Smart Devices Applications Beta TestingSmart Devices applications are developed in a Windows environment (where GeneXus runs) but are usually targeted to a different one (iOS, Android, etc.). Many environments, such as Android, provide an emulator that runs in Windows making it possible to run an Smart Devices application without having an actual device. This is a pretty nice feature but also has the following drawbacks:
- Emulators lack resources such as calendar, camera, GPS, or third-party applications.
If your application requires one of these resources you will not be able to prototype with an emulator. It is recommended to test device specific features on the device itself instead of the emulator as it may not work as expected, particularly when using these external objects: ClientInformation, Geolocation, Interop, Camera.
Android:
When using the Android Emulator you can set a fix GPS location by means of the geo fix command or use an application to set it, for example:
geo fix -31.9667 115.8325
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10664202/how-to-enable-gps-in-eclipse-emulator-for-android
Emulators are usually slower than devices to load the application and execute it.
- What you see may not be what you get.
There may be minor but in fact important differences between an emulator and an actual device.
Running an application on an emulator provides little “feeling” as you do not actually use it with your hands: shake it, touch it, use the gyroscope, etc.
It may seem that there is no reason to use an emulator and, if you have an actual device, you may be right. If you don’t, it’s a great friend!
Beta testing on real devices, with real users: Native Mobile Applications Beta Testing