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This guide explains how to prepare the Android Emulator for testing your app.
BlueStacks is known by many users to be the most comprehensive Android app player in the market, and with good reason. Aside from running on both Windows and Mac, this emulator comes jam-packed. Xamarin.Forms is an open source mobile UI framework from Microsoft for building iOS, Android, & Windows apps with.NET from a single shared codebase. Whether you want a consistent look across platforms or prefer native look and feel, Xamarin.Forms will get you up and running in no time.
Overview
The Android Emulator can be run in a variety of configurationsto simulate different devices. Each configuration is called a virtualdevice. When you deploy and test your app on the emulator, you selecta pre-configured or custom virtual device that simulates a physicalAndroid device such as a Nexus or Pixel phone.
The sections listed below describe how to accelerate the Androidemulator for maximum performance, how to use the Android Device Managerto create and customize virtual devices, and how to customize theprofile properties of a virtual device. In addition, a troubleshootingsection explains common emulator problems and workarounds.
Sections
Hardware Acceleration for Emulator Performance
How to prepare your computer for maximum Android Emulator performanceby using either Hyper-V or HAXM virtualization technology. Because theAndroid Emulator can be prohibitively slow without hardwareacceleration, we recommend that you enable hardware acceleration onyour computer before you use the emulator.
Managing Virtual Devices with the Android Device Manager
How to use the Android Device Manager to create and customize virtualdevices.
Editing Android Virtual Device Properties
Download Xamarin Android Emulator
How to use the Android Device Manager to edit the profile properties of avirtual device.
Android Emulator Troubleshooting
In this article, the most common warning messages and issues that occurwhile running the Android Emulator are described, along withworkarounds and tips.
Note
If you are using a Mac with an Apple chip, such as the M1, you will need to install the Android Emulator for M1 preview from GitHub.
After you have configured the Android Emulator, seeDebugging on the Android Emulatorfor information about how to launch the emulator and use it for testingand debugging your app.
Note
As of Android SDK Tools version 26.0.1 and later, Google has removed support for existing AVD/SDK managers in favor of their new CLI (Command Line Interface) tools. Because of this deprecation change, Xamarin SDK/Device Managers are now used instead of Google SDK/Device Managers for Android Tools 26.0.1 and later. For more information about the Xamarin SDK Manager, see Setting up the Android SDK for Xamarin.Android.
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The topics in this section explain how to install and configureXamarin.Android to work with Visual Studio on Windows and macOS, how touse the Android SDK Manager to download and install Android SDK toolsand components that are required for building and testing your app, howto configure the Android emulator for debugging, and how to connect aphysical Android device to your development computer for debugging andfinal testing your app.
Windows Installation
This guide walks you through the installation steps and configurationdetails required to install Xamarin.Android on Windows. By the end ofthis article, you will have a working Xamarin.Android installationintegrated into Visual Studio, and you'll be ready to start buildingyour first Xamarin.Android application.
Mac Installation
Xamarin Android Player Download
This article walks you through the installation steps and configurationdetails required to install Xamarin.Android on a Mac. By the end ofthis article, you will have a working Xamarin.Android installationintegrated into Visual Studio for Mac, and you'll be ready to startbuilding your first Xamarin.Android application.
Android SDK Setup
Visual Studio includes an Android SDK Manager that replaces Google'sstandalone Android SDK Manager. This article explains how to use the SDKManager to download Android SDK tools, platforms, and other componentsthat you need for developing Xamarin.Android apps.
Android Emulator Setup
These articles explain how to setup the Android Emulator fortesting and debugging Xamarin.Android applications.
Xamarin Studio Mac
Android Device Setup
This article explains how to setup a physical Android device andconnect it to a development computer so that the device may be used torun and debug Xamarin.Android applications.
Microsoft Mobile OpenJDK Preview
Xamarin Install
This guide describes the steps for switching to the preview release of Microsoft's distributionof the OpenJDK. This distribution of the OpenJDK is intended for mobile development.