I’m going to file this under “Late to the Party Again”, but I just learned that Microsoft offers a free version of the Electric Plum iPhone/iPad Simulator through Web Matrix. The version is a lite version, but well worth the free download.

  1. First, if you don’t already have it, install and run Web Matrix.
  2. Once Web Matrix is open, create a new site (I chose the empty site template).
  3. On the tool bar, click on the Extensions button.
  4. Search for the iPhone Simulator if it’s not already on the screen.
  5. Click the Install button and click through to install the simulator.
  6. You may close Web Matrix once the installation is complete.
  7. Start up Visual Studio 2013 and open your solution
  8. Click the down arrow next to the Play button
  9. Click the Browse With menu item
  10. In the Browse With dialog, click the Add button
  11. In the Add Program dialog, navigate to C:\Users\<your account name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebMatrix\Extensions\30\iPhoneSimulator\ElectricMobileSim\ElectricMobileSim.exe in the program field.
  12. In the Arguments field, enter "1" to simulate an iPhone, or "2" to simulate an iPad.
  13. Click the OK button
  14. Now you may select your new emulator from the list of browsers.