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It would seem that since there are a finite set of official Android devices, it would be easy to maintain a repository of Virtual Device Configurations for each actual device. However, the Internet seems to think that everyone should be creating their own virtual devices from scratch (really, how many Motorola Xoom configs or HTC EVO 4G's do you really need?).

Is there really not central repository for pre-configured virtual devices?

J Jones
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2 Answers2

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It would seem that since there are a finite set of official Android devices, it would be easy to maintain a repository of Virtual Device Configurations for each actual device.

Bear in mind that:

  • There are lots of Android devices that do not have the Android Market and therefore firms like Google will never see

  • AVD settings cannot completely match hardware, because there are only so many configurable settings

  • Few of your proposed AVDs will accurately reflect the devices, because they will not have any firmware modifications made by the device manufacturer, ranging from drivers to presentation layers (e.g., Sense, BLUR, TouchWiz)

  • You will wind up with many AVDs that are the same (due to 2nd and 3rd limitations above), because on the limited range of possible settings, many devices will be identical

  • While AVD configurations are small, AVDs themselves are rather large, as they hold copies of disk images and such

  • You might have some trademark issues

However, the Internet seems to think that everyone should be creating their own virtual devices from scratch

Please do not anthropomorphize the Internet. It hates it when you do that.

CommonsWare
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    all good points, but I still don't exactly agree. So the Samsung Galaxy S phones will have almost the exact same config as an Motorola Droid 2. That can be dealt with by using aliases and links. However, I understand the space limitations (that's the last time I try to use a 32gb sd card). Overall, I still think the configs should be readily available somewhere, but understand why no one has done it yet. Just like google approves phones (and tablets) for the market, why couldn't they also provide the avd's for those selected devices? – J Jones Jul 06 '11 at 03:17
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    "Please do not anthropomorphize the Internet. It hates it when you do that." - I like that! – Booger Nov 02 '12 at 18:49
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I'm not sure about HTC but other companies offer preconfigured Add-ons

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Reno
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    While there are third party add ons, they do no seem to contain any AVD configurations, only sdk additions. Good thought though, this is the sort of area I would expect it to be at. – J Jones Jul 06 '11 at 03:14
  • Yes this is where it should ideally be. For example if your want to create a Galaxy Tab emulator [you can use this](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3745491/emulate-samsung-galaxy-tab/4473842#4473842). You want more devices supported yeah? – Reno Jul 06 '11 at 04:50
  • Totally. This is where kindle fire adds them. (http://kindle-sdk.s3.amazonaws.com/addon.xml, via https://forums.developer.amazon.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=479) – Epu Jun 23 '13 at 18:48