I came across a tip related to use of the Android emulator that I thought was worth sharing. Ed Burnette posted on Google+ his theory on slow start up times for the emulator. He suggests that we should keep the emulator in the foreground and not switch to another window once we start a device running.
I have often experienced very slow startup times for the Android emulator. Times seem to vary wildly for me. For the same device and the same app, I see significant differences. For the past week or so, I have been allowing the emulator to finish before I click into another window. It does seem to be a bit faster and it seems to finish almost every time now. Give it a try and see what you think.
For another tip about the Android emulator, see my recent post: What to do when your Android emulator will not start. It covers the situation where the emulator does indeed start, but it does not appear in the Android Device Chooser window in Eclipse.
By the way, if you are on Google+, you should follow Ed Burnette. He shares a lot of good tips and news for Android developers.
Bill, thanks for this post. I find the emulator ludicrously buggy and slow to launch. Using it is one of the major unpleasant factors in Android development. It really slows me down. I wish it had an audible beep when it’s ready! I’ll try this tip. But what a chore. – Marya