diff --git a/.changes/improve-ios-sim.md b/.changes/improve-ios-sim.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4fcf758f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/improve-ios-sim.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"tauri-cli": patch:enhance
+"@tauri-apps/cli": patch:enhance
+---
+
+Improve iOS simulator usage, checking if Xcode iOS SDK is installed and allowing usage of Simulator for older iOS releases (previously only supported when running on Xcode via `ios dev --open`).
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e3fc631ad..a159e3fe0 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1062,9 +1062,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cargo-mobile2"
-version = "0.19.0"
+version = "0.20.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "24b5acda005352ad50a3e58c8777781732d6ac1e8a82ab90d5ffd70b69c665f1"
+checksum = "4957236e228c1014a3effe161d2320864c599e740414cdb3d1f98cf7427a1b08"
 dependencies = [
  "colored",
  "core-foundation 0.10.0",
@@ -1085,6 +1085,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "os_info",
  "os_pipe",
  "path_abs",
+ "plist",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "textwrap",
diff --git a/crates/tauri-cli/Cargo.toml b/crates/tauri-cli/Cargo.toml
index e5ca3c50b..77c2ebac2 100644
--- a/crates/tauri-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/tauri-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ name = "cargo-tauri"
 path = "src/main.rs"
 
 [target."cfg(any(target_os = \"linux\", target_os = \"dragonfly\", target_os = \"freebsd\", target_os = \"openbsd\", target_os = \"netbsd\", target_os = \"windows\", target_os = \"macos\"))".dependencies]
-cargo-mobile2 = { version = "0.19", default-features = false }
+cargo-mobile2 = { version = "0.20", default-features = false }
 
 [dependencies]
 jsonrpsee = { version = "0.24", features = ["server"] }
diff --git a/crates/tauri-cli/src/mobile/ios/build.rs b/crates/tauri-cli/src/mobile/ios/build.rs
index 6b641eba4..7766b2d00 100644
--- a/crates/tauri-cli/src/mobile/ios/build.rs
+++ b/crates/tauri-cli/src/mobile/ios/build.rs
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ fn run_build(
           .skip_codesign();
       }
 
-      target.build(config, env, noise_level, profile, build_config)?;
+      target.build(None, config, env, noise_level, profile, build_config)?;
 
       let mut archive_config = ArchiveConfig::new();
       if skip_signing {
diff --git a/crates/tauri-cli/src/mobile/ios/dev.rs b/crates/tauri-cli/src/mobile/ios/dev.rs
index 1fe890f6e..38569b814 100644
--- a/crates/tauri-cli/src/mobile/ios/dev.rs
+++ b/crates/tauri-cli/src/mobile/ios/dev.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ use anyhow::Context;
 use cargo_mobile2::{
   apple::{
     config::Config as AppleConfig,
-    device::{Device, DeviceKind},
+    device::{Device, DeviceKind, RunError},
+    target::BuildError,
   },
   env::Env,
   opts::{NoiseLevel, Profile},
@@ -283,24 +284,29 @@ fn run_dev(
         cli_options,
       )?;
 
-      if open {
+      let open_xcode = || {
         if !set_host {
           log::warn!("{PHYSICAL_IPHONE_DEV_WARNING}");
         }
         open_and_wait(config, &env)
+      };
+
+      if open {
+        open_xcode()
       } else if let Some(device) = &device {
         match run(device, options, config, noise_level, &env) {
           Ok(c) => Ok(Box::new(c) as Box<dyn DevProcess + Send>),
+          Err(RunError::BuildFailed(BuildError::Sdk(sdk_err))) => {
+            log::warn!("{sdk_err}");
+            open_xcode()
+          }
           Err(e) => {
             crate::dev::kill_before_dev_process();
-            Err(e)
+            Err(e.into())
           }
         }
       } else {
-        if !set_host {
-          log::warn!("{PHYSICAL_IPHONE_DEV_WARNING}");
-        }
-        open_and_wait(config, &env)
+        open_xcode()
       }
     },
   )
@@ -312,7 +318,7 @@ fn run(
   config: &AppleConfig,
   noise_level: NoiseLevel,
   env: &Env,
-) -> crate::Result<DevChild> {
+) -> std::result::Result<DevChild, RunError> {
   let profile = if options.debug {
     Profile::Debug
   } else {
@@ -328,5 +334,4 @@ fn run(
       profile,
     )
     .map(DevChild::new)
-    .map_err(Into::into)
 }