Hi I'm new to android development and I don't currently have an android device. How effective and feasible is it to develope with only an emulator on not testing on an android device? Do the emulators do a good job of actually "emulating" an android device? Are there any "gotchas" I should be aware of when using an emulator? I am looking into getting an android device but I don't have funds currently to by multiple android devices to test on all android versions/hardware. Thanks,
The emulator is slow and takes a long time to start. (but you only need to start it once in awhile) You'll want to put the SDK in a folder with no spaces in the name and make the emulated devices contain no spaces in the names. Also depends on what you want to develop. Connecting to the internet can be tricky but doable. I dont know what issues are involved with stuff like mock locations and Google apps. Some hardware things will be untestable (for example: bluetooth, NFC)
doing an app would be doable, but for a game .. the emulator won't do cause it's a lot slower than an actual phone and again, when the emulator is running , don't close it unless you are done programming for the day having one phone as a test subject would be good, you can improve compatibility using the emulator later on
The emulator is not recommended for testing your apps. Google's answer, so would say get a android phone if you can.
