AVD Manager
The AVD Manager provides a graphical user interface in which you can create and manage Android Virtual Devices (AVDs), which are required by the Android Emulator.
Launch AVD manager using either of the options below (one is command line and other is from Android Studio)
android avd- command line that launches avd (shell variables should be set so that the executables are in PATH. See section Install Android SDK)- Click the icon 'AVD Manager' in Android Studio IDE as follows
View
What can I do
When we start to understand the Android world, we want a sandbox to play with. Android virtual device manager lets you create avd/emulator for different hardware and software configurations. I found the following features beneficial while learning the platform
- Create emulators for phones, tablets, wear, TV etc.
- Play with different form factors, screen resolutions and sizes
- Experiment with different memory sizes, API levels of software, cameras, sensors etc.
- Sure there is no substitute for real device - however emulators at least help you understand the various configuration(s) available, that matter while developing, building and testing the apps - more domain knowledge for the engineers implies higher chance of better quality of the app