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I'm going to build an application for iPad, iPhone and Android.

I'm wondering what devices I do need for testing. For example: I can run an iPhone app on an iPad, so the iPad would be a good solution, I guess.

And what about Android ? Should I hack the iPad and run Android on it as well ?

Is therefore the iPad a good testing device for all mobile softwares and screens with different resolutions ?

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@GlennNelson: I'm curious why you consider this not constructive. It seems like a perfectly legitimate question to me. Many programmers have very weak testing skills and don't realize what it takes to do a proper amount of testing. The choice of hardware for testing will determine how extensive their testing will be. – Bryan Oakley Mar 2 at 16:20
@BryanOakley The question is literally asking for a shopping list. Also why single me out? I'm not the only one to vote to close. – Glenn Nelson Mar 2 at 23:42
@GlennNelson: I singled you out because SO would only allow one use of @, and you seemed to be the last person to touch this question. And while I agree the question is asking for a shopping list, well, some people truly need that. The advice he needs is that he can do the bulk of his testing in an emulator on whatever desktop he's using for development, but that to be certain of the quality of his app there's no substitute for testing on actual hardware. That's knowledge he is lacking. – Bryan Oakley Mar 2 at 23:58

closed as not constructive by gnat, Martijn Pieters, MichaelT, Dynamic, Glenn Nelson Mar 2 at 15:45

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4 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

I'm unsure about the ins and outs of the iPad backward compatibility, but while you can run iPhone apps on it, it's probably not the same as running it natively on an iPhone. Just as running an app in a simulator on the development machine isn't the same as running it on the device. I don't have experience with Android development, but I know that when it comes to the iPhone simulator, there's no substitute for a real device. Both iPhone and iPad. There are performance quirks that exist in the simulator which are not present on the devices.

A quick google turned up this SO question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/380062/iphone-device-vs-iphone-simulator

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I really don't want to use simulators, I want to test on real device, but I would prefer to not buy all different devices.. You know any specific issues I'm going to face if I use an iPad to test iPhone applications ? – Patrick Oct 13 '10 at 9:53
@Patrick I'm actually performing some tests tomorrow of an iPhone app I'm developing, on an iPad. It's a requirement of Apple that your application works on both when you submit it. I'll let you know what happens in regard to performance/usability issues. It's probably fine, but I won't know until I've tried. Until now, I've only been testing it on an iPod Touch and an iPhone 4. – badgerr Oct 13 '10 at 10:53
ok cool! It would be cool to know if I can use the iPad for testing iOS apps for all devices – Patrick Oct 13 '10 at 10:55
@Patrick After testing my iPhone app yesterday on an iPad, I can report no problems. If the app is compiled for iPhone only, the iPad will run it in a small "window" in the centre of the screen, and provide you with a "2x" option to scale it up. This means you can see it both at the size the iPhone will display, and scaled up. I think an iPad would be sufficient for your iOS applications. – badgerr Oct 15 '10 at 8:02
Cool, thanks a lot for your help – Patrick Oct 17 '10 at 13:46
up vote 2 down vote

Usually the SDK comes with some sort of emulator. You can find the android emulator here http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/emulator.html

If you're serious about android/iphone/ipad development then eventually you will need a device.

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Daniel and that's why I asked this question. I don't want to use an emulator – Patrick Oct 13 '10 at 9:51
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@Patrick I think an emulator will give you better results than hacking another device. If you don't want to use an emulator then you need a real terminal. – Daniel Oct 13 '10 at 9:58
@Patrick Btw this seems obvious but you can ask your friend to test the app(s) for you and report any bug(s). – Daniel Oct 13 '10 at 10:00
If I recall correctly, you can't deploy apps directly to a phone unless it's registered with the dev program, which may or may not be an issue if you want someone else to test the apps on a real device. – Anna Lear♦ Oct 13 '10 at 15:02
@Anna Lear ok thanks, but the point is that I want to test by myself. So I cannot ask other devices to friends. What I'm trying to do is to buy 1 device to test all mobile operating systems possibly with different screen resolutions. That's why I was wondering if I can run Android on an Ipad... it sounds like a good testing device. – Patrick Oct 13 '10 at 17:31
up vote 2 down vote

For iOS:

  • If you can get one, I'd highly recommend testing on the oldest, slowest device running the minimum version of iOS you intend to support. (e.g. 2nd generation iPod Touch if your deployment target is iOS 3.2) You'll be able to see how your app runs on older hardware and make performance adjustments if necessary.
  • If you're using different xibs for iPhone and iPad, have both an iPhone/iPod Touch and an iPad for testing.

For Android: I don't really know, there are too many different devices. I guess I'd stick with getting something that's slower and making sure the app runs OK with the memory constraints imposed by the older/slower device.

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ok. So... what about using an old iPhone and to install on it both android and iOS at the same time ? Is that possible ? And is it a good idea ? (Obviously I cannot be 100% sure the software will work on all devices) – Patrick Oct 13 '10 at 17:35
up vote 4 down vote

If you want to be 99% sure that your app works on a given platform, you need a physical device that runs that platform. Preferrably natively (i.e. no hacked OSes). (I leave 1% for the possibility that something will go wrong on someone's phone anyway. Because it will.)

Some apps have different versions for iPad and iPhone, so that leads me to believe that there are difference there (at the very least when it comes to screen real estate). I'd bite the bullet and buy all 3 devices. You might be able to cut some costs by getting older models, which is nice for testing since you'll want to make sure you can run on an older, slower device.

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thanks, you are actually right about older models. I didn't think about that.. – Patrick Oct 13 '10 at 17:32

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