I created a back office corporate tablet android app. Now the client wants the same app in a browser so users on a desktop can have the same functionality.
Can I just use an emulator for this? I.e. setup an android emulator on the users' laptops? Or are emulators not for production use but rather just for testing?
So can I use an emulator or do I need to develop a Web app?
Can I just use an emulator for this?
NO
Or are emulators not for production use but rather just for testing?
YES
1 Can I just use an emulator for this?
Yes! But hardware needs to be pretty beefy you have to test it. And don't use standard Android emulator use genymotion instead it's fast, very fast.
2 Or are emulators not for production use but rather just for testing?
No! There is a lot of such use. Look at genymotion or bluestack.
*note genymotion runs on virtualbox.
You cannot use emulator for this. Also emulators are mainly just for testing. Many features do not work on emulators.
You will have to build a similar app to work on desktops :)
Related
I'm trying to develop a mobile app. After trying PhoneGapp alongside with Ripple Emulator in Chrome and jQuery Mobile, I've come to the conclusion that the whole hybrid thing wont work for me. I feel way too restricted by jQuery framework. I'm looking forward to create something native but my problem right now is that I don't have a working device. I tried Android Studio but it is too slow on my machine. I'm running a slow AMD. What can I develop with?
Try Genymotion. Genymotion is pretty simple to use and much faster than AVD. Also it's free for personal use. Check it out: link.
You can also use Bluestacks as an alternative.
You can try Gennymotion that is an Android emulator based on Virtualbox. It can emulate specific devices(Nexus, Samsung, HTC...) and allows you to install/run/ test apps.Because Virtualbox is cross-platform compatible, You can use it on Windows, Mac or Linux.
It is free for personal using. You can download the installer after registration in here
I was asked to test some Android apps, but I do not have any andoid device currently. There are a loads of different Android emulators and/or dev frameworks, so I was wondering if tests performed on such virtual system is reliable in terms of later work on actual devices?
Can I use these emulators for test purposes without testing on any actual device? What are strategies for such tests?
Yes, you can use emulators.
Of course, Eclipse and Android Studio has there own, but I would recommend you Genymotion as faster one.
What is the recommended way of testing an app on a device? The emulator is slow, mostly unresponsive and a cpu beast on my machine, so I use my phone to test my app. When I make a change to code, Eclipse builds it automatically, and then I debug it on the device. Is this the most efficient way to test small changes in code?
Android has some information on testing here. Personally I've found that testing code is much faster on a device. Other options without a device is to use something like Android x86 and run it in virtual environment like VirtualBox - this can be faster than the emulator. In my opinion, to really make sure your application is working as expected (especially with graphics and memory usage) is to test with the device(s) you intend to deploy the application on.
That's how I test my code, the emulators and on an actual device are the only ways I know of. I usually use an actual device, but I think you can keep an emulator running to speed up time a bit, but not too much.
It's in my opinion a good way to check the general functionality of your application. If everything works fine, I would use the emulator to check with different versions of android/screen sizes/resolutions etc. Maybe you can ask a friend who has a more powerful PC. The best possible thing is of course that friends/family/relatives etc. own Android devices so you can test your application / let it be tested on real devices.
I really want to get into Android programming but I only have access to company resources right now. I have the money right now to purchase a XOOM or a development laptop. Is it possible to compile Android apps using the command line on the Xoom while using other apps to write the program files.
What would seem like a dream environment would be if I purchased a XOOM and a BlueTooth Keyboard. Am I dreaming? Developing using older Android devices was naturally limited by the screen space of the device and the underlying hardware also.
No, as far as I know, you cannot develop Android applications from within Android. You will need a Windows, Mac, or Linux desktop environment to develop Android applications. Visit the Android Developer site for additional info on the SDK.
Go for the development laptop, and test your applications on the emulator. Initially you can get friends to test them out on their android for you, and hopefully by the time you make something important enough you will be able to afford your own android.
Check out AIDE. It can build and deploy apps natively on Android.
Google doesn't have a version of the SDK that runs on an android device, although as devices become more powerful this would be a pretty awesome thing to have.
You'll want the laptop, since it can emulate different android devices.
Buy the laptop and get a cheap phone on craigslists.
Although, the XOOM emulator doesn't work at all, so if you want to develop specifically for that tablet it's a good idea to buy it. It's impossible to emulate android 3.0 on any computer on earth :)
Can I use any Android Phone for app development? Here in the Philippines, there are many available mobile phones with Android installed. But I want to buy the cheapest phone available (which I think is Samsung i5500 Galaxy 5). Thanks in advance!
You can use any android powered device for development, just make sure it has Development menu option. To check go to Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Development. If there is somewhat like USB Debugging option you can use device for the development.
Why not use the actual dev kit? There is a complete setup with virtual phone included that you can run as an eclipse plugin.
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
I think any Android platform based phone will be OK.
Yes you can, and I would definitely recommend using a real phone. The emulator is excellent, but somewhat slow for a number of applications that require hardware (OpenGL comes to mind). Even a G1 tends to be faster than the emulator for certain things. If you're creating an app that uses Bluetooth, there's no way to do so on the emulator currently. Konstantin's directions are good for actually setting up the phone.
You need to understand one thing before you buy the phone. What version of Android SDK you will be using for to develop the app. If say, you are developing the app for cupcake and above, you better have a phone with cupcake version. But if you have Froyo phone, you will not be still able to run the app, but some depreciated functions might not be available and your app may crash.
If you want to develop in Windows there is a list of devices available for which the USB drivers work: USB Driver for Windows
If you don't need the GSM part you could also think about using the Archos 5 Internet Tablet, which is a Android powered media player and supports ADB (Android debug bridge) as well