Difference between running a program in Android emulator and physical device?

Issue

I'm starting the studies about android development with Android Studio and I was wondering if it's possible to build applications only running code on a physical device or do I need to emulate others devices in order to avoid errors, etc.?

The Android Studio emulator barely runs in my machine, so I need to know if it is essential for the apps development or if there are other alternatives.

Solution

If you have a physical device, you can just use that. No need to run the emulator at all. An emulator is mostly used because it is convenient and easy to test different versions of android. For example, some libraries/UI component may behave differently on different phones.

It is better to use a physical device if your app is using radios like Bluetooth etc.

Answered By - CrazySports101