Android emulators

This page is about emulating Android apps and games on PC as it is slowly building off an important library of exclusives, and emulation coupled with CheatEngine is certainly interesting. If you're interested in emulators for your Android phone, check this page instead.

Android is a mobile operating system (OS) based on the Linux kernel and currently developed by Google. Unlike iPhone, as well as older cell-phone models and older Japanese Galapagos mobile phones, emulating Android software on PC is more developed.

Like with DS emulators, the computer mouse is used to emulate touch screen presses (which can be less than ideal in many cases), and the keyboard emulates the button controller add-ons. Some emulators support X360 controllers as well with some more tweaks.

Android apps come in the apk file format (occasionally coupled with obb files). Just like its iOS equivalent (ipa files), their innards can be opened as a regular zip file.

Emulators

PC

Name	OS	Version	Free	USB Link	VM	Accuracy	Recommended
Genymotion	Windows, Mac, Linux	2.4.0 (Official Site)	✓ (Non-Dev Versions)	✓	VirtualBox	High	✓✓
BlueStacks	Windows, Mac	Official Site	✓	✗	Original	Mid	✓
Droid4x	Windows, Mac	Official Site	✓	✗	Original	High	✓
DuOS	Windows	Official Site	✗	✗	?	Mid	✗
andyroid	Windows, Mac	Official Site	✓	✗	VirtualBox	Mid	✓
Google Chrome	Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS	duh	✓	✗	Original	Mid	✗
Xamarin Android Player	Windows, Mac	Official Site	✗	✗	VirtualBox	?	✗

The VM column describes what backend technology the emulator uses. Emulators labeled with "VirtualBox" requires the user to install Oracle VM VirtualBox.

• Genymotion is an Android emulator with hardware-accelerated 3D graphics and USB host support, available for Windows, Mac and Linux. In its latest versions, it has pretty good compatibility with commercial games. It's a commercial product though, aimed at software developers and QA teams. You'll need to create an account and download the free non-commercial use license available (paid builds add features only useful for Android app developers).
  • Setting up the emulator itself is not too hard, but a bit of tinkering is required to add the Google Play store and ARM processor emulation (what you need essentially here to play the commercial releases) as well as Xbox 360 controller support. Not noob-friendly, but if you're experienced enough with Android to know your way around a rooted filesystem it shouldn't be too hard.

• Bluestacks is also commercial with a free option (no account required). It's less good than Genymotion, and doesn't handle USB cable emulation. Previous versions used to come with an installer with adware, comes with junk apps within the emulator, and has a non-intuitive uninstaller, but that's no longer the case today. It includes Google Apps by default, though you'll need to "root" it to load apk files to your liking.

• Droid4x has good accuracy but forcefully uninstalls VirtualBox, so it cannot co-exist with Genymotion and Xamarin.

• andyroid works too, though the company behind it did adware before previously.

• DuOS, not to be confused with a similarly-named Nintendo DS emulator by Roor, is a relative newcomer to the Android emulation market, made by American Megatrends i.e. the very same people behind the BIOS/UEFI firmware your PC may be using. Emulation is modest at best, with games and apps such as DraStic struggling on lower-end hardware. And to top it all off, it ain't free either.

• Recently, Google Chrome can open apk files too, though their emulation on PC is average at best. Here's a compatibility list and a dedicated subreddit.

• Xamarin Android Player is also a newcomer to the Android emulation market. Not much is known about this as $25/month subscription is required for use.

See also

• Cellphone emulators - info on emulators for various feature phone/non-smartphone platforms.