diff --git a/.github/scripts/run-nightly-e2e.sh b/.github/scripts/run-nightly-e2e.sh
index dbd49d39d0..df387ef24c 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/run-nightly-e2e.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/run-nightly-e2e.sh
@@ -144,16 +144,27 @@ fi
 
 phase "Building and installing the development client"
 if [[ "$platform" == "ios" ]]; then
+  # Passing --device makes this Expo version merge simulator and devicectl
+  # results. On Xcode 26.4, devicectl can misclassify the simulator as a
+  # physical device and incorrectly require signing. Exactly one simulator is
+  # booted above, so Expo's default simulator-only resolver selects it.
+  echo "Building for already booted iOS simulator $device_id"
   EXPO_PUBLIC_ENV=e2e \
     NODE_ENV=test \
     RN_SRC_EXT=e2e.ts,e2e.tsx \
-    pnpm exec expo run:ios --device "$device_id" --no-bundler \
+    pnpm exec expo run:ios --no-bundler \
     2>&1 | tee "$artifact_dir/build.log"
 else
+  expo_device_name="$(adb -s "$device_id" emu avd name | sed -n '1p' | tr -d '\r')"
+  if [[ -z "$expo_device_name" ]]; then
+    echo "Could not resolve the AVD name for $device_id" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  echo "Building for Android AVD $expo_device_name ($device_id)"
   EXPO_PUBLIC_ENV=e2e \
     NODE_ENV=test \
     RN_SRC_EXT=e2e.ts,e2e.tsx \
-    pnpm exec expo run:android --device "$device_id" --no-bundler \
+    pnpm exec expo run:android --device "$expo_device_name" --no-bundler \
     2>&1 | tee "$artifact_dir/build.log"
 fi
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly-e2e.yml b/.github/workflows/nightly-e2e.yml
index 0deb92b622..182337df02 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nightly-e2e.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nightly-e2e.yml
@@ -82,17 +82,40 @@ jobs:
       - name: Boot one iOS simulator
         run: |
           echo "Booting iOS simulator" > artifacts/ios/phase.txt
-          udid=$(xcrun simctl list devices available --json | jq -r \
-            '[.devices[][] | select(.name | startswith("iPhone"))] | first | .udid')
-          if [ -z "$udid" ] || [ "$udid" = "null" ]; then
-            echo "No available iPhone simulator was found" >&2
+          device_name="iPhone 17"
+          runtime_name="iOS 26.5"
+
+          runtime_id=$(xcrun simctl list runtimes available --json | jq -r \
+            --arg name "$runtime_name" \
+            '[.runtimes[] | select(.name == $name and .isAvailable != false)] | first | .identifier // empty')
+          if [ -z "$runtime_id" ]; then
+            echo "The $runtime_name simulator runtime is not installed. Available iOS runtimes:" >&2
+            xcrun simctl list runtimes available --json | jq -r \
+              '.runtimes[] | select(.name | startswith("iOS")) | "- \(.name)"' >&2
             exit 1
           fi
+
+          device_type_id=$(xcrun simctl list devicetypes --json | jq -r \
+            --arg name "$device_name" \
+            '[.devicetypes[] | select(.name == $name)] | first | .identifier // empty')
+          if [ -z "$device_type_id" ]; then
+            echo "The $device_name simulator device type is not installed" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          udid=$(xcrun simctl list devices available --json | jq -r \
+            --arg runtime "$runtime_id" \
+            --arg name "$device_name" \
+            '[.devices[$runtime][]? | select(.name == $name)] | first | .udid // empty')
+          if [ -z "$udid" ]; then
+            udid=$(xcrun simctl create "$device_name" "$device_type_id" "$runtime_id")
+          fi
+
           echo "IOS_UDID=$udid" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
           xcrun simctl shutdown all || true
           xcrun simctl boot "$udid"
           xcrun simctl bootstatus "$udid" -b
-          echo "Using iOS simulator $udid"
+          echo "Using $device_name on $runtime_name ($udid)"
 
       - name: Run iOS Maestro suite
         run: .github/scripts/run-nightly-e2e.sh ios "$IOS_UDID"
diff --git a/docs/testing.md b/docs/testing.md
index 9bde1e18e0..d265255220 100644
--- a/docs/testing.md
+++ b/docs/testing.md
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ stateful mock-server manager, so the suite must not be sharded.
 The jobs run Maestro CLI 2.6.1 locally on GitHub Actions; Maestro Cloud is not
 used. iOS runs on `macos-26-xlarge` with Xcode 26.4. Android runs on
 `Linux-x64-32core`. Both use Java 17 and the Node and pnpm versions declared in
-`package.json`.
+`package.json`. The iOS job selects an iPhone 17 simulator running iOS 26.5;
+Android uses a Pixel 6 AVD with the API 35 Google APIs x86_64 image.
 
 The mock-server manager listens on host port 1986 and creates test services on
 port 3000. Metro listens on 8081. Android reverses ports 3000 and 8081 into the