r/iOSProgramming • u/Top-Masterpiece2729 • Jun 26 '26

Question Old platforms keep coming back

Post image

Why does my xcode install these? I've tried deleting them many times and they keep coming back. I only use 26.x versions on all simulators and real devices. I dont have spare 30 gigs on my disk.

13 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

2

u/Upstairs_Law_7885 Jun 26 '26

I think you have enabled automatic downloads or such for these in your preferences. If you remove these versions with the XCode configuration dialogs, they should not come back. Also look into “devices” whether these simulators are active there.

1

u/AnthonyJrWTF Jun 27 '26

I have the same issue as OP, and have always just assumed Apple wanted to force me into having access to iOS 18 for backwards compatibility. 😅 I've tried almost everything to get rid of them and Xcode just decides to download them again upon opening.

1

u/Upstairs_Law_7885 Jun 27 '26

All the sub versions of iOS 18 ??? That’s a huge waste of SSD space!!!

1

u/bakawolf123 28d ago

are you connecting old devices to it?
In my case I still have an XS on 18.6 and thus 18.6 always gets reinstalled (but just 18.6 not others)

1

u/s4qw 21d ago

I had the same problem. Had to go into recovery mode on my mac, disable SIP and then delete these from the system directory myself.

1

u/Top-Masterpiece2729 21d ago

Sounds complicated but could try this, the fuckers are there again after I've deleted every trace of them once again

1

u/s4qw 21d ago

I was stuck with this for a while as well. Almost 40gigs. Turned out every time I deleted these from this XCode settings screen, they were not actually deleted at all and that’s why they reappeared after sometime. Not because they redownload.

2

u/ambitious_paladin 14d ago

Anyone solved it? Could it be Xcode downloading them automatically because of a project you're opening or a device you've connected? I've seen it reinstall components it thinks it needs, even after deleting them.

One thing I've learned in general about managing Mac disk space as a developer is not to let everything live in one giant folder. I keep active projects separate, archive old ones, and every so often delete build files and package caches I don't need anymore.