How do you test your APK files to know they are ok? Emulation? How?

part12studios

Hi there,

I downloaded an emulator called YouWave.. http://youwave.com/ but when i load the app it says "installtion failed [INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_APK]". I know the android SDK has an emulator, but i couldn't figure out how to get it to load..

I'm looking for the easiest way to test the apk on a "standard" android phone to know for fact that it works like it should.. I can't imagine people are just compiling the android app and then just uploading to the app store.

I plan on buying a physical phone for testing, but in the meantime I would love to know the app runs on an android device.

To the best of my knowledge I got the app to compile nice and clean in GameSalad.. now just to see if there is anything special i need to do to a device or emulator to have it work.

Thanks!
Caleb
Part12 Studios

jonmulcahy

I bought a kindle fire

part12studios

if you test with that.. how do you know if it's going to run on the nook? or running on a mobile phone? Are you targeting your game just for that one device?

StusApps

ultimately it is your responsibility to test or not to test on the real hardware. Android is such a minefield of devices that it would be impossible to test all eventualities. I'm testing with a Nexus S, Galaxy S Wifi 5.0, Galaxy Tab 7+ and a couple of cheap china tablets. It gives a fair spread of form factors.

nCartoon

I just sent the app to my email
then I Downloaded the apk file form email
it will be saved in download folder in device
then I just installed it that is all
I did that because its only 8MB


Santa ADV

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Buy a device to test it on.

part12studios

yea I bought a boost mobile phone.. a samsung galaxy prevail as a test device. I know its definitely one of the slower devices out there but i have a small network of local developers who are helpful

They give me benchmark scores from my simple performance meter actor I created to determine how fast a given device is. This allows me to then have a performance warning appear on slower devices so if it sucks, at least they know we know...

I've found using dropbox is a really efficient way to test apps on hardware. Eventually, if I see android being a lucrative market, I might invest in more hardware to test with, but for now.. one lower end phone is enough for me..

Thanks!
Caleb