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Difference between an Emulator and a Simulator for Mobile Device

Many people use the terms 'emulator' and 'simulator' interchangeably. The reality is that there are some very specific differences between the two terms.

Emulator: 
An emulator serves a primary task of substituting for the real mobile device. It replicates every aspect of the original device’s behavior including hardware and software. It emulates the hardware the real device uses, allowing the exact same app to run on it unmodified, and all of the software.

Simulator:  While a simulator recreates/replicates the operating system and the environment over it, it doesn’t emulate the real device’s hardware. Therefore what you will get with a simulator is the OS and the interface of the device you want to use but not the ability to experience all the problems the hardware might cause. Some apps may run a little differently and that’s the main reason why for some apps the simulators aren’t as reliable for testing.

Mobile Testing in the Cloud:


Worksoft SaaS offers mobile emulators, simulators, and real devices in the cloud.  This means you can access hundreds of iOs and Android simulators and emulators as well as real devices, multiple OS and OSs versions without the no need to buy mobile devices or set up emulators/simulators.

You don’t have to worry about the cost or effort of maintenance for the devices and/or emulators/simulators  because are accessing the device or emulator/simulator that we set up and maintain for you, in the cloud.

The most significant benefit to you is that mobile app testing teams from across your organizational units and geographic locations can collaborate on the testing of your mobile apps efficiently.


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