Test on an Android device or emulator

There are several ways to test and debug your Android application using a real device or emulator on your Windows machine. We have outlined a few recommendations in this guide.

Run on a real Android device

To run your app on a real Android device, you will first need to enable your Android device for development. Developer options on Android have been hidden by default since version 4.2 and enabling them can vary based on the Android version.

Enable your device for development

For a device running a recent version of Android 9.0+:

1. Connect your device to your Windows development machine with a USB cable. You may receive a notification to install a USB driver.
2. Open the Settings screen on your Android device.
3. Select About phone.
4. Scroll to the bottom and tap Build number seven times, until You are now a developer! is visible.
5. Return to the previous screen, select System.
6. Select Advanced, scroll to the bottom, and tap Developer options.
7. In the Developer options window, scroll down to find and enable USB debugging.

For a device running an older version of Android, see Set Up Device for Development.

Run your app on the device

In the Android Studio toolbar, select your app from the run configurations drop-down menu.

From the target device drop-down menu, select the device that you want to run your app on.

Select Run в–·. This will launch the app on your connected device.

Run your app on a virtual Android device using an emulator

The first thing to know about running an Android emulator on your Windows machine is that regardless of your IDE (Android Studio, Visual Studio, etc), emulator performance is vastly improved by enabling virtualization support.

Enable virtualization support

Before creating a virtual device with the Android emulator, it is recommended that you enable virtualization by turning on the Hyper-V and Windows Hypervisor Platform (WHPX) features. This will allow your computer’s processor to significantly improve the execution speed of the emulator.

To run Hyper-V and Windows Hypervisor Platform, your computer must:

• Have 4GB of memory available
• Have a 64-bit Intel processor or AMD Ryzen CPU with Second Level Address Translation (SLAT)
• Be running Windows 10 build 1803+ (Check your build #)
• Have updated graphics drivers (Device Manager > Display adapters > Update driver)

If your machine doesn’t fit this criteria, you may be able to run Intel HAXM or AMD Hypervisor. For more info, see the article: Hardware acceleration for emulator performance or the Android Studio Emulator documentation.

Verify that your computer hardware and software is compatible with Hyper-V by opening a command prompt and entering the command: systeminfo

In the Windows search box (lower left), enter «windows features». Select Turn Windows features on or off from the search results.

Once the Windows Features list appears, scroll to find Hyper-V (includes both Management Tools and Platform) and Windows Hypervisor Platform, ensure that the box is checked to enable both, then select OK.

Restart your computer when prompted.

Emulator for native development with Android Studio

When building and testing a native Android app, we recommend using Android Studio. Once your app is ready for testing, you can build and run your app by:

In the Android Studio toolbar, select your app from the run configurations drop-down menu.

From the target device drop-down menu, select the device that you want to run your app on.

Select Run в–·. This will launch the Android Emulator.

Once your app is installed on the emulator device, you can use Apply Changes to deploy certain code and resource changes without building a new APK.

Emulator for cross-platform development with Visual Studio

There are many Android emulator options available for Windows PCs. We recommend using Google’s Android emulator, as it offers access to the latest Android OS images and Google Play services.

Install Android emulator with Visual Studio

If you don’t already have it installed, download Visual Studio 2019. Use the Visual Studio Installer to Modify your workloads and ensure that you have the Mobile development with .NET workload.

Create a new project. Once you’ve set up the Android Emulator, you can use the Android Device Manager to create, duplicate, customize, and launch a variety of Android virtual devices. Launch the Android Device Manager from the Tools menu with: Tools > Android > Android Device Manager.

Once the Android Device Manager opens, select + New to create a new device.

You will need to give the device a name, choose the base device type from a drop-down menu, choose a processor, and OS version, along with several other variables for the virtual device. For more information, Android Device Manager Main Screen.

In the Visual Studio toolbar, choose between Debug (attaches to the application process running inside the emulator after your app starts) or Release mode (disables the debugger). Then choose a virtual device from the device drop-down menu and select the Play button в–· to run your application in the emulator.

15 BEST Android Emulator in 2021 (Windows PC, Mac)

An Android emulator is a software application that allows your mobile to imitate Android OS features into your PC. It allows you to install Android Apps on your computer or laptop and use them natively. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.

Following is a handpicked list of Top Android Emulator, with their popular features and website links. The list contains both open source(free) and commercial(paid) software.

Top Android Emulator for Windows PC, Mac

1) LDPlayer

LDPlayer offers an ideal Android emulation system. It provides plenty of comprehensive features to fulfill every which is performed by any Android device.

Features:

• You can download Android Games and apps from pre-installed LD Store or Google Play.
• It helps you to manage your gaming automatically.
• Offers custom control with keyboard and mouse
• It allows you to open several games simultaneously.
• Supported Platform: Windows PC

2) Bluestacks

Bluestacks is a very popular Android emulator. It is one of the best Android emulator for PC that offers custom key mapping for keyboard configurations. It helps you to improve your target and reaction time while playing a game with the keyboard and mouse.

• You can play multiple games simultaneously.
• Record and replay any action in real-time.
• It allows you to do video recording and screen recordings.
• Supported Platform: Microsoft Windows, and Apple macOS.

3) GameLoop

GameLoop is an Android emulator that is used as a gaming platform. It is an ideal emulator if you want to play games on your desktop. GamLoop emulator includes many popular games like Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG Mobile.

Features:

• It supports android PUBG mobile games and allows them to play on PC.

• This Android Emulator for Mac offers configured controls for playing PUBG games on PC.
• Users can customize PUBG mobile’s control overlay.
• This Emulator doesn’t ask for any type of account creation, so no need to register on it.
• This simulator works in a low configuration computer tool.
• Supported Platform: Windows, Mac

4) NoxPlayer

Nox Player is another Android Emulator which is recognized by gaming lovers around the world. You can run this Emulator on various devices that allows running multiple functions.

Features:

• It is one of the best emulator for PC that offers open keyboard mapping running with a single click, all gaming controls on the mouse, and keyboard.
• Nox player comes with a default macro recorder to record the complex operations.
• It offers the best user experience and superior performance.
• Supported Platform: Windows, Mac

5)Memu

Memu is easy to install an Android emulator app. It is one of the best Android emulator for PC which offers support for Intel and AMD chips, as well as integrated and dedicated graphics.

Features:

• Range of keyboard mapping options to enhance your gaming experience.
• Provide an option for virtualization.
• It offers various dedicated keyboard settings for the fast gaming experience.
• Supported Platform: Android and Microsoft Windows.

6) AndY

AndY is another popular Android emulator. It breaks down the main barrier between mobile and desktop computing by keeping the customer updated with the latest Android upgrades.

Features:

• It offers storage capacity to users and the freedom to play any games available on the Android platform with ease.
• It provides the feature of the phone as a joystick so that the user never has to leave multi-touch or amazing gaming elements.
• AndY offers smooth interaction between mobile and desktop devices.
• This Android Emulator for Mac allows users to download any app from any desktop browser to AndY OS.
• Supported Platform: Android, macOS, and Microsoft Windows.

7)Genymotion

Genymotion is a multi-support Android emulator. The software helps you to speeds up testing, share live demos. You can also monitor performance across all devices.

Features:

• It offers high definition pixel compatibility, which provides better clarity on your PC.
• It is one of the best Android emulator for Linux that allows you to test the products in a secure virtual environment.
• It allows you to use a desktop webcam as the video source to record screencasts.
• This Android emulator for Ubuntu is capable of emulating more than 3000 Android device configurations like the Android version and screen size.
• This Android emulator for Mac has strong sensors, like GPS and multi-touch.
• Supported Platform: Android, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, and Linux

8)PrimeOS

PrimeOS emulator provides a complete desktop experience the same as Mac OS or Windows with access to many Android applications. This Android Emulator is designed to bring you both worlds — a complete fusion of Android and PC.

Features:

• Support for dual boot with a single click with a PrimeOS installer.
• It combines the Android ecosystem with the system interface to provide a great gaming experience.
• It offers high performance when compared to the Windows budget system.
• Supported Platform: Android, Mac OS, and Microsoft Windows.

9) Android-x86

Android X86 is an open-source platform. This is an open-source Android emulator which is licensed under Apache Public License 2.0.

Features:

• Provide WiFi support with GUI.
• Power Suspend/resume (S3 mode)
• Offer Battery Status.
• V4l2 Camera support.
• It offers support for netbook native resolution.
• Allows mirror mode on external monitors.
• External storage automount support.
• Support external keyboard
• Supported Platform: Windows PC

10) ARChon

ArChone is Google’s official App Runtime for Chrome package. This streamlined Emulator has the ability to run any Android app as a ChromeOS app.

Features:

• Very lightweight because it is integrated with Google Chrome.
• You can use it with all operating systems.
• It is one of the best Linux Android emulators that provide support for the latest Android system.
• This Android emulator Linux can be used for all applications and Android games.
• Supported Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux

11) Ko Player

Ko player is an Android emulator tool that helps users gain the quality Android playing experience on their Windows PC or Mac. The main focus of this Emulator is to provide a lag-free gaming experience to its users.

Features:

• It allows you to take advantage of all the features and functions of Android without owning any device.
• Ko player has simple, easy to use, and interactive user interface.
• The built-in video recording allows you to record your favorite videos and enjoy them at your convenient time.
• This Android app emulator also allows you to record videos.
• Enhance gaming performance.
• You can record and share your gameplay with your friends or anyone you want.
• It comes with an inbuilt Google Play Store, thus giving you access to any app you want.
• Supported Platform: Windows, Mac

12) Droid4x

Droid4X is an Android emulator developed for Windows PC that allows you to user-run mobile applications and games using on a desktop. This Emulator supports most of the games available in the play store.

Features:

• It helps you to complete user experience on PC and supports the touch screen computer to work across devices.
• This Emulator allows you to customize controls as per their needs and can directly download the app to the Emulator.
• This Android emulator for Windows 10 provides supports for keyboard and gamepad for the quick configuration of games.
• Supported Platform: Windows PC

13)ARC Welder

ARC Welder is another Android emulator tool that allows Android applications to run on Google Chrome for Windows systems.

Features:

• It is one of the best Android emulators for Windows that allows you to test and run Android applications within Chrome OS to overcomes any runtime errors or bugs.
• You can test applications in the Google Chrome web browser.
• Supported Platform: Windows PC

Top Android Emulator for PC

Name	Supported Platform	Link
LDPlayer Emulator	Windows PC	https://www.ldplayer.net/
Bluestacks	Windows, Mac	https://www.bluestacks.com/
GameLoop	Windows, Mac	https://gameloop.fun/
NoxPlayer	Windows, Mac	https://www.bignox.com/
Memu	Windows PC	https://www.memuplay.com/
Andy	Windows, Mac	https://www.andyroid.net/
Genymotion	Windows, Mac, Linux	https://www.genymotion.com/
PrimeOS	Windows, Mac	https://primeos.in/
Android-x86 Emulator	Windows PC	https://www.android-x86.org/
ARChon	Windows, Mac, Linux	https://archon-runtime.github.io/
Ko Player	Windows, Mac	https://koplayerpc.com/
Droid4x	Windows 10	https://droid4x.cc/
ARC Welder	Windows PC	https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/

❓ What is Android Emulator?

An Android emulator is a software application that allows your mobile to imitate Android OS features into your PC. It allows you to install Android Apps on your computer or laptop and use them natively. It is mainly used for debugging purposes.

⚡ What are the benefits of using Android Emulator software?

Here are some other reasons for using Android Emulator:

• It will have a larger display thus also offers better controls to use applications in computers.
• You don’t need to care about the battery life of your Android devices.
• PCs are highly powerful than Android devices so that it can handle HD games and videos at a decent speed.

💻 How do Android Emulators Work?

Android Emulators work on the principle of platform virtualization for both hardware and software. The AVD manager (Android Virtual Device) helps you to set up and do the configurations for virtual Android devices.

🏅 Which are the Best Android Emulators for PC?

Here are some of the best Android emulators for PC:

• LDPlayer
• BlueStacks
• GameLoop
• NoxPlayer
• Memu
• Genymotion
• Droid4x