Is it advisable to develop and publish an android application without testing it on a real device first?

Question

I want to develop an android application and publish it. It is a very simple messenger application.

For testing it on a real device I would need to buy a android phone first. Normally I would just set up some virtual devices with different screen resolutions and different sdk's and start the application on that devices using the emulator.

So would you recommend to test the application on a real device? Any other suggestion?

Answer 1

I don't think it's advisable. Whenever possible I would test an application on at least one device, preferably more. Can you borrow an android phone from a friend for a few hours? If your app is truly simple then you should be able to get someone to part with phone for a short amount of time (then take them out to lunch after :P). Or you could try and snag a cheap used phone off of eBay or a similar site.

The only reason I wouldn't fully trust the emulator is that it can be very slow and unresponsive, especially for games.

Answer 2

So would you recommend to test the application on a real device?

Absolutely. I think that publishing an Android app without testing on hardware qualifies as insanity.