OMSI 2 on iPhone and iPad: openOMSI officially coming to iOS!

Is OMSI 2 really coming to iPhone and iPad?

Regarding openOMSI, the answer is: Yes, iOS is intended as a platform. However, this does not mean that OMSI 2 itself will suddenly be officially ported to iPhone and iPad.

openOMSI is a completely newly developed runtime environment intended to read and run existing OMSI content. This is precisely what makes it possible to bring the existing OMSI world to platforms for which the original OMSI 2 was never developed.

The difference is important: The old OMSI 2 engine remains a Windows program. openOMSI, on the other hand, is rebuilding the technical foundation and already supports several operating systems and processor architectures.

Is openOMSI already available for iOS?

Not yet as a public download.

Currently, builds for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android are offered on the official openOMSI website and in the releases. A publicly available iOS version for iPhone or iPad is not yet part of the download list.

That is precisely why it would currently be wrong to promise a finished installation method for iOS. There is currently no official iPhone download that can simply be installed and then filled directly with OMSI content.

Anyone who wants to try openOMSI now can find the project here:

openOMSI:
https://turbo-devv.github.io/openOMSI/

Current downloads:

Releases · openOMSI-Project/openOMSI

OMSI 2 recreated from scratch in Rust, compatible with every map and mod (requires the original OMSI 2) - openOMSI-Project/openOMSI

github.com

As soon as iOS officially appears there, the announced platform will also become an actually available version.

How does OMSI work on iPhone?

The crucial difference from many previous options would be native execution. The iPhone is not merely supposed to display the image of a running gaming PC.

The engine itself is being developed cross-platform. This principle already works on Android: openOMSI runs directly on the smartphone or tablet’s ARM processor and renders the actual simulation there.

The same basic principle is also interesting for iOS. Modern iPhones and iPads likewise use ARM-based processors. openOMSI was designed from the outset so that the engine is not firmly tied to classic x86 Windows PCs.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that Android and iOS can be treated identically from a technical perspective. Apple has its own rules for apps, file access, memory management and software distribution. For precisely this reason, it is still unclear exactly how the finished iOS version will later be installed and supplied with OMSI content.

Do you also need OMSI 2 for the iOS version?

According to openOMSI’s basic concept, an original OMSI 2 installation or its legally obtained content remains necessary.

openOMSI itself contains no original maps, vehicles or commercial add-ons. The project provides the new engine, not Grundorf, Berlin-Spandau or the original buses.

Nothing changes about this on mobile devices either. Maps, Vehicles, Sceneryobjects, Splines, Fonts, Sounds and other components still come from the user’s own OMSI installation or from the mods and add-ons they own.

However, it has not yet been clarified how this content will specifically be transferred to and managed on iOS. For this reason, one should not simply apply an Android guide to the iPhone at present.

Can I simply copy my entire OMSI folder to the iPhone?

That is precisely what has not yet been confirmed—and even if it later becomes technically possible, it would probably not be particularly useful for many players.

An OMSI installation maintained over many years can quickly encompass many gigabytes with maps, buses, repaints, object packs and payware add-ons. On a smartphone or tablet, storage space therefore becomes an issue much more quickly than on a large PC SSD.

With iOS in particular, there is also the fact that apps normally cannot access arbitrary directories as freely as a conventional Windows program can. The finished iOS version or its documentation will have to show how openOMSI resolves this issue.

In principle, a system that brings specifically needed content to the device would make more sense. Whether openOMSI will implement this in exactly the same way on iOS is currently still unclear.

Will the same maps and buses work on the iPad?

That is the basic goal. openOMSI aims to continue using existing OMSI content across platforms wherever possible.

In theory, this could allow the same maps, buses, scripts, HOF files, textures and other content to be used on an iPhone or iPad as well. This is precisely what makes the project considerably more interesting than a completely independent mobile spin-off with just a few specially adapted vehicles and routes.

However, the limitation remains the same as on PC and Android: Not every OMSI mod is already fully compatible with openOMSI. A bus may load while certain displays or scripts still cause problems. A map may basically work even though individual objects or special functions are not yet displayed exactly as in the original.

On iOS, the question of how powerful the respective device is will later be added as well.

How will OMSI be controlled on the iPhone?

There is currently no complete official user guide for the not-yet-released iOS version.

Android already shows what a mobile openOMSI interface can look like, however. Among other things, it has a virtual steering wheel or tilt controls, accelerator and brake, transmission controls, doors, turn signals, camera functions and a separate area for important cockpit functions.

Whether all of these elements will be transferred exactly this way to iPhone and iPad has not yet been definitively documented. Therefore, one should not simply claim that the iOS version will automatically receive the same interface.

The controls could become particularly interesting on the iPad. The larger screen offers considerably more space for the cockpit, instruments and additional touch controls than a small smartphone.

What performance does openOMSI require on iOS?

There are currently no specific minimum requirements for iPhone or iPad.

Several factors will be decisive: processor and graphics performance, available RAM, the storage requirements of the OMSI content, the map being used, the bus, AI traffic, scripts and texture resolutions.

A modern iPad can have considerably more performance headroom than an older iPhone. At the same time, large OMSI maps can be very demanding even on PCs. It would therefore be rather unprofessional to classify specific iPhone generations as guaranteed suitable or unsuitable already.

Heat and battery life also play a role on mobile devices. A continuously running 3D simulation with AI traffic and complex buses puts very different demands on a smartphone than a normal app does.

Why is OMSI possible on iPhone at all?

Because openOMSI is not trying to somehow force the old Windows engine onto iOS.

The new runtime environment is being developed cross-platform and uses modern graphics and system libraries. openOMSI already runs on Apple Silicon devices under macOS, Android has a native ARM64 build, and other platforms are supported as well.

This makes the technical foundation for mobile Apple devices considerably more realistic than that of the original OMSI engine.

At the same time, this is one of the most interesting aspects of the entire project: OMSI’s content remains largely the same, while the engine underneath can suddenly run on devices for which OMSI 2 was never intended.

Is openOMSI a genuine OMSI mobile version?

Yes and no. Technically, one can certainly speak of a mobile implementation of the OMSI world because the engine runs natively on mobile devices.

However, it is not a separate official “OMSI Mobile” with its own vehicles and routes. Rather, openOMSI aims to bring the existing OMSI 2 content to a new technical foundation.

This also makes the difference with iOS clear. A future iPhone or iPad build is not intended to be merely a stripped-down mobile bus simulation, but the same openOMSI engine on another platform.

Until then, however, one important point remains: iOS is currently not a publicly available openOMSI version. Anyone who already wants to try OMSI on mobile today can do so on Android. On iPhone and iPad, however, you still have to wait until an official build is available and the associated installation process has been documented.

Would you rather play OMSI on an iPhone, or would an iPad be the much more interesting option for you because of the larger cockpit?