Nowadays, people are looking for simple ways to download Android apps for PC because we all love to use applications and games on a bigger screen. There are several Android emulators available that allows us to download and install our favorite apps and games on our computer. A few months back, we shared the best emulators for Windows but today, we are going to share an updated post where we put together the best Android emulators for PC, Mac and Linux, so that you can run the apps on all the operating systems.
Since you have been searching for the best emulator software for Android, you might be looking for the best way to download and use your favorite apps on your computer without any difficulties. I have faced the same situation and after researching for a long time, I got to know about the best emulators for Android that I can use on different platforms. So I thought of making a list putting together the best Android emulator for Linux, Mac and PC so that everyone can get all the information at one single place.
How Does an Android Emulator Work?
A bit different from other Android emulators for Mac, Genymotion is a cloud-based emulator – which allows access through multiple apps. Unlike Bluestacks or Nox that draw attention to the graphics processing capability, being ideal for Android games, Genymotion is more focused on app developers. Download 3DS Emulator for Nintendo Games or 3D games for android, ios, iphone, PC, Mac and much more platforms, check out the post to know more. Contents1 10 Best Android Emulators for PC Windows 10/7/8/8.1, Mac1.1 What is an Android Emulator?2 LIST OF TOP 10 BEST ANDROID EMULATORS FOR PC/LAPTOP – WINDOWS 7/8/8.1/103 MY Free ANDROID.
An Android emulator is basically a software that creates a suitable environment for the Android apps to run on a computer. Without installing and running an emulator on your computer, you won’t be able to install or run any of the Android apps or games on your computer.
Once you download and install one of the below mentioned Android emulators on your computer, you will be able to search for the apps and games and install them on your computer via the Google Play Store integration.
Recommended:10+ Best Apps for Rooted Android Devices in 2015
Best Android Emulators for PC, Mac and Linux
Droid4X
Droid4X is one of the newest Android emulator applications whose presence has had a major impact within the short period it has been on the market. Today, Droid4X is amongst the fastest growing and popular android emulators whose frequent upgrades have made it a platform of choice for many users because every improvement makes the application more effective, easier and friendly to use. With every new version that is released on the market, user requirements are addressed. Droid4X is a good choice if you are an expert with Android emulator applications. Being a relatively new application, it still has some bugs and also doesn’t have plenty of supporting documentation to guide new users.
On a brighter note, Droid4X is excellent, powerful and ranks among the top when it comes to Android virtual machines. If recent developments are anything to go by, it is expected Droid4X will soon rival major platforms such as Bluestacks, Andy and Genymotion. This android emulator is a better performer than many other emulators both on Mac OS X and Windows platforms. Droid4X runs on a machine as a guest operating systems and makes use of the same PC hardware facilities. Due to its superior performance, you can be guaranteed you’ll have an exciting and fruitful experience using various android apps and games.
AMIDuOS
If you’re looking for a great android emulator that will satisfy your needs, AMIDuOS is a powerful platform that has the capability to run android apps in Windows 7, 8 or 10. This android emulator is packed with numerous features especially for running android on a Windows PC. Compared to Bluestacks, Andy and Genymotion, this application has greater capability to run graphic intensive games thanks to well designed features. When using AMIDuOS, you get to experience excellent performance with android seamlessly running on your PC without any performance or usability compromises.
Since it’s a relatively new application, the performance is quite good. Overall, AMIDuOS is a smooth android emulator whose performance is impressive. This means you can comfortably run apps as well as games without encountering any major hitches. Furthermore, the installation process is stress free but developers lose out because this emulator lacks device-specific configurations; this emulator was evidently designed for the consumer. Even though AMIDuOS is a paid android emulator, you can enjoy it for free for one month. The key advantages for this emulator is it installs very fast, gives users a full android experience and runs at a great speed.
So what do you need to install AMIDuOS? A dual core CPU plus 2GB RAM, OpenGL 3.0 as well as a hardware virtualization enabled BIOS. This software has 3D acceleration allowing users to enjoy playing graphic intensive games on their Windows PC. The software makes use of Windows OpenGL drivers whose role is to make sure there is an acceptable frame-rate improvement. Once you have AMIDuOS installed, you’re free to easily share images, video and music between your Windows PC and Android. The software has an SD card option that permits you to tweak the size of the SD card with the help of a simple tool. If you’re keen on having an android emulator that offers you a full android experience, AMIDuOS is your best bet for windows powered PC.
Manymo
Unlike other android emulators, Manymo is a lightweight program that brings app right into the browser. It is more of an online android emulator meaning it permits you to successfully run android apps in a web browser. Here, you can easily and conveniently add functional android apps to website the same way you embed YouTube videos. Testing is a key phase in mobile app development. Fortunately, Manymo allows you to perform automatic testing with the assistance of virtual Android devices available in almost all screen sizes as well as OS versions. In other words, Manymo performs well with any android compatible automation platform. The good news is this online android emulator has been used by thousands of users online and therefore, can be trusted to deliver good results. In addition, you can open a free account and launch any android app; you will not be asked to provide your credit card details.
MEMU
Memu is known for its exemplary performance with Windows PC especially for users who’re keen on enjoying a great Android experience. Memu is a new entry on the market and therefore, doesn’t have enterprise grade features such as those found in bluestacks or Genymotion. Memu is a product of Microvirt Co. Ltd and there’s every indication the developers intend to nurture this software to greater heights in order for it to compete with market leaders such as Andyroid, Genymotion and Bluestacks.
For now, you can use this software to comfortably play Android games, chat using the keyword while using apps such as wechat and whatsapp, enjoy live TV shows as well as run multiple android windows. In addition, this software supports multiple hardware configurations and therefore you don’t have to worry so much about compatibility. In addition, users are guaranteed of having great experiences while interacting with this Android emulator.
BlueStacks (For PC and Mac)
Download (PC) | Download (Mac)
BlueStacks is one of the best and the most popular Android emulator that everyone uses and recommends when it comes to downloading Android apps on PC.
The app player is available on both Windows PC and Mac so if you own any of these, then you can download it on your computer and install the application to start using your favorite apps. It is free to download and install – all you have to do is follow the installation instructions. Note that, in order to run BlueStacks without any glitches, you must have a decent graphics card installed in your system.
Read:WhatsApp for PC
AndyRoid (For Mac and PC)
AndyRoid emulator is growing in popularity and more and more people are loving the way it allows you to use your favorite apps and games from your desktop.
With AndyRoid, you can not only play apps and games on your computer, but it also provides you with a lot of features like using your smartphone as a remote control to play games with ease and also allows you to download nay app from desktop browser to Andy OS. Once you start using this particular Android emulator, I am pretty sure you won’t be looking at any other software.
Read:Download Showbox for PC
YouWave (For PC)
Another great alternative to run apps and games on your computer is YouWave. With this particular emulator, you will be able to get the apps running on your PC easily.
The emulator comes in two different variants – free and paid. If you don’t want to pay for the app then you can download the free version and use it without any troubles but if you don’t want any limitations then you would have to go with the paid version of the emulator. Also, YouWave is available for only Windows platform.
Kik Messenger for PC | Kik Online Login
Official Android Emulator (For Linux, PC and MAC)
This Android emulator software, as its name suggests, is the official emulator that was designed specifically for developers so that they can install it on their computers and test the applications. The emulator can be operated on Linux, Mac as well as Windows PC and can be downloaded for free.
Since it was developed for app developers, the installation process is a bit complicated, so I suggest you to follow the steps in the link mentioned below.
Read:WeChat for PC Download | Flipboard for PC and Mac
GenyMotion (For PC, Linux and Mac)
GenyMotion can be considered as one of the best Android emulators for Mac, Linux and PC because it is the perfect platform for developers to test their apps and games.
Using GenyMotion emulator, you will come across no glitches or difficulties when running Android apps and games on your computer. To download the software, you will have to create an account, confirm your email address and then you will receive the download links to get it on your computer running either Linux, Windows or Mac OS.
Nox
http://noxappplayer.com/
If you’re an Android game lover, Nox has been specifically designed to cater for the needs of gamers. The software is packed with numerous features whose role is to help gamers have full control of their games using the mouse and keyboard. Some of the great addons included in this software are “swipe right” to simulate gesture movements on your keyboard or a joystick if you are in possession of one. When you begin using this android simulator, you will not want to stop because it’s a lot of fun. In addition, the software features seem stable and reliable. The best part about Nox is its completely free so you need not worry about any charges.
Jar of Beans
http://www.androidemulator.in/emulators/jar-of-beans/
This is an awesome Android emulator with capability to run all games and apps that can be run on Android Jelly Bean devices. The user-developed emulator is a product of “UnrealManu” and gamers love it because this Android emulator can smoothly run games which rely on hardware graphics acceleration. When it comes to app and games emulation, Jar of Beans comes in second after Bluestacks. The good news is you can enjoy playing your games in full-screen mode as well as switch to tablet mode for games which are supported by Android tablet. There are plenty of settings which enable you to customize how you play your games as well as app usage experience. Jar of Beans avails a wide variety of configuration options that include keyboard support, a virtual SD card as well as different viewing modes. It is expected that in future Jar of Beans versions, this emulator will incorporate numerous skins and multiple resolutions.
Apparently, this emulator can also work as an app-testing sandbox and therefore, you can easily and conveniently test your apps without having to use a real device. In addition, you can also import .apk files you’ve created on your PC into the emulator via a special button. Given that Jar of Beans is extremely flexible when it comes to customization, you can easily adjust your settings according to your app preferences. Also, feel free to create a virtual SD card with a size of your choice. This emulator has mixed reviews so feel free to download it and be the judge.
So those were the best Android emulators that you can use on your desktops to either play games or use apps or if you are a developer, then you can test your apps to see if they are working fine in all the platforms or not.
Related:
I hope that you liked the article listing the best Android emulators for PC, Mac and Linux, so please share it with your friends. Also, let us know your thoughts via the comments section below!
Related Posts
Last update: January 2020
BEST ANDROID EMULATORS for PC 2020 – 2020 (Windows, Mac and linux): Android emulators have always been a hot topic in the community, as it is still in its early stages. But most of them are ready for use, the next set of emulator show that. Also have look at our previous collection of 3Ds emulators 2020.
Some are better for an all app usage, while others are designed for play your favourite android games like Clash of clans. it’s up to you to see which one you prefer the most. Without further ado, let’s get to the post.
Contents
- Best Android Emulators for windows, mac & linux
Best Android Emulators for windows, mac & linux
1. Bluestacks [Best Android emulator Windows]
Let’s start with the most famous of all. Bluestacks is an outstanding Android emulator for PC that for many years has been the go-to choice for Android emulation. It has a large user base of more than 130 million people worldwide. And it keeps improving their compatibility with Android games and apps.
The software brings lots of freedom, the startup is pretty easy. It asks for an email associated with an Android device, it will then start downloading all of its apps and synchronizing what it has to. If you have never had an Android device then it’s not a problem, you can still use Bluestacks like a regular emulator. To download the apps we have 3 options:
1. Using the app store provided by Bluestacks
2. Entering Google Play Store directly from the virtualized browser
3. Downloading an APK and running it with the emulator.
Control is pretty intuitive; you can use the mouse cursor to perform tactical gestures or your keyboard to map certain actions, if you’re using a touch-enabled device, you can always use your hands to control the emulator, or even a gamepad while gaming.
One negative point about this emulator (or maybe all emulators) is that it requires a lot of resources to work and even more to run fluently. We are tested this android emulator on Windows 10 i5 laptop its performance are nice.
Best android emulator for windows 10.
BlueStacks features:
- 96% of applications and games are compatible.
- Testing support for developers.
- Multi-touch input
- Keyboard and mouse integration.
- Ability to synchronize with the desktop.
- Native Windows graphic support.
- The sensors and camera are integrated for a complete Android experience.
- Android-TV support.
- Available Root Version
Download:Bluestacks.
2. ARChon – Emulator with Chrome
ARChon is a Google Chrome extension developed to run Android apps on ChromeOS, ARMm and Intel x86 machines. You just need to download the extension, convert the APK you want to run with a tool they offer, and that’s it! Chrome 37+ required. This android emulator is recommended for low-end pcs.
3. Remix OS Player
Remix OS takes the place of new level Android emulator. It’s not a program you run on your computer. it’s a fully-fledged operating system! Based on the Android-x86 project. Remix OS is able to run as an operating system using Android apps and taking advantage of the Google ecosystem.
Its interface offers a multitasking desktop with support for several overlapping windows, as well as a taskbar very similar to the one we can find in Windows 10 and a revision of the notifications tab. It even allows to right click on the items to open context menus, in addition to associate by default the most special accesses of our physical keyboard, all this without leaving aside the features and configuration elements that come with the Android system itself, alongside its integration with our Gmail account. The operating system can be installed from a USB drive that also allows to run as a LiveCD externally. Likewise, it can coexist in the same drive with other operating systems, enabling a boot menu during the start of the machine.
The movement of Android OSs on x86 (Intel’s architecture) has more than Remix OS behind its back, Phoenix OS, a competitor of the former has taken giant steps towards its compatibility with apps, and Google’s ChromeOS Android compatibility, although in beta, is looking like an exciting project that May become the standard of the industry.
Download:Remix OS
4. WindowsAndroid
WindowsAndroid is an Android emulator for Windows 8, 7 and 10 that will allow us to run a virtual machine with the Android OS so that we can use our computer as an Android tablet.
The controls of this software are just as Bluestacks’. You can use your mouse cursor as the main control input, as well as touch input if your PC has that enabled. The installation of WindowsAndroid is really easy, too. Just download and run the .exe and it’ll start running the software.
Once you’re on the virtual machine, you can access your usual Android settings and set some of them.
This alternative is more than capable to run any application, it’s different from Bluestacks because you’re not emulating an app, you’re running an OS from a virtual machine, which should greatly increase performance. And it also doesn’t suffer from storage issues, as long as your hard drive isn’t full.
WindowsAndroid is one of the best tools to emulate Android that currently exist. Not only does it work well and it allows to download any application of this operating system to use in Windows, but it gives us the possibility to do it of a simple and fast way. No complex configurations or BIOS installation. Just double click on the executable and we will be inside.
Download:WindowsAndroid
5. VirtualBox Emulator
VirtualBox is an open source software that installs different operating systems as a guest operating system. You can get the ISO image from the official android blog.
Once you have downloaded and installed the ISO file, you can install Android-x86 and start using APKs with it.
Features of using Android in VirtualBox:
- Full control of components.
- You can perform all actions like in the aforementioned Android emulators.
- You can allocate RAM for your Android operating system according to your needs.
- Every time you feel bored, you can play and test new applications.
- It is easy to remove/uninstall the Android operating system in VirtualBox.
Download:VirtualBox.
6. Andy ( for Windows & Mac)
Andy is an Android emulator that will allow us to download, install and use hundreds of thousands of exclusive Android applications on our PC with Windows operating system, all without the need to create a virtual machine or perform any complex configuration: you just need to install and start.
Andy is really intuitive: You use your mouse to emulate touch functionalities, and you can even use your mouse wheel to emulate the slide down gesture, if you have a touchscreen then you’re in luck, as it’s also really intuitive with touch inputs.Compatibility-wise it’s flawless. You can run Android’s most famous apps and games, but the most interesting app we will be able to run is Whatsapp, we only need to download it, install it and authenticate our phone number with a text message we’ll receive to our phone!
Download:Andy.
7. Nox – Best Emulator Whatsapp, Instagram …
Nox App player is a lightweight alternative for running Android apps, it has compatibility with a wide array of games (both light and heavy) as well as a handful of settings and controls for the emulator.
The apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store so their installation is natural and easy.
Download:Nox.
8. Genymotion for mac
Genymotion is an alternative to Bluestacks. Especialized in the testing of Android apps it has an excellent build quality and lots of developer features. You can even use your PC camera to have video chats. android emulators for mac 2020
- It is compatible with all OS: Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Windows of variable size.
- Java API supported.
- Equipped with screencasts.
- One click with the customizable button: IMEI, MEID, Android ID.
- Drag and drop applications.
- OpenGL acceleration.
- CPU virtualization.
Download:Genymotion.
Best Emulator Android For Pc Low
9. Memu
MEMu is an emulator like Bluestacks, it also comes with root access and a ton of functions that can be adjusted from a sidebar located to the right of the program. It gets the job done (as well as Bluestacks, it requires a lot of resources to work).
Download:Memu
10. KoPlayer
Our last item on the list is a new competitor on the emulator sub category. KoPlayer is an emulator like Bluestacks or MeMU, just that it’s a bit more focused on gaming. You can use the keyboard settings to emulate a game controller. Players will also be able to record the game. The installation process is quite easy. Like most emulators (especially this one as it is so new) it’s quite buggy, however, it is a free option that is worth a try.
Download:KoPlayer.
Best Android Emulator For Mac 2020
And this is the end of our android emulators 2020 – 2020 list, Android apps have become a necessity for today’s users and the emulation of Android apps on other devices is definitely a noble cause that should be supported. If you feel like this list should have another emulator, leave it in the comment box below!
Best Android Emulator For Mac M1
I couldn’t get Virtualbox to work. Bluestacks on the other hand was very easy to set up.