macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install bluepilllocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew / rank 14059
Install bluepill with Homebrew, winget
Testing tool for iOS that runs UI tests using multiple simulators. Version 5.13.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with winget: winget install --id Ukhirani.Bp -e.
install
Additional install commands
Windows
Windows Package Managerverified · 92%
winget install --id Ukhirani.Bp -eWindows Package Manager source index · Ukhirani.Bp · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com
overview
Package summary
Testing tool for iOS that runs UI tests using multiple simulators
Project links
Commands and aliases
- bluepill
- bp
history
Project history and usage
Bluepill is an iOS test runner created at LinkedIn to run large XCTest and UI-test suites across multiple simulators on one Mac. It became a recognizable package for iOS CI teams because it attacked the slow, flaky simulator-test problem before Apple's own parallel-test story was mature.
Project history
LinkedIn open-sourced Bluepill in January 2017 after building it to run its large iOS test suite in a reasonable amount of time. The README describes its core features: parallel simulator execution, automatic test grouping, headless mode, junit reports, retry behavior, and simulator crash or hang recovery.
The project was originally published under LinkedIn's GitHub organization and later lives under MobileNativeFoundation. Its tags show a long 5.x release line, and the README tracks supported Xcode versions with branches for older Xcode releases.
Adoption history
Bluepill found adoption among iOS teams that needed faster CI feedback without rewriting tests. The README explicitly documents Homebrew installation, release binaries, Fastlane plugin integrations, and a Bitrise build/test step, showing that usage spread through common mobile CI packaging channels.
The surrounding ecosystem included Redpill and other Fastlane plugins, plus Bitrise support, which let teams wire Bluepill into existing build pipelines rather than treating it as a standalone experiment.
How it is used
A typical workflow builds an app and test bundle with xcodebuild build-for-testing, then invokes bluepill with the generated .xctestrun file and an output directory. The tool can also read a JSON configuration file via -c/--config, but the README documents this as a user-supplied file rather than a fixed config path.
Operationally, Bluepill matters because it packs tests into simulator groups, controls retry behavior, collects junit output, and can run headless to reduce resource use on CI machines.
Why package nerds care
Bluepill is significant because it packages a hard local-platform problem: reproducible iOS simulator parallelism. For package nerds, it is a case study in a CLI wrapping Xcode artifacts, Simulator behavior, junit reporting, and CI integration into something installable with Homebrew.
It also marks a particular era of iOS infrastructure, when teams combined xctool, FBSimulatorControl ideas, Fastlane plugins, and custom runners to make Apple-platform testing scale in CI.
Timeline
- 2017: LinkedIn open-sourced Bluepill and published early v0.x tags.
- 2017: README credits inspiration from parallel_ios_tests, Facebook xctool, and FBSimulatorControl.
- 2017-2018: Fastlane and Bitrise integrations appeared around the project ecosystem.
- 2024: Official repository metadata and tags show continued releases through the 5.x line, including Xcode 15.1-era work.
Related projects
- parallel_ios_tests inspired the project.
- Facebook xctool and FBSimulatorControl are credited by the README as inspirations.
- Fastlane plugins such as Redpill, fastlane-plugin-bluepill, Bluepillar, and XBluepill integrated Bluepill into mobile release workflows.
- Bitrise's Bluepill Build/Test for iOS step connected it to hosted CI.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
bluepill | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
bp | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version5.13.0
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:bluepill |
|---|---|
| Version | 5.13.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://github.com/MobileNativeFoundation/bluepill |
| Repository | https://github.com/MobileNativeFoundation/bluepill |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
winget92%
Ukhirani.Bp
winget install --id Ukhirani.Bp -e- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Bp
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- pkg.so package database
- pkgdb category and tag curation