Android Versions in Simulator

[Nick_F_2]

Currently the Simulator only shows options for devices with Android V4.

When will we see the simulator support devices with Android 6/7 and upwards.

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

The Simulate tab does not actually simulate a device, it provides a convenient way to deal with some of the core Cordova APIs in a desktop browser (the Simulate tab is an embedded version of Chrome). There is no simulation or emulation of the underlying Android OS, so calling the device "v4" or "v5" has no real meaning. See the docs here > https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/docs/intel-xdk-simulator <

[Nick_F_2]

Hi Paul 

If that's the case why does the simulator show the OS version in the properties window. It shows V4  for some devices and V2 for others.

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

That's just there to simulate what that device would report when you inspect the Device plugin's "device.version" property. If you have code that depends on that property, then it would be important to your app, otherwise, it does absolutely nothing. If your app does depend on the value of that property, and the Device control does not provide you what you need, you'll have to configure your app to "fake" those properties to confirm it does the right thing.

The Simulate tab does not simulate a real device! Please see the Simulate tab limitations page (link below).

Each of those panels in the Simulate tab are testing tools provided by a plugin that has been included in your project. In the case of the "DEVICE INFORMATION" panel, the "Simulate" code for the Device plugin is providing that information. That backend code is part of the Simulate project, which is owned and managed by Microsoft (see https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/docs/intel-xdk-simulator-limitations for more details), or is provided by the plugin.

If you remove the Device plugin from your project you will see that panel disappear from the Simulate tab. So the tabs that are present in the Simulate tab are actually provided by the various plugins, not directly by the Simulate tab, and they provide the info and behavior that the plugin writer decided to support for testing when used in the Simulate tab. See the Microsoft Cordova Simulate project for more information.