Everyone wants to be good at their jobs. Unfortunately, many software testers think the best way to do their jobs well is to shorten the testing process with emulators or simulators. The problem, however, is that emulators don’t actually mimic real-life situations. Read device testing is the only way to find some bugs.
Three Reasons Software Testers Should Avoid Emulators
People are Not Machines
Emulators and simulators are designed to mimic what most users would do with a product. What this fails to take into account, however, is that people do not all “function” the same. For example, some people may access an application with a mouse while another with their finger or a stylus.
These interactions are also seen on real devices in real life environments. Mobile devices users, in particular, have different operating conditions including low battery, poor WiFi or other interruptions that may affect how applications work.
Other Software Programs Can Affect how Applications Work
Real devices have different operating systems, apps and games. These can negatively affect how an applications works on the device. Plus, other apps can interfere with an app’s functionality.
If software developers are building applications to work the same across many brand models, they may not be taking into account in the quirks of individual devices. For example, many developers run into an issue regarding the varying display of graphics across devices.
Hardware Can Be Problematic
Hardware includes everything from memory to display to chipsets, all of which can mean the difference between a positive and negative user experience. Commonly, certain applications or games won’t run on select devices because of the memory they require to function.
Successful Software Testers Don’t Use Emulators
Cutting corners is not an option. If you want to be a successful software tester, only test on real devices. Simulators and emulators cannot account for all the issues that a product might experience when a user is trying to run it on their own device.
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