"Such a pain" as compared to what exactly? This will depend entirely on what it is that youre trying to do. In all my experience, Android is notoriously easy to develope on, being fully open-source the way it is. Try developing for iOS beyond a the basics and I think you'll come to agree.

I dont think its fair to call the emulator an obstacle, it just comes with limitations. After all, emulators are only designed to emulate, they can't replace areal device. A hammer is still a tool, its just not the appropriate tool when you're trying to assemble a clock.

Maybe its just time to upgrade your tools.