 9 simulator