Changes

'''Important Note:''' These emulators are usually closed source and while they're distributed for free, their devs look for roundabout ways to monetize them. One such high profile case was BlueStacks. Make sure to check if there are pre-installed apps on your emulator (and disable them), monitor your Internet connection download caps and processor activity to detect any abnormal activity (and block domains accordingly if the need arises) and avoid as much as possible giving sensitive account data (just in case it's key-logged). Besides basic safety, these precautions often make impacted emulators run much faster when the adware services and apps are turned off. {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Genymotion]]|style="text-align:center;"|Windows, Mac, Linux|style="text-align:center;"|[https://www.genymotion.com/fun-zone/ 2.11] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓ }} (Non-Dev Versions)|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|High|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[BlueStacks]]|style="text-align:center;"|Windows, Mac|style="text-align:center;"|[http://www.bluestacks.com/ 3.756.3674.16011828] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|QEmu (before v2.5) / VirtualBox (after v2.5)|style="text-align:center;"|High|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[MEmu]]|style="text-align:center;"|Windows|style="text-align:center;"|[http://www.memuplay.com/ 3.5.0.25] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|High|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Droid4X]]|style="text-align:center;"|Windows, Mac|style="text-align:center;"|[http://droid4x.haimawan.com 0.10.6] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|High|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[AMI DuOS]]YouWave|style="text-align:center;"|Windows|style="text-align:center;"|[http://www.amiduosyouwave.com/ 2.05.8.85117] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|✗{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|Mid|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[YouWave]]Andy|style="text-align:center;"|Windows, Mac|style="text-align:center;"|[http://youwaveandyroid.comnet/ 50.746.16.66] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBoxVmWare|style="text-align:center;"|MidHigh|style="text-align:center;"|✗{{✓}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Andy]]Android x86|style="textMulti-align:center;"|Windows, Macplatform|style="text-align:center;"|[http://andyroidwww.net/ 46android-x86.16org 7.661-r1] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|VmWareN/A|style="text-align:center;"|HighLow|style="text-align:center;"|✓{{✗}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Android x86]]Emulator (AVD)|style="text-align:center;"|Multi-platformWindows, linux|style="text-align:center;"|[httphttps://wwwdeveloper.android-x86.org 4com/studio/run/emulator.html 26.1.4-r53] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|N/AQEmu|style="text-align:center;"|Low|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Android Emulator (AVD)]]Anbox|style="text-align:center;"|Windows, linuxLinux|style="text-align:center;"|[httpshttp://developeranbox.android.com/studio/runio/emulator.html 26.1.3Git] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|QEmuOriginal|style="text-align:center;"|Low?|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Anbox]]Nox App Player|style="text-align:center;"|LinuxWindows|style="text-align:center;"|[httphttps://anboxwww.iobignox.com/ Official Site6.0.5.3]|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|OriginalVirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|?High|style="text-align:center;"|✗{{✓}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Nox App Player]]XePlayer|style="text-align:center;"|Windows|style="text-align:center;"|[httpshttp://www.bignoxxeplayer.com/ 53.28.01.0] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|High|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[XePlayer]]KoPlayer|style="text-align:center;"|Windows|style="text-align:center;"|[http://xeplayerwww.koplayer.com/ 31.8.14.01055] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|High|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[KoPlayer]]|style="text-align:center;"|Windows|style!colspan="text-align:center;7"|[http:/Abandoned/www.koplayer.com 1.4.1055] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|✓|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|High|style="text-align:center;"|✓Discontinued

!colspan="7"|AbandonedLeapDroid|Windows|[http://www.leapdroid.com/Discontinued1.8.0]|{{✓}}|VirtualBox|High|{{✓}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[LeapDroid]]AMI DuOS|style="text-align:center;"|Windows|style="text-align:center;"|[httphttps://www.leapdroidami.com/ 1en/tech-blog/farewell-amiduos/ 2.0.8.08511] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|✓{{✗}}|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|HighMid|style="text-align:center;"|✓{{✗}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[ARC Welder]] (Google Chrome)|style="text-align:center;"|Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS|style="text-align:center;"|[https://developer.chrome.com/apps/getstarted_arc 50.5021.602.0] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|Original|style="text-align:center;"|Mid|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Windroy]]|style="text-align:center;"|Windows|style="text-align:center;"|1.2 (Discontinued)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|Original|style="text-align:center;"|Low|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Windroye]]|style="text-align:center;"|Windows|style="text-align:center;"|2.9.0 (Discontinued)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|Mid|style="text-align:center;"|?

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Shashlik]]|style="text-align:center;"|Linux|style="text-align:center;"|[http://www.shashlik.io 0.9.3] (Official Site)|style="text-align:center;"|{{✓}}|style="text-align:center;"|Original|style="text-align:center;"|Low|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Xamarin Android Player]]|style="text-align:center;"|Windows, Mac|style="text[https://developer.xamarin.com/releases/android/android-align:center;"|Discontinuedplayer/ 0.6.5]|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}|style="text-align:center;"|VirtualBox|style="text-align:center;"|?|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}

|style="text-align:center;"|[[Project Astoria]]|style="text-align:center;"|Windows 10 Mobile|style="text-align:center;"|Discontinued|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}|style="text-align:center;"|Original|style="text-align:center;"|Low|style="text-align:center;"|{{✗}}

* '''===Comparison===;Genymotion''' is an :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. Except for pay-to-remove "free for personal use" watermark on the screen, 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 [http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2528952 ARM processor emulation] (what you need essentially here to play the commercial releases) as well as [https://groups.google.com/d/msg/genymotion-users/JpO8HR39PR0/NpSkrnsB8d8J 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 :Also commercial with a free option (requires a google account). 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 install a file manager to copy game cache when loading your own apks.

* ''';MEmu''' is a :A free Android emulator with very good accuracy, sometimes outperforming Bluestacks.

* ''';Droid4x''' has A free Android emulator with very good accuracy, sometimes outperforming Bluestacks.Has good accuracy but forcefully uninstalls VirtualBox, so it cannot co-exist with Genymotion and Xamarin. It's not recommended because it will install hidden background services (xunlei.exe, and Thunder.exe, both by the Chinese company which developed Droid4x) in the background seeding Chinese torrents constantly and they are a pain to uninstall or deactivate (in case you've already fallen for it, use Revo Uninstaller).

* ''';andyroid''' :It works too, though the company behind it did adware before previously.**Just like Genymotion, Andyroid also use VirtualBox, but with a twist: if it detects an installed virtualbox during installation, '''it will delete it''' and will refuse to work. Beware!

* ''';DuOS''', not :Not to be confused with a [http://ds-duos.blogspot.com/ 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.

* ''';Google Chrome''' can :Can open apk files using the ARC Welder extension, though their emulation on PC is average at best. Here's a [http://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iIbxaftAu_ho5rv9fUlXSLTzwU6MbKOldsWXyrYiyo8/edit#gid=0 compatibility list] and a [https://www.reddit.com/r/chromeapks dedicated subreddit]. Google has announced [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/05/the-play-store-comes-to-chrome-os-but-not-the-way-we-were-expecting/ Play Store for Chrome OS], but it works on a different "container" technology that is embed to the Chrome OS. In addition, Google will [http://blog.chromium.org/2016/08/from-chrome-apps-to-web.html discontinue Google Chrome apps on PC], so any major updates to ARC Welder for PC is unlikely.

* ''';Windroy''' :(without Without the 'e' suffix) is a fast Android emulator that does not rely on VirtualBox or any similar technology. It isn't accurate though. While Google Play store can be installed with some tinkering, not many games can be installed (due to not faking device names) and will spawn multiple harmless-yet-annoying app_process.exe crashes. Official site is down since July 2016, so any updates are unlikely.

* ''';Windroye''' :(with With the 'e' suffix) rely on VirtualBox, but still offers better performance than Bluestacks. The Play Store is installed by default and has no stability issues found from classic Windroy. [https://www.reddit.com/r/ClashOfClans/comments/31lklr/misc_windroye_for_pcfaster_than_bluestacks_262_mb/ A related Reddit topic can be found here.]

* ''';Android x86''' is a :A open-source project that aims to port Android operating system to x86-based netbooks. While it can be run on virtual machines like VirtualBox, it does not have 3D graphics emulation and cannot run most games. Genymotion is (or at least used to be) a closed-source fork of Android x86, designed exclusively to be run on VirtualBox.

* ''';Anbox''' is a :A project that aims to run Android applications on Ubuntu distributions. Currently it is on alpha state and only known to work on Ubuntu 16.04. Anbox requires custom kernel modules to run because unlike other emulators which emulates the whole Linux kernel, this one uses the host system's Linux kernel directly.

* ''';Shashlik''' is a :A project by KDE that aims to run Android applications on Linux using KDE5 and Qt5 technology. The project is infancy state and only known to run on latest Kubuntu versions. It currently lacks ARM processor emulation, so not many games will run. It is however known to play [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SC6c_ih_Ac Flappy Bird] and can show [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_R8ftiIp4 Spotify's login screen]. It uses modified [[Qemu]] to emulate the Android operating system. Last major update was March 2016 and seems abandoned.

* ''';Xamarin Android Player''' was a :A newcomer to the Android emulation market. Not much is known about this because it required a minimum of $25/month subscription of main Xamarin products. The main Xamarin products were [https://blog.xamarin.com/xamarin-for-all made available for free] after the purchase by Microsoft, but Xamarin Android Player was discontinued.

* ''';Project Astoria''' was a :A Microsoft-developed Android emulator for Windows 10 Mobile included in several insider previews. It could run [https://www.reddit.com/r/windowsphone/comments/3gaoct/android_apps_that_work_on_win10_right_now/ a few applicaions], though apps required Google Play Services did not run or had issues. This project was reportedly [http://www.windowscentral.com/microsofts-project-astoria-delayed discontinued] in November 2015 and [http://www.winbeta.org/news/microsoft-confirms-the-death-of-project-astoria-focusing-on-other-bridges-instead its cancellation was confirmed] on February 2016, so the emulator is not included in more recent versions of Windows 10 Mobile.