Understanding Emulator Limitations

The emulator is powerful, but it has several important limitations:

• It is not a device, so it does not reflect actual behavior, only simulated behavior. Simulated behavior is generally more consistent (less random) than what users experience in real life on real devices.

• It simulates phone calls and messaging, but you cannot place or receive true calls or SMS messages. No support for MMS.

• Limited ability to determine device state (network state, battery charge).

• Limited ability to simulate peripherals (camera/video capture, headphones, sensor data).

• Limited API support (for example, no SIP, hardware acceleration, OpenGL ES 2.0, and third-party hardware API support). When developing certain categories of applications, such as augmented reality applications, 3D games, and applications that rely upon sensor data, you’re better off using the real hardware.