The simulator adds several new features like push to device

May 3, 2013 07:54 GMT  ·  By

Mozilla has its work cut out with Firefox OS. The first phones are already selling, even if they're only for developers. But there does seem to be an interest, as the first phones were sold out in hours.

So if you're a developer and you want to give Firefox OS a go, you don't have that many options.

Luckily, the Firefox OS Simulator 3.0 has just been released in stable form, making it easier than ever to test apps for Mozilla's upcoming mobile OS.

Firefox OS Simulator 3.0 has been in testing for the past few weeks, but it's now considered stable. In that time, all the initial features have been polished and a few more have been added.

Among the big features in this latest release is the ability to push changes to a device, so modifications can be easily tested in a real environment.

The simulator now supports rotation, as well as geolocation, and comes with more up to date Firefox OS components, namely Gecko, the rendering engine, and Gaia, the UI layer.

Since the preview release, a few more additions have been made. There's now a shortcut for repackaging/reinstalling/restarting the app, removing some unnecessary steps.

There are also optimizations to the size of the add-on, aka the Firefox OS Simulator, and startup time.

Mozilla is also providing updated documentation for the simulator to help developers get started. With that in mind, there's now a complete Firefox OS Simulator walkthrough.

Things are shaping up and there does seem to be some interest from developers. The fact that all Firefox apps are based on standard web technologies helps. There are a lot more people familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, than with Java or Objective C.

But none of this means anything unless people actually start buying Firefox OS phones later this year when they become available, and unless the big name developers bring the big apps to the platform.