When is it necessary to compile for i386 on iOS

Question

I have recently moved to a new company and am trying to get to grips with the Xcode settings on a project. Currently the project is being compiled for "armv7 armv7s arm64 armv8 i386". Could someone please explain if is necessary to compile for i386 and why?

My project compiles ok if i remove it. One thing to note is that I am linking to a c++ lib which is compiled with the same architectures. Is i386 used for the simulator or any specific iOS devices?

Thanks

Answer 1

The i386 version is needed to run your application in the iOS simulator, which runs natively on OS X and uses the underlying x86/x64 hardware. This is way faster than emulating ARM.