diff --git a/desktop/app/src/server/devices/IOSDevice.tsx b/desktop/app/src/server/devices/IOSDevice.tsx
index 9ed7a0542..751e62617 100644
--- a/desktop/app/src/server/devices/IOSDevice.tsx
+++ b/desktop/app/src/server/devices/IOSDevice.tsx
@@ -69,8 +69,10 @@ export default class IOSDevice extends BaseDevice {
   }
 
   navigateToLocation(location: string) {
-    const command = `xcrun simctl openurl ${this.serial} "${location}"`;
-    exec(command);
+    return this.iOSBridge.navigate(this.serial, location).catch((err) => {
+      console.warn(`Failed to navigate to location ${location}:`, err);
+      return err;
+    });
   }
 
   startLogging() {
diff --git a/desktop/app/src/server/utils/IOSBridge.tsx b/desktop/app/src/server/utils/IOSBridge.tsx
index 74915e13d..8a37389dd 100644
--- a/desktop/app/src/server/utils/IOSBridge.tsx
+++ b/desktop/app/src/server/utils/IOSBridge.tsx
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ export interface IOSBridge {
     deviceType: DeviceType,
   ) => child_process.ChildProcessWithoutNullStreams;
   screenshot: (serial: string) => Promise<Buffer>;
+  navigate: (serial: string, location: string) => Promise<void>;
 }
 
 async function isAvailable(idbPath: string): Promise<boolean> {
@@ -119,6 +120,20 @@ export async function idbScreenshot(serial: string): Promise<Buffer> {
   return runScreenshotCommand(command, imagePath);
 }
 
+export async function xcrunNavigate(
+  serial: string,
+  location: string,
+): Promise<void> {
+  exec(`xcrun simctl io ${serial} launch url "${location}"`);
+}
+
+export async function idbNavigate(
+  serial: string,
+  location: string,
+): Promise<void> {
+  exec(`idb open --udid ${serial} "${location}"`);
+}
+
 export async function makeIOSBridge(
   idbPath: string,
   isXcodeDetected: boolean,
@@ -129,6 +144,7 @@ export async function makeIOSBridge(
     return {
       startLogListener: idbStartLogListener.bind(null, idbPath),
       screenshot: idbScreenshot,
+      navigate: idbNavigate,
     };
   }
 
@@ -137,6 +153,7 @@ export async function makeIOSBridge(
     return {
       startLogListener: xcrunStartLogListener,
       screenshot: xcrunScreenshot,
+      navigate: xcrunNavigate,
     };
   }
 
diff --git a/desktop/app/src/server/utils/__tests__/IOSBridge.node.tsx b/desktop/app/src/server/utils/__tests__/IOSBridge.node.tsx
index c4812e194..f055fc671 100644
--- a/desktop/app/src/server/utils/__tests__/IOSBridge.node.tsx
+++ b/desktop/app/src/server/utils/__tests__/IOSBridge.node.tsx
@@ -116,3 +116,21 @@ test.unix('uses idb to take screenshots when available', async () => {
     'idb screenshot --udid deadbeef /temp/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000.png',
   );
 });
+
+test('uses xcrun to navigate with no idb when xcode is detected', async () => {
+  const ib = await makeIOSBridge('', true);
+
+  ib.navigate('deadbeef', 'fb://dummy');
+
+  expect(exec).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    'xcrun simctl io deadbeef launch url "fb://dummy"',
+  );
+});
+
+test('uses idb to navigate when available', async () => {
+  const ib = await makeIOSBridge('/usr/local/bin/idb', true, async (_) => true);
+
+  ib.navigate('deadbeef', 'fb://dummy');
+
+  expect(exec).toHaveBeenCalledWith('idb open --udid deadbeef "fb://dummy"');
+});