Ask HN: iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad rental

5 points by gnok 14 years ago | 4 comments

I was wondering if there were any reputable shops I could rent iOS devices from? I'm working on a small collaborative iOS app. I can't afford to buy multiple devices, but I would certainly be interested in renting them for a week or so for testing purposes.

(If one doesn't exist, then this sounds like an interesting startup idea for someone with an appetite for logistical problems.)

Any recommendations?

michaeldwp 14 years ago |

I'm not sure if something like that exists, but I've used http://deviceanywhere.com in the past for Windows Mobile testing. This was before the iPhone, they're still around and have iPhone support, so it may be helpful.

Once I got everything configured, it was pretty sweet. It wasn't hard to setup either.

The one thing is, from what I recall, they were a bit expensive. But they have free trials.

I also found this article that could be useful:

http://www.softwarequalityconnection.com/2011/03/testing-app...

There's a bunch of options for testing without buying a bunch of iOS devices. They also have more DeviceAnywhere-type services listed as well.

I hope this helps.

gnok 14 years ago | |

This is interesting. I'll look into this more. Thanks!

ig1 14 years ago |

Places like CEX have fixed prices for buying/selling phones, so you could just buy the phones from them and sell them back when you're done.

gnok 14 years ago | |

Unfortunately, I need access to 4 (or more) devices in each class for testing and buying/selling that many devices becomes a little expensive. Its also a lot more complex than I would like.

Thanks for the link anyhow! I'm pretty sure I'll be able to use them for a different project.