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ELYRA

Mobile emulator

Open an Android Virtual Device or an iOS Simulator inside Elyra and work on it without leaving the app.

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The emulator opens a virtual phone — an Android Virtual Device (AVD) or an iOS Simulator — and brings its screen inside Elyra. Your project’s application runs on the emulated device, on the machine where Elyra is running. Nothing is copied to a physical phone.

When to use it

  • Test the app on Android or iOS without depending on a device on your desk.
  • Reproduce a tap, a gesture or typed text and watch the screen react.
  • Let an agent work on the device while you follow the same device in a tab or on the Canvas.

Where the emulator appears

  • Emulator tab — the device screen, with the device panel in the top bar to choose one and connect. The tab is opened by the new-device action, next to the code.
  • Canvas > phone card — the same device as a card, with screen streaming and gestures.
  • Settings > Browser > Emulator — the “Open devices in Elyra” switch, the “Which device opens” choice (“Automatic” prefers a device that is already on) and the machine diagnosis.

Prerequisites

  • Android: the Android SDK installed — Android Studio installs adb and emulator — with ANDROID_HOME or ANDROID_SDK_ROOT pointing at it (Elyra also looks in the system’s default paths) and an AVD already created.
  • iOS: macOS with Xcode and an iOS Simulator runtime installed. On Windows and Linux there is no Simulator to open.
  • Under Settings > Browser > Emulator, the “This machine” block says whether a device can be opened there and shows the path of the SDK it found. Use “Check again” after installing something.

Steps

  1. Open Settings > Browser > Emulator and read the verdict in the “This machine” block. If the SDK was not found, use “Get Android Studio” or point at the folder with “Change the folder”.
  2. Open the Emulator tab from the new-device action, next to the code.
  3. In the device panel, choose the device from the list and connect. The list shows what exists on the machine, with each one’s platform and state.
  4. If you prefer the Canvas, add a Phone card and choose the same device from the card’s list. A device that is already on is adopted without asking; with several off, you are the one who chooses.
  5. Wait for the stream to start: the panel shows the screen state — “Not streaming”, “Connecting” or “Streaming”.

Result

  • The chosen device becomes active for the workspace: the tab, the Canvas card and the commands now talk to it without repeating the target on every action.
  • The live screen appears in the tab and on the card, and the app runs on the emulated device.
  • Nothing is transferred to a physical phone.

Limits

  • Availability depends on the installed toolchain. Without the SDK/AVD on Android or without Xcode and a runtime on iOS, the device does not open — Elyra does not install those pieces for you.
  • An AVD that Elyra boots on its own runs without a window of its own (headless): the picture is the Elyra tab, not a separate emulator window.
  • Choosing a powered-off AVD by name boots that device, and that is why the first connection is the slowest.
  • The emulator is not a path to a physical phone: the target is always the emulated device, and the device is not your phone.
  • There is no screenshot in this command family. On Android, what you read back is the accessibility tree.

Recovery

  • “Not found here. Install Android Studio and create a virtual device.” — the SDK is missing. Install it, use “Check again” or point at the folder with “Change the folder”.
  • “Install Xcode and add an iOS Simulator runtime.” — the iOS toolchain is missing, and it only exists on macOS.
  • The list came back empty — create an AVD in Android Studio or a Simulator in Xcode; Elyra lists what already exists on the machine, it does not create devices.
  • The screen is not streaming — check the state in the device panel and connect again. The device stays operable through the CLI even without a stream.

Next steps