No-jailbreak starts with the system version, then with whether you need Start Automation. Match the version to the path. You do not need to spread out and compare three historical setups.
iOS 15 and later, when you need UI nodes
Install the offline main program v7.2.0 or later, and treat it as the automation program on the USB side. The file is in the cloud drive under iOS resources folder → offline versions. Pick a version above v7.2.0, download the main program in it, sign it, and install it. After it is installed, use it in central control as the automation program.
This install does not require a separate USB proxy IPA as a second required package. In central control, Start Automation until the status becomes Yes, and steps that depend on the automation environment can run, including node capture and automation screenshots.
Signing has two common paths.
TrollStore, and reskinned tools such as Chaoran Sign, cover iOS 15 through 16.6.1. Restarting the phone drops the signature, and a dropped signature has to be signed again. iOS 17 is outside this free-signing range.
The other path is an Apple personal developer account, 688 yuan a year, able to bind 100 devices, supporting iOS 12 and later. That 688 yuan is paid to Apple, and it is used to sign install packages. If you already have a certificate, you can sign with the signing tool in the cloud drive. The IPA the official download page has already signed is only for test installs.
iOS 15 and 16 should not pick the USB HID below. The system version is not high enough.
iOS 17 and later, when you only want to tap through a data cable
Central control uses EC iOS USB 10.7.0 (2026-09-08) or later. USB HID simulates taps, swipes, and input over a data cable. You do not buy a Bluetooth board, and you do not buy an OTG board. Keep the phone on USB, trusted by this computer, with the central-control bridge already started.
Before use, call usbHidEvent.sessionStart(), then set the screen size, then tap or type. sessionStart may unmount and remount a newer developer disk image. The return convention is an empty value for success, and any other string is an error message.
This path is mutually exclusive with Start Automation and with startEnv in a script. If HID is on for a phone, do not also turn the automation service on. When you need a screenshot, call the no-automation screenshot. Do not call a screenshot that depends on the automation environment.
Coordinates match the mirrored picture and the screenshot pixels. If the resolution changes, or the phone rotates between landscape and portrait, set the screen size again.
One phone keeps one path
If you need to read controls or take automation screenshots, keep the offline main program and Start Automation, even when the system is already iOS 17. If you only need physical taps and you do not read nodes, keep USB HID, and confirm the automation service is off.
The docs describe the two as mutually exclusive when both are on for the same phone and the same script. Pick on one phone first, then copy that to the other machines on the same system version. Where iOS versions differ, split them into 15 through 16, and 17 and later, and use each group’s own startup steps.
Related reading: For the concrete setup steps of Apple cluster control, see Apple cluster-control system overview and the Apple cluster-control landing page.
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