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I'm designing a centered website (jQuery Isotope). Thre sandbox is here. I have used some online iPad 1&2 emulators to test how the site is viewed on these devices. Then, I managed to get hold of the real thing. Result: on real iPads, the site is centered and the layout adjusts automatically as expected. In online iPad emulators, the site is not quite centered and additional Isotope elements are squeezed in.

Of course, I trust the real thing more than online emulators, but why is this happening? To me, it feels like website testing with online emulators is not so reliable after all? If this question is wrong here, please move it or tell me where it should go. SO is about programming, this question isn't. Thanks!

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It might be easier to address the question if you linked to the actual emulators rather than asked about Emulators In General. The entire concept of emulators has the potential for quirks or errors. Maybe the ones you picked are just plain broken, but nobody could tell you that right now. – Su' Aug 24 '12 at 22:58
Thanks. Tried these: alexw.me/ipad2/#!safari (only one that showed three column layout like real iPads) ipad-emulator.org (did not work) ipadpeek.com (did not work) responsive.is (did not work) quirktools.com/screenfly (did not work) responsinator.com (no joy, either). – Systembolaget Aug 24 '12 at 23:21
responsive.is is not an emulator. In fact, none of those are emulators. They're simply web apps that let you easily preview your page in different dimensions. Some put an iPad image around the iframe, but they all simply render the page in your browser on your computer. An emulator is something like Opera Mobile Emulator or the Android SDK's Android virtual devices. Naturally, putting your webpage in an iframe in Firefox/IE/whatever desktop browser you're using is not going to give you an accurate preview of what iOS Safari renders. – Lèse majesté Feb 17 at 14:35

closed as not constructive by Lèse majesté, danlefree♦ Feb 18 at 13:27

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1 Answer

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In my opinion the way one application behaves cannot truly be emulated. Have you tried the developer tools in IE9? It can emulate it's own IE7 & 8, but it doesn't match up to the image you get from browsershots.org, (which I believe is created on real machines.) Some people get really obsessive about the way they set up their testing "labs," and go to great lengths to be able to do so. The sad truth is that you're just spinning your wheels unless you try it on the actual app that you need to test.

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