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androiddebuggingtestingemulationandroid-hardware

Porting application to android

I am about to port my application on android. Since I am new to this system I would like to ask for tips on android phones for testing my app. The number of phones is pretty huge so it is pretty hard to choose the right one. Also I wasn't able to find some kind of official chart of system distribution.

I know that it really depends on hardware and how much my app demands from hardware. It is pretty basic app and I am able to run this app at 30fps on iPhone 4S.

I did some research and people are talking about the latest phones but I think that it is not necessary to buy the newest one. Also, is there option to buy for example tablet and emulate android devices on this tablet?

So my goal is to focus on devices people have the most.

Thank you for any advice.

Solution

  • You can run many of your tests on the Android emulator. Using it together with the DDMS will allow you to simulate several real life situations (arriving call, arriving sms, change position...)


    You can use BlueStacks which is an emulator put on steroids.


    TestFairy and UTest are awsome communities for crowd testing were you can test ~any device you can think of.


    Still, it is a good idea, especially if you plan your run at Android to be long, to maintain a small stash of real devices.

    Which devices should you buy? Which OS version should they run?

    The Android dashboard is the official source for answering some of these questions. It gives an up to date statistics of worldwide distribution by OS version, svreen size/density and more:


    OS Distribution

    OS Distribution




    Screen type Distribution

    Screen type Distribution



    So, true to July 2014 you would want devices running Jelly Bean, Gingerbread & ICS and you screens of types normal/hdpi, normal/xxhdpi and normal/xhdpi. This list can grow but even this will provide you with a good sample of the Android device ecosystem.

    As for manufacturers, the picture is clear: Samsung is the winner. Exact number & distributions are harder to find here, but a Google search might help.

    If my memory serves me write some 65% of all Android devices are Samsungs made with Galaxy S3 taking 15% (of ENTIRE Android market) and Galaxy S4 = 10%.


    Device screen features:

    • Galaxy S2 is normal/hdpi
    • Galaxy S3 is normal/xhdpi
    • Galaxy S4/S5 is normal/xxhdpi

    These will probably be your best bet. You will do smartly to install on them 2-3 different OS versions, at minimum Jelly Bean and ICS.