Which is better to use for Android Application debugging and testing: android phone or androidx86 OS? [closed]

Question

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, visit the help center for guidance.

Closed 9 years ago.

Since emulator of eclipse is really slow and i read reviews that even in high end computers it will still run slow, which is a better alternative that you use for application testing? Better in terms of flexibility, speed, or even just a developer preferences.

Screen size is the limitation of android phones because it is static, will the androidx86 OS can be dynamic with screen sizes?

Answer 1

I use androidx86 image and Intel's emulator. It works very fast. You can set different screen sizes and some other device features like for normal android emulator.

But there are some cons: no 4.2 version, only 4.0 and 4.1 available. Android image with Google API installed is not available now (you can add them by yourself).

So you can use x86 as major device for developing and testing, but you still need arm android emulator to test on old android versions and you still need several real devices, because emulator is not always correct and there are some test cases you can run only on real device.

P.S. Generally, real device is better (with most popular screen size and android version is much better).

Answer 2

There is something called Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager, which makes things much better.

If you can use HAXM on your computer, your experience with the emulator will be vastly improved (it is supported on MacOS and Windows, and requires an Intel processor). Boot times and deploy times are vastly improved.

It is also only supported on certain Android OS versions.

If possible it is nice to have an actual device for testing, as it does have different capabilities than the emulator.

Mac: http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/installation-instructions-for-intel-hardware-accelerated-execution-manager-mac-os-x

Windows: http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/installation-instructions-for-intel-hardware-accelerated-execution-manager-microsoft