How to Run Android Apps in Windows 10 [Updated]

Update 8/24/202o: After a few weeks in beta, the new Your App update is rolling out publicly for Windows 10, and it looks like Microsoft is extending the feature to include non-Samsung devices as well . This article has been updated to reflect those changes.

One of the coolest announcements Samsung displayed at its Unpacked 2020 event was new functionality coming to the Your Phone app on Windows 10 that will give you full control of your Android device on PC.

The Your Phone app already lets Android users view notifications, texts and files on their Windows 10 PC , but many Android devices can now run apps and mirror the device’s screen directly to your PC’s desktop. The list of compatible phones only includes Samsung devices at the moment , but Microsoft says further device support is rolling out and will continue expanding over time.

Android apps will behave like a native Windows application; they run in their own app windows and can be pinned to your Windows taskbar and Start menu. And since everything runs off your phone, you won’t need to install the apps on your PC. You can even mirror your device’s main screen in a separate window on your desktop while other apps are running.

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Only select phones—like the Samsung Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra —will be able to run multiple apps simultaneously on desktop, but the other features will work on supported devices running Android 9 pie or higher and can be linked to Windows 10 via the Your Phone app.

How to connect your Android phone to Windows 10

The new Your App features entered beta in early August, but should now be available to users who have installed Windows 10 version 1809 or later. The exact availability of the feature will vary for all users, but here’s how to connect your Android phone to Windows 10 once you receive the update:

1. Make sure your phone and PC are on and connected to the same wifi network.
2. Install the Your Phone app on your Windows 10 PC ( Microsoft Store ).
3. Run the app and sign in with your Microsoft account when prompted.

From here, things will work slightly differently based on your device’s OEM.

• For Samsung users: Swipe down on the screen to open the quick-access menu and tap the “Link to Windows” icon. Sign in with your Microsoft account again, then follow the on-screen instructions.
• For other Android devices: refer to this guide for connecting your Android phone to Windows 10 .

How to open and control Android apps in Windows:

Once your phone and PC are connected, the Your Phone app window should appear on your desktop. Here’s how to open your apps on desktop:

1. Click the “Apps” shortcut from the left-hand menu to see a list of all applications installed on your device.
2. Click an app from the list to run it on your PC (note: some apps may not have full keyboard/mouse support, and may have visual/audio display errors).
3. You can also click “Open Phone’s Screen” to mirror the device’s screen in a separate window.

Once the app is open on your desktop, you can drag it around or swap to other programs, as with any other Windows 10 application window. To control the apps on desktop:

7 Best Android Emulators for Windows 10

Run Android apps on your computer with these Android emulators

You can run Android on Windows with an Android emulator. What this does is emulates the mobile operating system, or at least a portion of it, through a software program that’s capable of running Android.

Everything is contained within the emulation software. This means you can do things not normally possible on your computer, like install Android apps on Windows and test drive various versions of the OS without needing a phone or tablet.

An Android emulator can be helpful if your favorite app only runs on your phone but you’d like to use it from your computer, too, or on a bigger screen. If you’re new to Android and want to test out the newest version before buying an Android phone, some emulators can do that for you.

BlueStacks

Includes a built-in app store

Installing and opening apps is really easy

Emulates Android 7.1.2 Nougat

Lets you install other APK files that aren’t in the store

Advanced settings like RAM and CPU allocation can be adjusted in the settings

You can earn BlueStacks Points to trade in for things like gift cards or a premium subscription

Android version isn’t current

Unlike a whole-OS emulator, BlueStacks emulates just Android apps on Windows. It’s really easy to use, so you don’t need to know anything about emulators or even Android to get your apps up and running.

Google Play is built in, so to emulate Android apps on your computer, just install them and open the shortcuts like you would on a mobile device.

If you’re looking for an emulator that lets you quickly install an Android app on your PC, you can’t go wrong with this one. Check out the apps you can download here.

It’s free but you can upgrade to BlueStacks Premium for no ads, daily wallpapers, app recommendations, premium support, and more.

Windows 7 and newer and macOS Sierra and newer are supported.

Supports both landscape and portrait mode

Lets you spoof your GPS location

Can remap keyboard keys

Supports full screen mode

Emulates Android 7.1 (most use older versions)

Huge setup file, over 850 MB

Can’t install apps by their APK file

The Andy emulator for Windows puts Android Nougat on your computer. You can run games and other apps by installing them through the Google Play Store.

Since this is a full Android emulator, you can also reposition the apps on the home screen and install widgets just like you can on a real Android device.

Andy works on not only Windows 10 but also Windows 8 and Windows 7, plus Ubuntu 14.04+ and Mac OS X 10.8+.

Remix OS Player

Installing and using apps is really simple

You can run multiple apps at once

Lots of settings can be manually set, like the GPS location and the phone coverage and battery levels

The orientation of the emulator can be rotated

Setup file is over 700 MB

Unable to install APK files

Last update was in 2016

Remix OS is an operating system based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, so it looks like your normal operating system with a desktop area, start menu, taskbar, and trash bin.

However, instead of installing the whole Remix OS, you can use the Remix OS Player emulator to run Android apps on your computer.

This software is described as a game emulator for your computer because it lets you customize some of the shortcuts normally used for navigating games, but you can use Remix OS Player for other apps, too, like Snapchat, Facebook, etc.; everything is available through the Play Store.

NoxPlayer

A great emulator for gamers

Emulates the entire OS

Nearly everything is accessible with a keyboard shortcut

Lots of customizable options, like one to root Android in one click

Google Play is built-in but you can open APK files, too

Android 5 is outdated

Tries to install another program during setup

Based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, NoxPlayer is a free Android emulator that’s made with gaming in mind. Google Play is built in for easy access to games and other apps, and you get the whole Android experience, including the home screen, folders, the notification center, etc.

Nearly every option in this emulator makes playing games easier. For example, you can record macros, define keys for things like multiple strikes and weapon fires, adjust FPS settings, record the screen, and take screenshots, among other things.

Install it on Windows 10 down through XP. There’s also a Mac version of NoxPlayer.

Android Studio

Emulates the entire Android OS, not just one app

Always supports the newest Android operating system

You can emulate old Android OSs, too

Lets you build Android apps

No built-in app store

Setup can get confusing

Android Studio might be what you’d call the “official” Android emulator since it’s from Google. However, the core of the program is meant for app development and testing, there just happens to be an emulator built-in as well.

This program doesn’t have an easy-to-use interface like the other emulators in this list, so it isn’t the greatest if you just want to run some Android apps on your computer. However, if you plan to create your own apps and you want an easy way to test them throughout the creation process, then this might be all you need.

The Android Studio emulator works on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

Genymotion

Supports lots of Android versions

Easier to use than Android Studio

Emulates the whole Android device

Lets you adjust processor and memory settings

The Play Store isn’t included

Another free Android emulator for Windows is Genymotion. It’s a lot like Android Studio’s emulator in that it emulates the entire OS, except that this one doesn’t install all the other developer tools.

This free Android emulator can run modern versions of Android, not just old ones like some of these emulators. The way it works is you install virtual devices by selecting the Android version you want and the device model that should run that version of Android.

For example, you might select Android 10 and Google Pixel 3 to emulate that phone and OS on your computer. Or, maybe you want Motorola Xoom to run Android 4.3. You can also make a custom phone or tablet by specifying the screen resolution.

You can use Genymotion for free only if it’s for personal use. To get started, make a user account, activate it through the link they send to your email, and then download the personal edition.

Otherwise, this Android emulator is available in three paid editions.

Genymotion runs on Windows 10 and 8, macOS 10.13 or above, and Ubuntu.

How to Run Android Apps on Your Windows PC

Android’s application ecosystem has proven to be versatile and developer-friendly after a bit of a slow start. You are free to develop an app for Android and publish it to the Play Store with Google’s restrictions, or you can distribute it yourself outside the Play Store. This has led to a plethora of really cool Android apps, some of which aren’t available on iOS or other platforms. Even in this age of giant phones, you might occasionally want to use those apps on a bigger screen, like the one connected to your Windows PC. Fortunately, with a little leg work, you can run Android apps on a PC. There are a few different ways to go about it, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Android Studio

One popular way to get Android apps running on a PC is to go through the Android emulator released by Google as part of the official Android Studio. The emulator can be used to create virtual devices running any version of Android you want with different resolutions and hardware configurations. The first downside of this process is the somewhat complicated setup process.

You’ll need to grab the installer from Google’s site and run through the setup process to download the platforms you want — probably whatever the most recent version of Android happens to be at the time (7.1 at the time of publishing). Google has some pre-configured emulation options available in the menu for Nexus/Pixel devices, but you can set the parameters manually, too. Once you’ve booted your virtual device, you’ll need to get apps installed, but the emulator is the bone stock open source version of Android — no Google apps included.

Since there’s no Play Store, you need to do some file management. Take the APK you want to install (be it Google’s app package or something else) and drop the file into the tools folder in your SDK directory. Then use the command prompt while your AVD is running to enter (in that directory) adb install filename.apk . The app should be added to the app list of your virtual device.

The big upside here is that the emulator is unmodified Android right from the source. The way apps render in the emulator will be the same as they render on devices, and almost everything should run. It’s great for testing app builds before loading them onto test devices. The biggest problem is that the emulator is sluggish enough that you won’t want to make a habit of running apps in it. Games are really out of the question as well.

BlueStacks

If you’re looking to get multiple apps and games up and running on your computer with the minimum of effort, BlueStacks is your friend. BlueStacks presents itself as just a way to get apps working, but it actually runs a full (heavily modified) version of Android behind the scenes. Not only that, but it has the Play Store built-in, so you have instant access to all of your purchased content. It actually adds an entry to your Google Play device list, masquerading as an Android device.

The BlueStacks client will load up in a desktop window with different app categories like games, social, and so on. Clicking on an app or searching does something unexpected — it brings up the full Play Store client as rendered on tablets. You can actually navigate around in this interface just as you would on a real Android device, which makes it clear there’s a lot more to BlueStacks than the “App Player” front end. The main screen in BlueStacks with the app categories is just a custom home screen, so replacing it makes BlueStacks feel almost like a regular Android device.

Having full Play Store access means you won’t be messing around with sideloading apps, and BlueStacks manages to run apps pretty well (and better if you have a CPU that supports hardware virtualization). Most games are playable, but keep in mind you’ll have trouble operating many of them with a mouse. If your PC has a touch screen, you can still use apps and games that rely on more than one touch input. BlueStacks can essentially make a Windows tablet PC into a part-time Android tablet.

The only real issue with BlueStacks is that it’s not running a standard Android build. All the alterations the company made to get apps working on a PC can cause issues — some apps fail to run or crash unexpectedly. This customized environment is also of little value as a development tool because there’s no guarantee things will render the same on BlueStacks as they might on a real Android device without all the back-end modifications. It’s also a freemium service with a $2 pro subscription, or you can install a few sponsored apps.

Samsung Link to Windows

Samsung’s latest high-end phones have enhanced support for Microsoft’s Your Phone Windows 10 client, offering access to your messages, notifications, photos, and yes, apps. The apps aren’t technically running on the PC — they’re mirrored from your phone. However, this system is very fleshed out and officially supported. Everything else we’ve talked about is a bit of a hack or not for regular users, but you can be up and running with Link to Windows in a few minutes.

You will need a Samsung phone that works with the latest Your Phone features. As of this writing, that’s just the Note20 family. The feature will expand to more Samsung phones in the coming months, though.

First, make sure you’ve got the Your Phone app on your Windows PC. Next, launch the Link to Windows client on your Samsung phone — it should be accessible under Advanced Features and from the quick settings. You’ll have to scan a QR code on your computer with the phone and sign into your Microsoft account. And that’s it.

Your app list appears in the Your Phone app, and you can launch any of them. Your phone doesn’t need to be plugged in, but Wi-Fi is recommended. Currently, you can only run a single app, but multi-app support is coming in late 2020.

So What’s the Best Way?

If you need to test something with the intention of putting it on other Android devices, the emulator is still the best way. This is best suited to developers as the configuration and management of apps is complicated. It’s slow, but you’ll be able to see how things will work on the real deal. If you’re interested in getting more than a handful of apps running on your PC so you can actually use and enjoy them, BlueStacks App Player is the best solution for most people. It’s easy, has Play Store access, and works on multitouch Windows devices.

If you happen to have a Samsung phone compatible with Microsoft’s latest Your Phone features, that’s by far the easiest way to get Android apps on your PC. These phones are expensive, so it’s not worth buying one just for this single use case. However, if you’re due for an upgrade and running Android apps on a PC is on your list of priorities, this might influence your decision.