Summary

Hi there!

When selecting an iOS device and trying to launch an app, Expo Orbit silently switches to the first simulator in the list without any explanation or error message. See recording below:

Expected Behavior

If the selected device cannot be used for any reason, the app could display a clear error message explaining why, rather than silently switching to a different device.

Suggested Improvement

Display a user-friendly error message when device selection fails, such as:

"Unable to use [Device Name]. [Reason]. Please try using a different device or the iOS Simulator."

This would help users understand why their device selection didn't work and what they can do about it.

Steps to reproduce

1. Connect an iOS device (in my case, iOS 26.0 beta)
2. Select the physical device in Expo Orbit
3. Try to launch any Expo iOS app
4. Observe: The selection automatically changes to the first simulator

Environment

expo-env-info 1.3.4 environment info:
  System:
    OS: macOS 15.5
    Shell: 5.9 - /bin/zsh
  Binaries:
    Node: 22.17.0 - ~/.asdf/installs/nodejs/22.17.0/bin/node
    Yarn: 4.9.2 - ~/.asdf/installs/nodejs/22.17.0/bin/yarn
    npm: 11.4.2 - ~/.asdf/installs/nodejs/22.17.0/bin/npm
  Managers:
    CocoaPods: 1.16.2 - /Users/lucascaton/.asdf/shims/pod
  SDKs:
    iOS SDK:
      Platforms: DriverKit 24.5, iOS 18.5, macOS 15.5, tvOS 18.5, visionOS 2.5, watchOS 11.5
  IDEs:
    Xcode: 16.4/16F6 - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
  npmPackages:
    expo: 53.0.17 => 53.0.17
    expo-router: ~5.1.3 => 5.1.3
    react: 19.0.0 => 19.0.0
    react-dom: 19.0.0 => 19.0.0
    react-native: 0.79.5 => 0.79.5
  npmGlobalPackages:
    eas-cli: 16.13.4
  Expo Workflow: bare