CODEWITHSUNDEEP
androidmobile-development
Mohit Bhagat
Mohit Bhagat

Reputation: 13

What are the benefits of testing your app on stock android?

I've never made an app before and am looking to get into it. I also need to upgrade my phone because it's really old. I've heard people say that it is best to test your app on stock android. But I really wanted to buy a Huawei, which might be running an older version of android not stock. What extra benefit would I get by spending the extra $500 to buy a Google Pixel phone for testing. Or is it fine, if I go ahead and test my app on a Huawei? What would be the pros and cons?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 122

Answers (1)

Atchyut Maddukuri
Atchyut Maddukuri

Reputation: 353

Android is an open-source operating system, which means companies can modify it to their liking. They do so by adding what’s known as a custom skin or user interface on top of the OS, which changes its look and feel as well as adds new features. These skins include Samsung Experience, HTC Sense, EMUI (Huawei), and OxygenOS (OnePlus), to name a few.

Some skins, like Huawei’s EMUI, change the overall Android experience quite a bit. For example, until EMUI 5.0 came along, owners of Huawei smartphones didn’t have an app drawer. All the apps installed on a device were placed on the home screen, just like on iPhones.

With stock Android, you get none of that — you only get the features developed by Google.

You can see the comparison of "Stock OS" and "Forked OS" here

https://www.androidauthority.com/what-is-stock-android-845627/

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/what-is-stock-android/

With stock android, you get updates a little faster than other OS.

Coming to your scenario, you can even test an Android App without a physical device and by using Android's Emulator(Virtual Device) which has an Android Stock OS. You can select any version of Android(latest to old) and test your app there. If you are looking only for the purpose of testing I would not recommend you to buy PIXEL you can go ahead with your instincts.

People say it is best to test your app on stock android because the functionality you implement in pure android must work in the other OS as it is a layer on top of the stock OS but there are some chances(very few & negligible) that the functionality you implement in other OS might not work in stock OS. You can always use an Emulator for testing.

I am an Android developer. In my 5 years experience, I used both pixel and Oneplus, I did not find any advantages for stock android over Oneplus's Oxygen Os.

Upvotes: 1

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