iConcepts:Mobile Emulators & Simulators: The Ultimate Guide

Mobile Emulators & Simulators: The Ultimate Guide

Reference Source  : See Here

I’ve mixed all this information to create this ultimate guide to 37 download resources for hundreds of emulators and simulators. Enjoy!

This list includes content from Programming the Mobile Web book with frequent updated information & links.

List of mobile and tablet emulators for mobile web design & development testing

Name	Official	Platform	Type		Browser testing	Native testing	Compatibility
IOS SIMULATOR	Official	iOS	Simulator		Safari only	Objective-C
Download3.7Gb (login required)		Devices: iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch, iPhone 4, iPad (Tablet)
	Comes with XCode and Native SDK. You can’t emulate Accelerometer/Gyroscope(DeviceMotion API). You can’t emulate URI-schemes, such as click-to-call. As a Simulator, it doesn’t provide an AppStore; you can’t install other browsers for testing, such as Opera Mini or Skyfire.
ANDROID EMULATOR	Official	Android	Emulator		Android Browser – others	Java
Download20Mb and 60Mb per platform package		Devices: Generic devices using 1.1, 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.0 O.S. platform
	We need to download images of the platforms after downloading the SDK. Look atChapter 4 of the book for details. After downloading the platform, you can installFirefox, Opera Mini, Opera Mobile, Skyfire and UCWEB in your Android emulator for testing. You can download Motorola, Samsung and Nook add-ons (see below). Now it includes tablet support in HoneyComb (3.0)
HP WEBOS EMULATOR	Official	webOS	Virtual Machine		webOS Browser	JavaScript – C++
Download260Mb		Devices: Palm Pre, Palm Pixi, Palm Pixi Plus
	Comes with SDK
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB ADD-ON	Official	Android	Add-on		Android Browser – others	Java
Download52Mb		Devices: Samsung Galaxy Tab (Tablet)
	Requires Android SDK with 2.2 package. The download is done using the Android 2.3 SDK searching for third-party packages.
MOTOROLA XOOM ADD-ON	Official	Android	Add-on		Android Browser – others	Java
Download2Mb		Devices: Motorola Xoom (Tablet)
	Requires Android SDK with 3.0 package. It’s only a skin for the emulator.
NOKIA SYMBIAN EMULATORS	Official	Symbian	Emulator		S60 Browser – others	Java ME / WRT webapps / C++
Download500-750Mb each (requires login)		Devices: All Symbian devicesincluding: 3rd edition FP2 (such as Nokia N96), 5th edition (such as Nokia 5800 XpressMusic), Symbian^3 (such as N8) and an specific N97 emulator
	Large download and installation. You need to check previous requirements to be installed first. You can install Opera Mini, Opera Mobile, Bolt Browser andUCWEB on Symbian emulators.
NOKIA SERIES 40 EMULATORS	Official	Nokia OS	Emulator		Nokia Browser – others	Java ME / Flash Lite
Download30-100Mb each(requires login)		Devices: All devices including: 2nd edition, 3rd edition, 3rd edition FP1, 3rd edition FP2, 5th edition, 5th edition FP1, 5th edition FP1 Lite, 6th edition, 6th edition FP1
	You can install Opera Mini, UCWEB, Bolt Browser and OVI Browser Betaon Series 40 emulators.
MOTOROLA ADD-ONS SDK FOR ANDROID	Official	Android	Add-on		Android Browser – others
Download30-60Mb each device		Devices: Motorola: Atrix, Bravo, Cliq 2, Dext, Milestone, BackFlip, Devour, Qrty, i1, Droid2, Droid X, Flipout, Defy, Flipside, Cliq, Citrus, others
	Requires Android Emulator. There are 20 different downloads.
BLACKBERRY SIMULATORS	Official	RIM OS	Emulator		RIM Browser – others	Java
Download50-170Mb eachRequires login		Devices: 35 different models including series Bold, Curve, Pearl, Storm, Storm2, Style, Torch & Tour. Every model has different emulators combining OS version and operator firmware.
	For web browsing testing you need to install and open a proxy service. SeeChapter 4 for a full compatibility table and installation guide. You can installOpera Mini and Bolt Browser on BlackBerry emulators.
BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK SIMULATOR	Official	Tablet OS	Virtual Machine		Internal Browser	Adobe AIR
Download105MbRequires login		Devices: BlackBerry PlayBook (tablet)
	HTML5 browser support. Adobe AIR & Packaged HTML5 WebWorkers app support.
WINDOWS PHONE 7 SIMULATOR	Official	Windows Phone	Emulator		Internet Explorer	Silverlight
Download (Visual Studio Express included)500Mb		Devices: Generic Windows Phone 7
	Comes with Visual Studio Express (free version) or as an add-in for commercial versions
SONY ERICSSON SDK FOR ANDROID	Official	Android	Add-on		Android Browser – others
Download50Mb		Devices: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
	Requires Android Emulator.
NOOK SDK FOR ANDROID	Official	Android	Add-on		Android Browser – others
Download130MbRequires Login		Devices: Barnes & Noble Nook Color
	Requires Android Emulator.
OPERA MOBILE EMULATOR	Official	Symbian / Android / Windows	Simulator		Opera Mobile	No native
Download15-25Mb		Devices: Multiple devices & OS emulation support
	You can also use emulators (Symbian, Android) and install the real Opera Mobile inside.
OPERA MINI SIMULATOR	Official	Many	Online emulator		Opera Mini	No native
Use OnlineUse online v.4		Devices: Generic Java device – No Opera Mini for iOS emulation
	You can also use emulators (Symbian, Android, Java, BlackBerry) and install the real Opera Mini inside.
FIREFOX FOR MOBILE SIMULATOR	Official	Generic Engine	Simulator		Firefox Mobile	No native
Download20Mb		Devices: Multiple devices – beta version.
	You can also use emulators (Android) and install the real Firefox Mobile inside. The desktop simulator is very basic and it’s in beta state.
QT SIMULATOR	Official	Symbian & Maemo	Simulator		No Browser support	Qt
Download500-900Mb		Devices: Maemo (such as Nokia N900), Symbian Touch (such as Nokia N8) and Symbian non-touch (such as Nokie E71)
	It does not support web browsing testing. You can test and create QtWebKit apps (hybrids) with HTML5 and CSS3.
NOKIA WEB SDK SIMULATOR	Official	Symbian & Maemo	Simulator		Webapp testing	WRT and webapps
Download200MbRequires Login		Devices: Maemo (such as Nokia N900), Symbian Touch (such as Nokia N8) and Symbian non-touch (such as Nokie E71)
	It does not support direct web browsing testing. You can test and create webapps & widgets.
PHONEGAP SIMULATOR	3rd-party	Generic	Simulator		WebKit-based	PhoneGap hybrid testing
Download15Mb		Devices: Apple iPhone, Generic Android, and others
	The rendering engine is a simulation. You can use it for hybrid PhoneGap testing or for simple WebKit-based browser simulation.
ADOBE DEVICE CENTRAL CS5	3rd party	Several	Simulator		Generic browser support	Flash
Included with Creative Suite (commercial)		Devices: Device Library with more than 100 devices.
	The web browsing support up to CS5 version is very basic (just a sized webkit browser for every device) and non-accurate.
BADA SIMULATOR	Official	Bada OS	Simulator		No Browser Support	Bada C
Download200/400MbRequires Login		Devices: Maemo (such as Nokia N900), Symbian Touch (such as Nokia N8) and Symbian non-touch (such as Nokie E71)
	It does not support direct web browsing testing. You can test and create webapps & widgets.
GARNET EMULATOR	Official	Garnet OS (formerly Palm OS)	Emulator		NetFront	Garnet
Download200/400Mb		Devices: Old Palm OS devices
WINDOWS MOBILE 6 EMULATOR	Official	Windows Mobile	Emulator		Internet Explorer	.NET / C++
Download600Mb		Devices: Generic Windows Mobile Devices – Standard and Professional versions
	* This emulator requires special attention for using the browser. Look at chapter 4 ofProgramming the Mobile Web for detailed instructions on how to use it. You can install Opera Mobile and Opera Mini inside the emulator.
WINDOWS MOBILE 6.5 EMULATOR IMAGES	Official	Windows Mobile	Add-on		Internet Explorer	.NET / C++
Download250Mb		Devices: Generic Windows Mobile Devices – Standard and Professional versions
	Requires Windows Mobile 6 SDK
WINDOWS MOBILE 6.1 EMULATOR IMAGES	Official	Windows Mobile	Add-on		Internet Explorer	.NET / C++
Download400Mb		Devices: Generic Windows Mobile Devices – Standard and Professional versions
	Requires Windows Mobile 6 SDK
DEVICE EMULATOR WITH WINDOWS MOBILE 5	Official	Windows Mobile	Emulator		Internet Explorer	.NET / C++
Download60Mb		Devices: Generic Windows Mobile Devices – Standard and Professional versions
	* This emulator requires special attention for using the browser. Look at chapter 4 ofProgramming the Mobile Web for detailed instructions on how to use it.
I-MODE HTML SIMULATOR	Official	Native	Simulator		i-Mode Browser (Japan)	No native
Download38Mb		Devices: Generic Windows Mobile Devices – Standard and Professional versions
	Simulator for Japanese’s i-mode browsers
MITE 2.0	3rd-party	Generic	Simulator		Generic	No native
Download75MbRequires login		Devices: Generic Browser Testing with a library of hundreds of devices.
	The rendering engine is not real. This tool simulates network requests as some mobile device and it renders the response on a generic webkit with some customization per device.
SONY ERICSSON SDK FOR WINDOWS MOBILE 6.1	Official	Windows Mobile	Add-on		Internet Explorer	.NET / C++
Download7Mb		Devices: Sony Ericsson Xperia X1
	Requires Windows Mobile SDK
SAMSUNG DEVICE EMULATOR SKINS FOR WINDOWS MOBILE	Official	Samsung	Add-on		Internet Explorer	.NET / C++
Download7Mb		Devices: GT-B7300 Omnia Lite, GT-B7330 Omnia Pro, GT-B7620 Armani, GT-I8000 Omnia II, SPH-i350 Intrepid
	Requires Windows Mobile SDK
SONY ERICSSON PHONEGAP SIMULATOR	Official	Generic	Simulator		PhoneGap apps	PhoneGap hybrids
Download2Mb		Devices: Generic Android (such as Xperia X10) and Symbian (such as Satio)
	Requires Windows Mobile SDK
LG SDK FOR THE JAVA PLATFORM	Official	LG	Simulator		No Browser Support	Java ME
Download60-100Mb		Devices: All propietary-OS LG devices
	Only for Java ME testing
SONY ERICSSON SDK FOR THE JAVA PLATFORM	Official	LG	Simulator		No Browser Support	Java ME
Download120Mb		Devices: All propietary-OS Sony Ericsson devices
	Only for Java ME testing
SAMSUNG JAVA SDK	Official	Samsung	Simulator		No Browser Support	Java ME
Download150MbRequires login		Devices: All propietary-OS Samsung devices
	Only for Java ME testing
SAMSUNG MOBILE WIDGET EMULATOR	Official	Samsung	Simulator		Only Widgets	Widgets
Download150MbRequires login		Devices: All propietary-OS, Symbian and Windows Mobile Samsung devices
	Only for widget testing
MOTOROLA JAVA ME SDKS	Official	Motorola	Simulator		No Browser Support	Java ME
Download40-150Mb eachRequires login		Devices: All propietary-OS Motorola devices
	Only for Java ME testing
WAC EMULATOR	3rd-party	Several	Simulator		Only Widgets	Widgets
Download150Mb each		Devices: Generic Widget platform
	Only for widget testing
BREW SDK	Official	Brew	Simulator		Basic browser	Flash / C++
Download200Mb		Devices: Generic BREW platform

EMULATORS AND SIMULATORS

Generally speaking, an emulator is a piece of software that translates compiled code from an original architecture to the platform where it is running, such as the greatMAME. In the mobile development world, a device emulator is a desktop application that emulates mobile device hardware and operating systems, allowing us to test and debug our applications and see how they are working. There are also operating system emulators that don’t represent any real device hardware but rather the operating system as a whole. These exist for Windows Mobile and Android.

On the other hand, a simulator is a less complex application that simulates some of the behavior of a device, but does not emulate hardware and does not work over the real operating system. These tools are simpler and less useful than emulators. A simulator may be created by the device manufacturer or by some other company offering a simulation environment for developers.

If you want to download every emulator on this list you will need at least one MacOS desktop and one Windows desktop, downloading at least 25Gb of applications.

Do you know any other emulator? Leave it in the comments area?

Thanks :)

Keep Coding :)