Android Testing on multiple phones?

Question

I have an LG phone (OS 2.2.1) and an original Droid X phone that I use for testing my app on. I prefer testing on actual phones over the emulator or say the Android-x86 and VirtualBox. Is it worth it to also test on other Hardware Manufacturer's phones like Samsung or HTC? Are there any serious discrepancies on other vendor's phones to consider? -Mike

Answer 1

YES, there are. Here are a few examples, off the top of my head:

• Motorola saw fit to change how phone birthdays and other dates are stored in contacts, from a string as in "YYYY-MM-DD" to an integer value with a UNIX timestamp. MotoBlur phones only.
• Motorola also messed up the FLAG_BLUR_BEHIND window flag, at least one some phones like the OG Droid. Using that flag will render your activity all but unusable since a screen refresh will take a second.
• HTC phones (mostly Sense-based) have issues with date handling, so using SimpleDateFormat may not work in the same way as others.
• Your notification icons (especially if they have gray tones) might look weird on phones with custom skins, like HTC Sense phones.

So, yes - definitely check your phone against as many different vendors as you can.

Answer 2

As a general practice, I try to test on as many phones as possible. Sometimes phones (especially oddball mini-form phones) can have unexpected screen resolutions that might mess with your layouts if you hadn't accounted for them. But, yes, if at all possible, test on as many physical devices as you can.