> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://momentic.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Emulators

> Choose between remote Android emulators (provisioned by Momentic) or local AVDs on your own machine.

Momentic offers two ways to run Android tests:

* **Remote emulators** are hosted by Momentic and boot in under a second. Upload
  your APK, pick a channel and tag, and tests run against a fresh instance every
  time.
* **Local emulators** use your Android Studio installation to run tests on your
  machine.

We recommend teams standardize on one or the other rather than mixing.

Pick the platform per test through the **Region** dropdown, any Momentic region
selects remote emulators; `Local` selects local.

## Remote emulators

Momentic provisions fresh emulator instances on-demand. Average provisioning
time is under 1 second.

### APK management

Remote emulators install your app from build artifacts organized into
**channels** and **tags**. Upload via the Momentic dashboard's Assets page or
via the
[`momentic-mobile assets`](/cli-reference/momentic-mobile/commands/assets)
command.

* **Channels** are release environments: `dev`, `staging`, `production`. You can
  also use channels to separate apps, e.g. `production-trading` vs.
  `production-banking`.
* **Tags** are versions within a channel. We recommend
  [semver](https://semver.org/) (`0.0.1`, `1.2.0`) or some other identifier tied
  to code changes.

Each channel/tag combination can have a build per platform, the same
`production/1.2.0` channel/tag pair can hold both an Android APK and an iOS
`.app`.

When creating or editing a test, pick a channel and tag from the test settings.

#### APK requirements

Momentic requires an `.apk` file. If the APK contains WebView content, enable
WebView debugging, see
[App setup](/platforms/android/app-setup#enable-webview-debugging).

### Regions

The **Region** property on each test defines where its emulator is provisioned.
If unset, Momentic picks the closest region to the caller's IP.

Continent regions are recommended for most users. They give Momentic the
flexibility to schedule across every data center in the continent, which
improves allocation reliability. A specific data-center region can hit capacity
limits that a continent selection avoids.

* **US** (`us`)
* **Europe** (`eu`)
* **Asia** (`as`)

You can also pin to a specific data-center region if you need deterministic
latency to a particular location:

* **US East** (`us-east1`)
* **US West** (`us-west1`)
* **EU North** (`eu-north1`)
* **Asia South** (`as-south1`)

If none of these is close to you, use local emulators instead.

### Android versions

Android 14 and 15 are supported. Select your version in each test's options.

## Local emulators

### Configuration

Local emulators run against Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) that you manage
yourself. Provide the AVD ID to Momentic, and install your APK via one of:

1. **Install APK step**: run a preset `Install APK` step at any point in a test
   with a path to the APK.
2. **Test-level APK path**: set an APK path in each test's settings; it's
   installed when the emulator boots.
3. **Environment-based settings**: see below.

### Environment-based Android settings

Teams that don't commit AVDs or APKs can configure them per environment using
shell interpolation:

```yaml momentic.config.yaml theme={null}
environments:
  - name: local
    envVariables:
      LOCAL_AVD_ID: ${MOMENTIC_AVD_ID:-Pixel_9_API_35}
      LOCAL_APK_PATH: ${MOMENTIC_APK_PATH:-../../data/android-test-apks/drag-drop-native/app-debug.apk}
```

Each developer then sets `MOMENTIC_AVD_ID` and `MOMENTIC_APK_PATH` in their
`.env` file or `~/.zshrc`, no need to commit the values.

Environment-based config is active only when the test runs in that environment,
and can't be overridden at the test level.

### Overrides in CI

The [`run`](/cli-reference/momentic-mobile/commands/run) command supports
`--local-avd-id` and `--local-apk-path` flags, which take precedence over
everything else.