I've seen some (very good) attempts from some developers to reproduce their app's UI on web pages (e.g. http://vladimir-yurkevich.herokuapp.com/digicBuilder/ , https://garminiq-data-field-designer.appspot.com/).
I considered doing it too, but I hate the idea of reinventing the wheel. And Garmin has already made the simulator for the SDK, which is the closest we can have to a real device.
I think there could be a better and broader approach for that. My idea would be a "lite" version of the simulator that everyone could use ("lite" because it shouldn't provide too much detail such as memory used, object store, etc. And the controls should be more intuitive for non-programmers...). Any user could load an app, edit the settings, simulate a fit file, etc. Maybe this could even be integrated to Garmin Express and/or run the apps on the store directly.
Imagine how much value it would have for users and developers! Everyone could test the apps without installing them on his/her device. For instance, we wouldn't have to go for a run to test a running app, and we could test many running apps before choosing the one we want. Moreover, with more people testing, we developers would be able to improve our apps' quality.
Is it a good idea or am I completely out of my mind?
