What is a Private Device Farm

It’s Monday morning. Gaurav, the QA Manager, has just taken his first sip of coffee when a message pops up:

“Hey, the new app build is ready for testing.”

Perfect timing. Or so he thinks.

Gaurav looks at his test inventory with pride. The company owns a solid collection of devices–iPhones, iPads, Android phones, and tablets–all different models and OS versions. 

All these devices live peacefully in one office, while the DevOps and testing teams are distributed across three locations, staring at the same message and waiting.

“Can we get the devices shipped?” someone asks.

Sure, if Gaurav doesn’t mind handling packing, logistics, courier costs, and hoping the devices return safely.

Meanwhile, testing pauses, engineers wait, and release timelines stretch.

This is when teams realize:

Owning devices is not the same as having access to them.

And this is exactly where a private device farm enters the story.

What is a Private Device Farm?

A private device farm is a setup where a company’s real mobile devices are connected to a secure system and made accessible remotely for mobile app testing, automation, and debugging, without relying on public device clouds.

How a Private Device Farm Works

Instead of shipping devices across cities, the company connects its own devices to a secure system, keeps them powered on, and makes them accessible remotely.

Now, whether a tester is in the same building or 500 km away, they can:

• Enroll their existing company-owned devices into a private device farm
• Open the console
• Pick a required device based on model or Operating Systems.
• Install your latest build of mobile application 
• Start testing and debugging in real time
  

This setup, where your own devices are available from anywhere, is called a private device farm.

What Makes a Private Device Farm Powerful

A private device farm doesn’t just remove shipping delays. It turns hardware into a shared, scalable testing platform.

Real-Time Interaction with Real Devices

Testers see live device screens with low latency and can interact naturally–tap, swipe, rotate, adjust volume, trigger hardware buttons, and validate real user behavior instead of relying on emulators.

Clean, Repeatable Test Environments

With one click, devices can be reset, sanitized, or restored to a clean state. This ensures every test starts from a known baseline, reducing flaky bugs caused by leftover data or misconfigured environments.

Deep Debugging & Better Bug Reporting

Teams can remotely access device logs, app crash reports, and device data. They can also view key device metrics such as CPU and memory usage, Wi-Fi performance, and mobile data consumption. Screenshots, and session recordings make it easier to reproduce issues and communicate them clearly to developers.

Automation & CI/CD Readiness

Private device farms integrate seamlessly with automation frameworks like Appium, Espresso, and XCUITest. Tests can be triggered directly from CI/CD pipelines, ensuring every build is validated on real devices before release.

Parallel test execution across multiple devices further shortens feedback loops and accelerates delivery.

Enterprise-Grade Security by Design

Unlike public device clouds, a private device farm is single-tenant. Devices are never shared with external users. Organizations retain full visibility into device history, network access, and data flow.

This makes private device farms ideal for teams building:

• Fintech and banking apps
• Healthcare and educational apps
• Internal enterprise applications

Audit logs track who accessed which device, when, and what actions were taken—supporting compliance and accountability.

A private device farm solves the day-to-day pain points teams face when real device testing becomes a bottleneck. These are the scenarios practitioners actually care about.

Distributed Teams With Remote Access Needs

Teams spread across locations often struggle to access devices physically locked in an office or lab. With a private device farm, any team member can connect to real devices remotely, eliminating delays caused by shipping or coordinating time zones.

Ensuring Device-Specific Features and Hardware Behavior

Certain bugs only show up on real hardware – for example, issues tied to SIM card behavior, UDIDs, Bluetooth, cameras, biometric sensors, OS updates, or rugged device interactions. Public clouds may not support these specialized devices, but private device farms let teams test exactly what their users use. 

Security and Confidential Data Testing

Apps that deal with internal networks, secure authentication flows, sensitive user data, or regulated workflows cannot be safely tested on shared public clouds. Private device farms keep devices on your network and under your policies, ensuring test data never leaves your control.

Increasing Device Utilization and Reducing Waste

Instead of devices lying idle, teams connect them to a private device farm so multiple engineers across time zones can use them. This improves utilization, lowers the need for duplicate purchases, and gets more value from existing hardware.

Better Utilization, Better ROI

Devices no longer sit idle in one office or get damaged in transit. A single device can serve multiple teams across time zones, extending its useful life and maximizing return on investment.

And because teams use devices they already own, there are no per-minute cloud costs like public device farms, no surprise bills, and no dependency on third-party device availability.

Why Choose AstroFarm for Your Device Lab and Mobile Testing Needs

AstroFarm was built for teams that have outgrown improvised labs and public device clouds but do not want to build and maintain an entire platform themselves.

AstroFarm turns your existing devices into a secure, always-on, automation-ready private device farm without changing where those devices live or who owns them.

Your devices stay:

• In your offices
• On your network
• Under your security policies

But they become:

• Instantly accessible
• Centrally managed
• Automation-ready
• Fully auditable

Build your private device farm with AstroFarm and give every tester/QA instant, secure access to real devices without shipping, sharing, or slowing down.

FAQs

Does a Private Device Farm support automated testing?
Yes. Private Device Farms like AstroFarm integrate seamlessly with automation frameworks like Appium, Espresso, and XCUITest. They support CI/CD pipelines and long-running, stateful automated test runs.

Can devices be customized in a Private Device Farm?
Absolutely. You have full control to install devices with custom OS versions and apps. Devices can be configured with specific OS versions, apps, and settings, and reset to ensure consistent, real-world testing.

Is a Private Device Farm scalable?
Yes. You can scale by adding more devices as your testing needs grow, without sudden cost spikes. Scaling remains predictable since you own and manage the hardware.

Is a Private Device Farm suitable for remote teams?
Yes. Devices are securely accessible over the cloud, enabling distributed teams to test from anywhere. Devices are available 24x7 without session timeouts.

What types of devices are supported in a Private Device Farm?
Real Android and iOS smartphones and tablets are supported. You can include multiple OEMs, OS versions, and form factors based on your testing requirements.

How to Choose the Right Private Device Farm Solution?
Look for strong security, automation support, easy device management, and seamless CI/CD integration. Ensure it fits your scale, compliance needs, and long-term cost strategy.