How to Run APK Files on a Windows 10 Device

If you’re an Android device owner, you should know that APK files play an essential role in almost every aspect of using your phone or tablet. In fact, all those apps that you can’t live without are actually APK files.

You might be wondering whether these files can be used on Windows 10 devices. By themselves, no; Windows 10 won’t recognize an APK file. However, there are ways to run the APK files on your Windows 10 device. Here’s everything you need to know.

Running an APK File with an Emulator

Emulation is an exciting notion. Ever since the early days of relays and punch cards, people have been excited about it. Although many years have passed since then, emulation hasn’t really gone mainstream. There have been attempts, especially at “translating” console games to the “language” of PC. With so many discrepancies between different devices, emulation was never realized in the right way.

Although smartphones are in no way a simple piece of technology, they are literally smaller than PC devices. That definitely means a lot less energy consumed, which further solves some other emulating issues. All in all, emulation is finally more than possible and attainable.

BlueStacks

Although there are many APK emulators available, BlueStacks App Player is the most popular one. Officially, BlueStacks is a way to get apps to work. However, in essence, it pretty much runs a full-on and heavily modified Android OS. In fact, you can even access Google Play Store through it and download your purchased content. As a matter of fact, BlueStacks masquerades as an Android device and is displayed on your Google Play devices list.

How It Works

Once installed and run on your Windows 10 device, BlueStacks loads up in a typical desktop window mode. You’ll get access to various app categories, such as social, games, etc.

Searching for an app, however, will open Google Play Store in the mode you see on tablet devices. Yes, you’ll be able to navigate the interface exactly as you would on an Android tablet device. Yes, you can download, install, and use Android apps on this player. You can run the Chrome (or any other) browser app and use it as your actual browser.

In fact, you can even download and install Apex, Nova, or a similar third-party launcher. You can even set the third-party launcher as the default.

The full Play Store access means more than you might think. This means that you won’t have to go through the trouble of sideloading apps and encountering countless bugs along the way. BlueStacks simply runs the apps for you and does a brilliant job in the process.

It Isn’t Ideal

Still, BlueStacks isn’t an official Android emulator. It’s not running a standard build that Android devices run. Many alterations have been made in order to get the APK apps to work on a Windows 10 PC. Don’t expect apps to crash on you, but don’t be surprised if they do, either.

This is why BlueStacks isn’t used in app development – things will simply render in a different way on BlueStacks versus a real Android device.

PC Ports

Ports aren’t exactly emulators; in other words, they aren’t really “tools that allow you to use Android”. Ports essentially mean installing modified versions of Android on Windows 10 systems. There are two leading choices when it comes to Android PC ports: Remix OS and Android-x86 Project.

Unfortunately, neither one of the two, run perfectly. The UI here isn’t stock Android; rather, it works on the x86 project code that has been modified in order to provide a desktop-like user experience. This isn’t a bad thing, seeing as how you’ll be using the system on a desktop.

Alternatively, you can try running an Android OS using VirtualBox. This is faster than the official Android emulator but isn’t quite as effective and quick as BlueStacks. Plus, you won’t get Google play integration with this.

Running an APK Through Chrome

One of the coolest things about Chromebook is that it can run APK files. It’s a very basic OS, not capable of too much, but it works brilliantly with APKs. How does it do it? Well, the OS is Google Chrome-based, so it has to do something with the world-famous browser, right? Spot on.

Chrome actually has a tool that allows you to test Android apps while in-browser.

But why would you ever run an Android app in this way? Well, it’s simple, really. Every Chromebook power user will tell you that they actively use Android apps on their laptops, for the lack of a better alternative. But why would a Windows 10 user want to run an APK file?

Well, there are certain Android apps that don’t have a web-based equivalent for the browser. For example, Evernote and Snapchat. Then, there are many cool games that you may like to run, even apps that are frustrating to use on the smaller screen. This is actually why some people get Chromebooks in the first place.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to get a Chromebook to get these features. Fortunately, Google Chrome is perfectly capable of doing this on your Windows 10 OS.

Downloading the Tool

Google Chrome doesn’t allow you to run APK files from scratch. There isn’t an apparent feature that allows you to do this just like that. You’re going to have to download the tool called ARC Welder. This tool is a Chrome extension that you’ll find by searching for it like you would when looking for any other extension. Add it to Chrome and you’ll be able to run apps on it, one at a time.

The cool thing about ARC Welder is that it will work on non-Chrome operating systems (macOS, Windows 10, and Linux). However, it’s particularly designed for the Chrome OS. Note that bugs may occur on Windows 10 devices.

Getting Your Hands on APK Files

Now that you’ve downloaded and installed the necessary tool for running Android apps through Chrome, it’s time you got your hands on APK files. There are various APK databases available online. APK files aren’t hard to find. So, just use Google and pay attention to the trustworthiness of the particular APK site you’re visiting.

Running an APK File Using ARC Welder

Once your APK file is done downloading, simply click Add your APK to start testing it. After a few seconds, the app should load.

Then, all you need to do is select the orientation, app resizing, form factor, and similar details. When you’re done, click the Test button in the bottom-right corner of the ARC Welder window. The app should load. Bear in mind that apps may fail to load, crash, and experience various other issues.

Additional FAQ

Is BlueStacks Safe to Install?

Yes, BlueStacks is completely safe. It’s a certified tool and it guarantees that no secondary apps are bundled with it. However, there are risks involved here. Using BlueStacks doesn’t give you the freedom to install any APK file on your computer. BlueStacks is a virtual machine that allows you to download and use Android apps on Windows 10. However, if you don’t download the app from a trusted source, there’s no guarantee that it’s safe.

But yes, BlueStacks, in itself, is 100% safe. Just beware of what you’re downloading once BlueStacks is installed.

What Are APK Files?

Any file that bears the APK extension (.apk) is referred to as the “Android Package file”. They’re used to store the Android apps that are run on Android OS devices. Typically, APK files are stored in the ZIP format and are directly downloaded to Android devices using a service such as Google Play Store. Of course, some websites allow you to download APK files themselves.

Does APK Only Run Android Programs?

The APK files are packages that distribute apps to Android. They exist so that Android devices can read the code stored inside APK files. Running a non-Android program using the APK would mean creating an app that you don’t want to run on Android with the intention of running on Android. Therefore, yes, APK files only work on Android programs.

Are Android Emulators Legal?

Before even beginning the debate regarding the legality of Android emulators, let’s just consider the fact that APK files are available in an open-source format. Yes, that does mean that you can officially and fully legally get APK files to use. How do you run these apps on non-Android devices? Well, emulators are clearly one of the main answers here. BlueStacks, for instance, is certified and 100% safe and legal. Many other emulators are also legal.

How Do I Find the APK from an Android App?

Unlike Windows 10, the strict folder structure isn’t apparent on Android devices. Where you’re able to go to the installation folder on any PC application and see the files, it doesn’t quite work like that on Android devices. If your device is rooted, you can find the APK file for an app that you’ve installed under /data/app. If you’re looking for an APK file for stock apps, you can find them in /system/app or /system/priv-app rooted folders.

Windows 10 and APK Files

There are many ways to use APK files on your Windows 10 device. Of course, you’re going to have to use a tool to install them. Either use an emulator like BlueStacks, run them via the ARC Welder app on Google Chrome, or use a PC port. Either way, there are ways to test, run, and even use Android apps on your Windows 10 PC.

Have you tried any of the given methods? Which one did you prefer? Have you experienced any problems with the APK files? Which ones were you unable to run on your Windows 10 system? Feel free to join the discussion in the comments section below and to add your thoughts regarding the subject.

How Can You Run Android APK Files on Windows 10 Computer

There are numerous numbers of users who want to test the Android apps without installing them in their smartphones. You can also install and run Android apps on the Windows by using emulators which will help you in this task. The official Android SDK from Google is one of them. You can give reviews on the particular app without installing them on your PC or Smartphone.

There are some other methods too which you can use as well. BlueStacks App Player and ARC Welder for Chrome are two of them. BlueStacks app is one of the magnificent apps which will help you to accomplish this task whereas ARC Welder for chrome is an extension that will also does the same sort of work for you guys. These will definitely help you to run Android APK files on Windows 10/8/7 computer. These two Android emulator apps have many different functions which are quite useful for the users and we recommend you to use these for this purpose. You can install them whatever meets your requirements and suitability. If you want to know more Android emulator apps for Windows, you can find them here.

What are APK Files?

The Android APKs are the files which help you to install Android Apps on PC or on the phone without downloading from the Play store. These files can be downloaded from any external website, but you always remember to avoid installing any adware on Android. The syntax of APK files are “Filename.apk” in the Android phones and “Filename.exe” in the Windows. These files contain the all the files for the app including app installer as well. There is a need for Android SDK because both “.apk” and “.exe” files are made of different syntax which can be read by an emulator for the installation. The APK files are not seen on the phone or Windows if you install the app from Play store. You can find them if you want to.

If you want to become an App developer, then you can use these APK files for some sort of algorithm study. There are some websites which will offer you to download the APK files of the apps you want. There are also some applications for Android phones which are also very helpful and convenient for making APK files of the downloaded apps. You can use APK Installer in your phone to make the APK files. But those apps which are not available on the Play store for the users can be accessed or installed by using there APK files by downloading them from any third-party website. But precautions have to be made during downloading that file because harmful malware and spyware are present inside those files. Only download the files from the websites which are fully secured and safe.

Tip: If you lost any important data on your Android phone due to virus attack caused by malware/spyware, then you must need this Jihosoft Android Data Recovery tool to recover the deleted data from Android without backup.

Method 1. How to Setup Android SDK to Run Android APK Files on PC

This Android SDK really works as an APK file opener for PC. The setting up of Android SDK will require the latest version of the JAVA on your PC. So, you can download the latest version of JAVA and Android SDK from here for the use. After this done, you have to scroll down to the bottom of the Android studio page to select the Command line tools. But if you are not planning to create an Android app, then you won’t need the full studio package.

Now, just follow the following steps mentioned below:

1. First of all, download the package to your computer and extract it to the C Drive of your PC.
2. After that, just navigate to the Control Panel, System and Advanced system settings.
3. Now, just hit on the Environment Variables and Highlight path.
4. Select the edit option and paste this in the variable value:
   ‘C:\Android\sdk\tools;C:\Android\sdk\platform-tools’.

You can open the Virtual Android device by double clicking on the executable option. After you launch the app for the first time, it will take a while to launch fully but after that you can be able to use other apps with an ease.

Method 2. Setting Up of BlueStacks to Run Android Apps on Windows 10

The BlueStacks app is the best option in the Android App emulator segment which can help you accomplish the task. This is the modified version of Android SDK which will exactly do the same task as done by Android SDK.

1. You can Download and install BlueStacks on your PC.
2. After that, just login by using your Google account for the setup of your profile.
3. You can load apps and play games and whatever the type of sort you want to do through the use of Play Store.

The BlueStacks app is having the usual Android front end and more. It is a very good Android emulator as stated earlier, which can even be used to help you play Android games on laptop. You can take the control very easily by the use of Mouse. The rest of the feature are like as Android. You will definitely find this very good to accomplish your task.

Method 3. How to Setup ARC Welder to Run APK files on Windows 10

As mentioned above, ARC Welder is a Chrome extension which will let you run Android apps on Chrome browser directly. It is probably the best method which can be employed in this task. But this process is a bit buggy because it involves a lot of bugs in this process.

1. You can download ARC Welder extension followed by the installation process.
2. Now you can download APK files and point ARC Welder to them.

Apart from the fact that ARC Welder extension doesn’t require any downloading process, but you will find it limiting. ARC Welder do not have access to the Google Play Store unlike the BlueStacks have. Also, you can run only one application at a time. But overall it is a good choice if you not want to install any extra application. This extension will definitely help you for sure.

Conclusion:

These methods found a large application and usage for the aspiring young people who are quite interested in developing app or want to lookout the features of different apps without installing them on the phone. If you are also passionate about digging out the information about the emerging technologies in the technical and application development segment, then please use these stuffs to run Android apps on PC, because they are developed only for accomplishing this task. If you are using some other sort of applications or something else like using chrome extension; then please let us know in the comments section.