Android Emulator vs Physical Device: Picking Your Development Target

JetStart gives Android developers a choice. I wanted to make sure you could hot reload your Kotlin Compose UIs exactly how you prefer whether that's directly onto a physical Android device or using a high-performance Android Emulator. Which one is right for your workflow? Here is how I built both paths to ensure you never have to wait for Gradle again. The Gold Standard: Physical Device Hot Reload There is no substitute for feeling an app in your hands. To achieve live, state-preserving speeds on a physical device, I had to develop a custom injection architecture. JetStart intercepts your file edits, runs kotlinc and d8 in the background, and pushes raw DEX bytecode via WebSocket directly to a custom ClassLoader inside your running app. Pros: It is the "real" environment. Colors, native Android choreography, and touch latency are 100% accurate. Cons: Requires a physical device connected via USB or the same Wi-Fi network. The Virtual Powerhouse: Android Emulator If you don't have a devi