Software and web site development requires the ability to rapidly create and test functionality… particularly when time and money are both precious. Showing working screens and processes to your client is the most effective method of aligning everyone's expectations. However, when you're developing mobile applications, your clients may not always appreciate the number of different phones and features available. On this page you'll find links to third-party emulators we've found helpful when developing, testing and demonstrating our products.

All the emulators here will run as applications on your development machine alongside Visual Studio. You can enter the same URL as that displayed in Internet Explorer when you start debugging a project.

Visual Studio also provides support for Windows Mobile based phones. These devices support the development and testing of .NET Compact applications. The browser used on these devices can also be used to test web sites.

1. If you have a mobile device that supports WiFi, connect it to your access point and ensure an IP address from the local network has been assigned. Then change the Web settings for your project in Visual Studio to "Use local IIS Web server" so that browsers on the local network and not just the same machine as IIS can access your web site. Now enter the URL of your development machine into the mobile device to view pages.

2. During the final stages of testing, ensure you have a test URL that is connected to the public internet. Ask friends and colleagues to use their phones to access the site. Consider providing a text short code specifically for the test URL to make this easier. For example; text keyword to xxxxx and they'll receive a text message with a URL to your site.

3. Consider using real mobile devices over the internet from companies such as Perfecto Mobile.

Sometimes software emulators just aren't good enough to ensure a great user experience. Consider iPhones. No official emulator is available, and whilst MobiOne does a good job it's not the same as the real thing.

We've used emulators and real phones to test our products. We've also spent 100s of man hours testing our products with Perfecto Mobile. Real mobile phones and testing tools are made available via your web browser and can be accessed by the minute. Like you we just can't afford to buy all the mobile phones needed to create great mobile applications and Perfecto Mobile provided the answer we were happy with.

To find out more about the reasons why you should consider using real mobile devices and not just simulators read this white paper.

We'd really like you to give Perfecto Mobile a free trial today so that you can experience the benefits. Click this link or use the Promotion Code 51Degrees to sign up for a free 2 hour trial now.