Emulators and simulators play a pivotal role in the software testing environment, particularly in the realm of mobile application testing. An automation test engineer often relies on these tools to validate the functionality, performance, and user interface of applications across a variety of platforms and devices without needing physical access to each device. Here's an overview of these indispensable tools, along with examples:
Emulators: An emulator is a tool that replicates the software and hardware environments of a specific device on a different platform, creating a virtual device that behaves just like the original one. This allows test engineers to interact with the application as if it were running on the actual device.
For instance, Android Emulator, a part of the Android SDK, enables developers and testers to run Android applications on a PC. It emulates various Android devices with different screen sizes, resolutions, and versions, allowing test scripts to interact with the application as if it were on an actual device. This helps in identifying device-specific issues, such as layout problems in different screen resolutions or compatibility issues with various Android versions.
Simulators: While emulators mimic both hardware and software, simulators only mimic the software and operating environment of the original device. They simulate the internal behavior of a device but do not attempt to replicate the hardware. This makes simulators faster to run and easier to set up than emulators, but they may not accurately reproduce all device behaviors.
For example, the iOS Simulator, included with Xcode, simulates an iOS environment but does not replicate the hardware. It's an excellent tool for initial functional testing as it allows testing of the application’s user interface, workflows, and functionalities in various simulated iOS devices. However, because it doesn't replicate the hardware, it can't be used for testing sensor-based functionalities, like accelerometer or gyroscope input.
As an automation test engineer, using emulators and simulators effectively can streamline the testing process and help discover bugs and issues early in the development cycle. This not only saves time but also enhances the quality of the end product by ensuring it performs as expected across a wide range of devices and platforms.
Developing Emulators and Simulators Establishing an Emulator In order to create virtual devices or emulators and test mobile applications with the help of Qualitia, you will need to download Android Studio.
For a comprehensive guide on creating and managing Android virtual devices, you can click here. <include link>
To establish an Emulator, follow these steps:
Start by downloading Android Studio.
After downloading, double-click on the file named android-studio-bundle-windows.exe. This action will initiate the installation process for Android Studio.
Follow the instructions displayed on the screen to complete the installation of the studio. Ensure to select the Standard Installation option.
Note: Android Studio is a development environment created for Android application development. In order to start application testing using virtual devices, it's necessary for users to have at least one project created in the studio. After the creation of a project, users can create and launch emulators and download the required platform images directly from Android Studio.
Once installation process is complete, open Android Studio.
Create a dummy project for the sake of this setup.
Navigate to File menu and select Settings.
Under section labeled Appearance & Behavior, expand the System Settings and select Android SDK.
In the panel on the right, choose SDK Platforms.
Choose the required packages for installation and click on Apply.
Remember: Google system images are required to create and launch virtual devices (emulators). Usually, emulators created with Google APIs Intel x86 Atom System Image can serve all testing requirements. However, users can download and install any system image depending on the specific requirements of their testing. If you want to have Google Chrome in the Nougat emulator, please select Google API as the system image. Google Chrome is the default browser for Nougat, but this may not be the case for other Android operating systems.
The system will display a list of components that you have selected for installation.
Go to SDK Tools and ensure that Android SDK Build-Tools is installed. If it's not, you should download it.
Click OK.
Once all the necessary components are installed, click Finish.
Now you are ready to start creating virtual devices.
To set up a simulator in Xcode, follow these steps:
Start by launching Xcode on your Mac.
Once Xcode is open, navigate to the menu bar at the top and select Xcode > Preferences. This will open the Preferences dialog box.
In Preferences dialog box, select Components tab located at the top. This will present you with a list of all available iOS simulators.
From list of available simulators, choose the ones you want to use for testing. You can select one or multiple simulators depending on your testing needs. For example, you might want to test your application on different versions of iOS or on different device types (like iPhone and iPad).
After selecting required simulators, system will prompt you for your password. This is necessary as installing software components in macOS often requires administrative permissions.
Enter your password in the provided field, then click on the Install Software button.
Note: The selected simulators will begin downloading and installing. Once installed, these simulators can be used to execute your test cases, providing a comprehensive and efficient way to conduct your mobile application testing. Remember, while simulators are a powerful tool for initial testing stages, they don't perfectly emulate all hardware and software characteristics of actual devices, so it's still important to perform final testing on real devices to ensure the complete compatibility and performance of your application.