Top 10 Things to Look for in a Mobile App Emulator

Last updated on April 16th, 2024 at 03:27 pm

Software testing is an integral part of the modern application development process. However, mobile application testing is the most important area that requires the attention of developers. During the early years of application development, the desktop was the only platform to access these apps.  With the advancement of technology, people became busier in life and needed an on-the-go solution. All these factors gave rise to mobile devices that could act as a desktop in the pockets. Developing applications for this device is easier said than done. This is because of the massive range of variations the developers have to face. Recent statistics show that more than 1,000 Android devices are released every year. Every device comes with a different screen size, display resolution and Core specifications. All these factors will affect the testing procedures for the applications.

Due to the effect of modern technology, mobile apps are no longer the scaled-down version of their desktop counterpart.  Important statistics show that almost 52% of users prefer to use mobile applications instead of desktop apps. Due to the massive growth of the mobile industry, all applications must be compatible with every version of iOS and Android. Mobile Emulator Online play an important role in the mobile app testing process. There are certain factors that a developer must remember to utilise the full potential of a mobile app emulator. With this article, we will try to explore all the factors that can help you to find the best mobile app emulator for your needs. Before that, let us understand the meaning of mobile app testing.

What is Mobile App Testing

Mobile app testing is a process of verifying the functionalities, usability, performance and consistency of an application. The developers complete this process by running the application on a virtual mobile app testing platform. These platforms include simulators, emulators and even virtual machines. As a developer, you must consider three parameters for the testing process. These parameters are real environment, functionality and non-functional aspects. Functionality testing processes will cover the UI testing, business flow and cross-platform coverage of the web application. On the other hand, environment testing aims to perform background testing and check all the interruptions and gestures of the web application. It also verifies the performance of the web application under different network conditions. 

Non-functional aspects consider all the decorative elements of web applications. These elements do not have any connection with the functioning of the web application. However, they are very important as they play a critical role in improving the user interface stability and maintaining user satisfaction.

Need For Virtual Mobile App Platform

The quality assessment teams have to test the web application multiple times before forwarding it to the production face.  The goal of this process is to ensure that the application is ready to be released to the end-users. Performing all these testing processes on devices can be costly considering the fragmentation of devices and operating systems. During the application release process, the developers must ensure that it is compatible with multiple devices and operating systems at the same time. The total number of mobile devices was estimated to be 15 million at the end of 2021. This number is expected to reach 18.2 billion by the end of 2025. So, it is practically impossible to physically verify the functioning of the application on 15 billion devices.

The difficulty of the testing process increases if you are trying to verify the functioning of a web application. This is because you also have to consider the variation in the browser industry. Thousands of browsers are released every day in the market. Due to all of these factors, mobile application testing with an emulator seems to be a boon for the testing team. Emulators help to verify the functioning of an application on a device without actually installing the app on it. So, we can define a mobile app emulator to be a virtual platform that can simulate an Android device on the tester’s computer. This means the developers can verify the functioning of an Android APK file using an online APK emulator. It eliminates the hassle of maintaining a physical device. 

Advantages of an Emulator

Emulators are considered to be one of the most successful additions to the mobile app testing industry. It helps the developers to smoothly execute the performance testing processes of a mobile app. To verify this claim, let us analyze some of the major advantages of a mobile app emulator:

• Mimics Real Devices: Emulator provides the ideal environment simulator for Android or iOS devices. This helps the developers to verify the proper functioning of the application.  

• Easy to Access: The developers can easily access the emulator for testing purposes. This helps them to control the test cases according to their preferences. 

• Captures the Results: Emulators have a great way to store vital data regarding the testing of the web app. For instance, the developer can take screenshots to maintain a record of the bugs that they encountered during the testing process. 

• Availability of Internal Storage: While working with emulators, the developers will not face any issues regarding internal storage and other related features. 

However, the massive advantages of an emulator cannot overshadow its one great disadvantage. The accuracy of emulator-based test results cannot be compared to that of real device test cases. This is because emulators cannot simulate the physical specifications of a mobile device. They also cannot mimic the behaviour of a web application depending on the user interaction.  

Things to Look for in a Mobile App Emulator

The primary goal of a mobile app emulator is to simplify the app testing process. While selecting the emulator for your testing requirements, there are certain factors that you must verify. Let us take a quick look at some of the most important factors:

1. Easy Upload Features: The easy upload features to ensure that the developers can quickly upload the vital test data. This process saves a lot of time in the core testing period.

2. Availability of a Wide Range of Android Devices: The emulator should provide a wide range of Android devices. This will help the developers to cover the maximum area of the target audience. 

3. Availability of a Wide Range of iOS Devices: iOS Devices also comprise a massive user base. So, the emulator must provide multiple versions of this operating system to ensure stable performance. It will also help to expand the audience base for the company. 

4. Options for Real-Time Debugging: Real-time debugging saves a lot of time during the application development life cycle. Using this feature, the developers can remove critical bugs on the web application during the testing phase itself. 

5. Native Experience: Native experience is important to maintain the originality of the web application. This feature also helps the developers to customize the application according to the requirements of the end-users. It is one of the most important features that you must look for in a mobile app testing emulator.  

6. Geolocation Test Cases: Geolocation testing ensures that the application is accessible to all users irrespective of their location. In this competitive market, you cannot afford to alienate a segment of the user base due to any form of incompatibility. So, you must ensure that the emulator can perform geolocation testing.  

7. Test on Any Environment: The emulator must be able to verify the functioning of the web application on any platform. This process will save of hassle of switching emulators depending on the test case requirement.  

8. Store Test Logs: The emulator must have access to internal storage for storing the essential test logs. This process will help you to keep track of all the bugs that you encountered during the testing process. 

9. Issue Tracking Features: The issue tracking feature is another important factor to consider for maintaining track of all the bugs. It records all the discrepancies in the core framework of the web application. 

10. Different Integrations: The emulator must have the option to integrate third-party libraries and applications. Using this feature, you can improve the efficiency of the test cases. 

Selecting the best Tool for Mobile App Testing

Tools play a vital role in improving mobile test cases. It also helps to simplify the testing process for developers who are new to the mobile testing industry. Certain tools and platforms also offer modern technologies to improve the accuracy and quality of the test cases. Currently, there are thousands of tools that are available in the market. However, the developers must choose the perfect tool according to their preferences and project requirements. During this process, they should also consider the company budget, their programming language preferences and scheduled delivery date. It’s also a good idea to have a proper understanding of the modern mobile app testing trends. We can use the example of LambdaTest to further elaborate on this concept:

LambdaTest is a cloud-based platform to verify the cross-browser compatibility of both mobile and desktop applications. The developers can use this platform to run the live mobile app testing and mobile automation testing on an online Appium Grid. Currently, LambdaTest allows the developers to initiate the test cases on more than 3000 different Browsers and browser versions. Using this platform, the developers can also perform parallel testing of web applications. Parallel testing is a process of initiating multiple test instances at the same time. Using this feature, the developer can verify the functioning of the web application on multiple combinations of operating systems and browsers at the same time. LambdaTest also helps to verify the proper functioning of all the local web pages. 

One of the major benefits of LambdaTest is that it combines the test reports of virtual machines and emulators with real device test results.  This process helps to improve the accuracy of the overall testing process.

The Conclusion

With this article, we justified that emulator plays a vital role in the mobile app testing process. Companies should pay attention to training their staff about the importance of emulators. This process will also help the developers to utilise the full potential of this wonderful Technology. As a developer, you must also understand the importance of a proper tool in the mobile app testing process. Experts believe artificial intelligence will also become an integral part of the future testing industry. It is a good idea for the developers to constantly update themselves about the changes in the market. All these factors will help to guarantee a successful future in the app Development Industry.