With Android owning more than 70% of the mobile/tablet operating system market share, developing applications on the Android platform has become a lucrative business for developers around the world. Developing quality and usable applications always moves hand in hand with using the best and right tools with good features and performance and having these tools available for use is the dream of every developer out there.
The default Android emulator is known to have several performance issues especially for those who have used it very extensively, from simply starting it to running apps, it tends to be slow and time wasting. Of course, there are always alternatives in the software industry, and in this overview, we shall look Genymotion an important alternative to the default Android emulator.
Genymotion is possibly the best and fastest cross-platform Android emulator you can think of, it speeds your app development lifecycle with an easy to use testing, automation and collaboration tool.
It has 3000+ Android configurations you can choose from, allowing you to test at anytime, test often and also automate the testing process by integrating it with continuous integration servers such as Gradle and Jenkins.
It boots 3x faster than an actual device and also enables quicker APK deployment than on any actual device. Users also have the luxury of managing app development lifecycle on-demand and at scale using Genymotion cloud automation, you can find out more by reading the features of the free and full versions that we shall look at in the next sections.
Features of Freemuim Genymotion
The features listed below are those you can find in the free version of Genymotion:
- 100% compliant with Android APIs
- enables for users to vary GPS location, network quality or battery level from one point of location
- simulate phone calls and text messages to analyze app reaction
- enables emulation of 40+ devices
- unlimited app installations
- support for all android version installations
- use of laptop webcam as video source for Android camera
- compatible with Android SDK tools, Android studio and Eclipse
- test websites with multiple browsers including Firefox for Android, Webkit for Android plus many more
Features of Premium Genymotion
The full version has the following premium features:
- automated testing process
- take control from command line
- compatible with continuous integration servers
- full device management
- brings the physical to a virtual environment
- easy communication
- design friendly
- full support from a team of experts
To download the free version of Genymotion, simply visit the official website and create an account, then a confirmation link will be sent to your email account and activate your new account by clicking on the link and boom! you should be able to see a download link and get a free version for trials with the features listed above.
Below are the system requirements for Debian 8 (Jessie)/Ubuntu (Wily Werewolf or above) Linux provided on the download page:
- 64-bit CPU with VT-x OR AMD-v capability enabled in BIOS settings
- A recent and dedicated GPU(Graphics Processing Unit)
- Atleast 400 MB of disk space
- Atleast 2GB of RAM
Are you ready to start making better apps using the best and fastest Android emulator ever with 3000+ Android APK configurations, then, Genymotion is your ultimate choice. Download it today and enjoy application development on the Android platform.
