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Android emulators

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Android Linux distros (...)
{{Infobox console|title = Android|logo = Android.png|developer = Google<br/> Open Handset Alliance|release = 2008|emulated = {{✓}}}}:''This page is about emulating software that emulates Android on other hardware, like desktops. For emulating specific platforms, we'll usually list '{{for|emulators that run on Android ports of emulators |Emulators on the target platform's page; for example, a Game Boy emulator for Android would be listed at the Game Boy emulators page.''}}
'''[[wikipedia:Android (operating system)|Android]]''' is a mobile operating system developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. It was originally developed in secret before launching in 2008 as a competitor against Apple's [[iOS emulators|iPhone]]. While other mobile operating systems had have been made throughout the years, none have emerged in terms of market share nearly as much as Android.
Android is like a Linux distribution in that it uses the Linux kernel to facilitate communication with the hardware and manage processes on the system. Unfortunately, the similarities end there , as Android uses an entirely different toolset from standard Linux distributions and no support is given for running it on PCs. (Software development on Android is also nothing like Linux development as apps are compiled into architecture-specific <code>APK</code>s via Java which, like IPA files on [[iOS emulators|iOS]], are specially designed Zip files. They may be occasionally coupled with <code>OBB</code> files).) While Android can technically run Linux binaries, doing so requires superuser privileges that Android does not provide by default. For many devices, you can expect to see a custom ROM that has an integrated su binary (or a means to install it easily, such as a custom recovery) , but not all devices have one.
However, the Linux kernel is flexible enough that it can be emulated well , unlike iOS, older cell-phone models, and older Japanese Galapagos mobile phones. While Android natively supports mice,<ref group=N>If you have an Android device , you can confirm this by connecting a Bluetooth mouse or a USB mouse via a USB On-the-Go adapter.</ref> , most apps expect users to have a touchscreen, so Android emulators will usually default to emulating touchscreen presses like [[Nintendo DS emulators|DS emulation]] (though it can be less than ideal in many cases). The host's keyboard may often emulate the button controller add-ons, and some emulators support [[Xbox 360 emulators|Xbox 360]] controllers as well with some more tweaks. To run Android apps on your computer, most of the Android emulators employ a two-step approach. First, they set up a virtual environment using [[Hypervisors|hypervisor]] (and of course support for [[Wikipedia:X86_virtualization#Hardware-assisted_virtualization|hardware assisting virtualization]] such as vt-x/amd-v and virtual gpu adapter such as [https://docs.mesa3d.org/drivers/virgl.html VirGL]). Then, they use [[Recommended_linux_distros#Emulation_focused|custom Android-x86 images]] and translation layer such as "[[Compatibility_layer|libhoudini or libndk or Intel BT]]" to convert instructions from ARM processors (used in phones) to work on your computer's x86 architecture. See [[#Hardware features]] supported ABI, API sections and [[#Enhancements]] built-in translation layer and VM columns for more information. <references group=N/>
==Emulators==
<div style="color:#000;background:#eef2ffBefore diving in,;border:1px solid #b7c5d9;border*[[Hypervisors|Hardware-radius:8pxassisted virtualization]] feature must be turned from your BIOS for most of these methods due to performance reasons.;padding*You need to turn off Hyper-left:1em;display:inlineV from Windows Feature panel if [[Hypervisors|Type-block;padding2 hypervisor]] used by the emulator due to [[Hypervisors#Hyper-right:1em;">'''Important Note:''' These V_feature_conflict_issue|conflict issue]]. Having said that some emulators are usually closed source and while they're distributed like BlueStacks provide special Hyper-V build for freeprevent this issue. Recently, their devs look for roundabout ways to monetize themwith [https://support.bluestacks. One such high profile case was com/hc/en-us/articles/22561951043981-BlueStacks-5-20-Release-Notes#01HMGBJDK8G7J7S9C0G5R9SBVR BlueStacks5 version 5. Make sure to check if there are pre20, you can now run BlueStacks with Hyper-V enabled] including all instances such as Nougat 32-installed apps on your emulator (bit, which will run as intended and disable no additional changes required.;*Tons of bloated, obsolete or non-active other Android "emulators" exists there but we're not gonna list 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)see [https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Android_emulators&diff=66635&oldid=66634#Emulators this page] for that. Besides basic safety;*If you already have an Android device, we recommend using a mirroring application like "[https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy scrcpy]" instead of these precautions often make impacted "emulators run much faster when the adware services and apps are turned off".</divstyle="overflow-x:auto;width:100%"> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"
|-
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
! scope="col"|Version
! scope="col"|VM[[#Hardware_features|Hardware features]]! scope="col"|[[Emulation Accuracy#Enhancements|AccuracyEnhancements]]! scope="col"|Compatibility! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-SourceSoftware">FLOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
|-
! colspan="810"|PC / x86
|-
|[[Genymotion]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://www.genymotion.com/download/ {{GenymotionVer}}]
|VirtualBox|High|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}}|-|[[BlueStacks]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|macOS~}}|[https://www.bluestacks.com/ {{BlueStacksVer}}]|QEMU (before v2.5) / VirtualBox (after v2.5)|High?|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|-
|MEmu[https://play.google.com/googleplaygames Google Play Games]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://wwwplay.memuplaygoogle.com/ 7googleplaygames#section-system-requirements Beta]<br/>[https://developer.2android.5com/games/playgames/emulator Developer]|VirtualBox{{~}}|High{{~}}|<small>[https://play.google.com/googleplaygames/exploregames Only for selected titles] (Beta build)<br/>? (Developer build)</small>|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|-
|LDPlayer[https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/android/wsa/release-notes WSA]<br/><small>This shouldn't be confused with WSL or WSL2.<br/>See [[Hypervisor]] page for WSL2 and [[Compatibility layer]] page for WSL.</small>
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|Comes with Windows store<br/>[https://engithub.ldplayer.netcom/cinit/ 4.0.36WSAPatch WSA patch for Windows 10]|VirtualBox|High{{~}}|{{~}} ||[https://github.com/riverar/wsa-app-compatibility#support-tables 66%<br/><small>368 out of 558 reported titles</small>]|?|{{~}} [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/android/wsa/ *] ||{{~}}
|-
|NoxPlayer[https://trinityemulator.github.io/ Trinity]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.bignox.com/ 6.6.1.2300]|VirtualBox|High|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}|-|MuMu|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|macOS}}|[https://mumu.163github.com/globalTrinityEmulator/downloadTrinityEmulator/en/index.html 1.1.0.2]<br />[https://mumu.163.com/ 1.1.0.5 (v2.3.17) (Chinese Version)releases git]|VirtualBox|High|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}}|-|-|[[Anbox]]|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}|[https://anbox.io/ Git]|Not an emulator (wine-like approach)|~|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}|-|Android x86|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}|[https://www.android-x86.org 9.0-r2]|VirtualBox, VMWare (for 3d acc)|Mid?|{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{~}}
|-
|Android Studio<br/><small>It's an IDE and it includes [https://developer.android.com/studio/intro/update#sdk-manager built-in Android Emulator]</small>
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://developer.android.com/studio/archive Beta and Canary builds]<br/>[https://developer.android.com/studio/ 4.0]|QEMU{{✓}}|Low{{~}}|?|<span title="Source-available"><sup>{{~}}</sup></span> ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|-
|Andy OS[[BlueStacks]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|macOS}}
|[https://andyroidsupport.netbluestacks.com/ 0.47.226.1096.26hc/en-us/sections/360012290292-Release-Notes {{BlueStacksVer}}]|VmWare{{~}}|{{~}}|High[https://support.bluestacks.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413818315789-Games-playable-on-different-Android-versions-on-BlueStacks-5 ?]|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<ref group=N2 name=Bloatware>These emulators are closed-source, and while they're distributed for free, their devs look for roundabout ways to monetize them. '''Since these emulators closed-source and comes with adware and bloatware applications, it's important to research the developers background before using them to ensure their trustworthiness and avoid potential privacy risks before using them'''. MuMu, LDPlayer, NoxPlayer and MEmu developed by the various Chinese software companies and BlueStacks App Player developed by American technology company called "[https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4928776 BlueStacks]". Despite data security regulations existing in various regions (e.g., [[Wikipedia:General_Data_Protection_Regulation|GDPR]] in the "EU", [[Wikipedia:California_Consumer_Privacy_Act|CCPA]] in "California", and [[Wikipedia:Cybersecurity_Law_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China|Cybersecurity Law]] in "PRC"), concerns regarding government surveillance in certain countries like the "PRC" remain significant. Therefore, we recommend exercising caution when relying on closed-source software developed within such jurisdictions. Make sure to check if there are pre-installed '''extra''' apps comes with these emulators and disable or uninstall them (e.g. BlueStacks X, BlueStacks Services etc.), monitor your internet traffic and processor activity to detect any abnormal activity and block domains accordingly if the need arises or use tools like '[https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall simplewall]'. Also avoid giving sensitive account data as much as is possible due to potential security reasons. Besides basic safety, these precautions often make impacted emulators run faster and more responsive when the adware services and apps are turned off.</ref>
|-
|AMI DuOS|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}|[https://ami.com/en/tech-blog/farewell-amiduos/ 2.0.8.8511]|VirtualBox|Mid|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-|ARC Welder<br /><small>(Google Chrome)</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}|[https://developer.chrome.com/apps/getstarted_arc ARC 50.5021.602.0]|Original|Mid|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-|ARChon<br /><small>(Google Chrome)</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}|[https://archon-runtime.github.io/ ARC 41.4410.238.0]|Original|Mid|<span title="Source-available"><sup>{{~}}</sup></span> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-|Droid4XMuMu
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|macOS}}
|[https://droid4xmumu.cc163.com/global/download/en/ index.html 1.1.0.102]<br /><small>[https://mumu.163.7com 1.1.0.5 (v2.3.17) (Chinese Ver)]</small>|VirtualBox?|High?|?|{{✗}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}}<ref group=N2 name=Bloatware></ref>
|-
|KoPlayerLDPlayer
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://koplayerpcen.comldplayer.net/ 24.0.050.3]|VirtualBox?|High?|?|{{✗}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}}<ref group=N2 name=Bloatware></ref>
|-
|LeapDroidNoxPlayer
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[httphttps://www.leapdroidbignox.com/ 17.0.82.07]|VirtualBox?|?|High?|{{✗}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}}<ref group=N2 name=Bloatware></ref>
|-
|Peak App PlayerMEmu
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://web.archive.org/web/20191120002207/httphttps://www.peakplayermemuplay.netcom/index.php/en/peakplayeren/ 1.2.5 Beta 2{{MEmuVer}}]|VirtualBox?|High?|?|{{✗}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}}<ref group=N2 name=Bloatware></ref>|}</div> ==Compatibility layers ([[Compatibility_layers|...]])==''These compatibility layers designed for running android applications on ARM and x86 devices but these projects kinda negligible due to their compatibility levels''.<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"
|-
! scope="col"|Name! scope="col"|ShashlikPlatform(s)! scope="col"|alignVersion! scope=left"col"|{{Icon[[#Hardware_features|Linux}}Hardware features]]! scope="col"|[http://www.shashlik.io/ 0.9.3[#Enhancements|Enhancements]]! scope="col"|OriginalCompatibility! scope="col"|Low<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>! scope="col"|{{✓}} Active! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}Recommended]]
|-
|SmartGaGa|align! colspan=left|{{Icon|Windows}}|[http://web.archive.org/web/20190820044528/https://www.smartgaga.com/ 1.1.646]|VirtualBox|High|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} |"10"|{{✗}}x86
|-
|Windroy[https://waydro.id/index.html WayDroid]|align=left|{{Icon|WindowsLinux}}|[https://sourceforgewaydro.netid/projects#install git]<br /windroy>[https:/ 4/github.0.3com/casualsnek/waydroid_script Extras script]|Original{{✗}}|Low{{✗}}|?|{{✗}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|Windroye[[Anbox]]|align=left|{{Icon|WindowsLinux}}|2[https://docs.9anbox.1io/userguide/install.html git]|VirtualBox{{✗}}|{{✗}}|Mid?
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|}
 
==Android Linux distros ([[Recommended_Linux_distros#Android|...]])==
<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"
|-
! scope="col"|Xamarin Android PlayerName! scope="col"|alignFrontend! scope=left"col"|{{IconLatest Version! scope="col"|Windows[[#Hardware_features|macOS}}Hardware features]]! scope="col"|[https://github.com/xamarin/release-notes-archive/blob/master/release-notes/android/android-player/index.md 0.6.5[#Enhancements|Enhancements]]! scope="col"|VirtualBoxCompatibility! scope="col"|Mid<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>! scope="col"|{{✗}} Active! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|{{✗}} ||{{✗}}Recommended]]
|-
|XePlayer|align! colspan=left|{{Icon|Windows}}|[http://xeplayer.com/ 6.0."10]|VirtualBox|High|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} |"|{{✗}}x86
|-
|YouWaveBlissOS|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}|[httpsAndroid-x86 fork<br/><small>includes 3 launchers://youwaveTaskbar, Quickstep and Smart Dock.com</ 5.11]|VirtualBox|Mid|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-!colspan="8"|Consoles|-|LineageOS|align=left|{{Icon|Switch}}small>|[https://switchrootblissos.org/ 15index.1html#download 16.9.x]|based of the Nvidia Shield TV build of LineageOS|~|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}}|-!colspan="8"|Mobile / ARM|-|LineageOS|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM~}}|[https://konstakang.com/ 16.0 <small>(Raspberry Pi 3/4)</small>]|Not an emulator (actual AOSP)|High?|{{?}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|-
|[[Anbox]]Berry OS|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}Based on Android-x86 and Bliss OS<br/><small>Mini Desktop launcher is pre-installed.</small>|[https://anboxgithub.iocom/yui0/berry-os/ Gitreleases 2023-02-22]|Not an emulator (wine-like approach){{?}}|{{?}}|~?|{{?}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|-
|Project AstoriaAndroid-x86|align=leftTrebuchet (KitKat version)|[https://www.android-x86.org 2022-03-25]|{{Icon|WinMobile~}}|Discontinued ($)|Original{{~}}|Low?|{{}} ||{{~}} <abbr title="Development activity on Android-x86 has significantly slowed down.">*</abbr> ||{{✗}}
|}
The VM column describes what backend technology the emulator uses. Emulators labeled with "VirtualBox" sometimes needs the user to install [https:<references group=N2 //www.virtualbox.org/ Oracle VM VirtualBox]. Usually, it is installed automatically.>
===Comparisons===
;[[Genymotion]]:A closed-source Android emulator with lots of [[#Hardware_features|hardware-accelerated 3D graphics and USB host supportfeatures]], available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. In its latest versionsIt's not designed for gaming, but [https://support.genymotion.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003059737-Can-I-play-games-with-Genymotion it has pretty good decent software compatibility with commercial games]. It's a commercial product though, aimed at software developers and QA teams. Youand you'll need to create an account and download the free non-commercial use license available. Except for the pay-to-remove "free for personal use" watermark on the screen, paid builds to add features only useful for Android app developers. Unlike other closed-source emulators, Genymotion avoids pre-installing unnecessary apps. ;Google Play Games:Not to be confused with the [[Preservation_projects#Private_Platform_Servers|service of the same name]], Google Play Games is a PC application that lets you browse, download, and play '''select mobile games''' on a Windows desktop or laptop. Use developer build if you want more [[#Hardware_features|hardware feature]] support. Google Play Games is not yet available for Mac. Currently, only bunch of games are available for beta version but Google adding games on a regular basis.<ref>[https://play.google.com/googleplaygames#section-faqs Google Play Games FAQ]</ref>[[File:Android Studio built-in emulator device skin demonstration.jpeg|thumb|298px|Android Studio built-in emulator device skin demonstration, see [[#Enhancements]]]] ;Trinity:Open source Android emulator, it aims for high [https://youtu.be/tfq4MsxaHZw?t=855 performance] and it's even faster than Google Play Games emulator. See [https://github.com/TrinityEmulator/TrinityEmulator#2-detailed-instructions Guest OS image installation guide] for installation. Also see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfq4MsxaHZw OSDI '22 - Trinity: High-Performance Mobile Emulation through Graphics Projection] presentation for more information.
Setting up the ;Android Studio:Android Studio is an IDE software based on JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA. It has built-in Android emulator with [https://developer.android.com/studio/run/managing-avds AVD (Android Virtual Device) configuration manager]. While its built-in emulator itself (which is literally called as [https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator "Android Emulator"]) may not too hardbe the fastest or software compatible (supports lots of OS image though), but Android Studio shines as a bit of tinkering is required to add the Google Play store developer's toolkit, offering seamless integration with coding, debugging, and testing tools for Android smartphones, [http[Smart_TV_emulators#Android_TV.2FGoogle_TV|Android TVs]], [https://forumdeveloper.xda-developersandroid.com/showthreadwear Wear OS] and other Android ecosystem hardware.php[https://www.youtube.com/watch?tv=2528952 ARM processor K1TTzkToDyE Recent updates brings new UI] aims to reduce complexity, provide easier access to essential features etc. It has built-in plugin manager which you can get Genymotion plugin for further enhance its emulation] (what capabilities. Also you need essentially here can use [https://developer.android.com/games/playgames/pg-emulator#debug adb to play the commercial releases) as well as debugging with developer version of "Google Play Games" emulator]. Supports lots of [[#Hardware features]] and [[#Enhancements]]. See release notes for [https://groupsdeveloper.googleandroid.com/dstudio/msgreleases/genymotionemulator built-usersin "Android Emulator"] and [https:/JpO8HR39PR0/NpSkrnsB8d8J Xbox 360 controller support]androidstudio.googleblog. Not noob-friendly, but if you're experienced enough with com/ Android to know your way around a rooted filesystem it shouldn't be too hardStudio] for more information.
'''Note as of November 25th, 2019''';BlueStacks: The above paragraph is outdated A commercial software with a decent compatibility and ARM Emulation performance. It has been broken in Genymotion for a whilelots of [[#Enhancements|enhancement]] and [[#Hardware_features|hardware feature]] support. Newer versions bundled with "BlueStacks X" software and "BlueStacks services" which you can uninstall it afterwards, so and you can't use ARM need to uninstall these during each update session unfortunately (BlueStacks Player do not need these apps unless you get a really old version). It includes Google Apps by default.
;[[BlueStacks]]MuMu Player:Also commercial with a free option (requires a google account)Another closed-source Android emulator. There are three versions of MuMu available:;MuMu Player 6::This version of MuMu uses Android 6. It's less good than Genymotion 0 Marshmallow:;MuMu Player X::This one is based on Android 12 Snow Cone and doesn't handle USB cable emulationmay have more compatibility with games:;MuMu Nebula::This version runs Android 7. Previous versions used to come with an installer with adware comes with junk apps within the emulator 0 Nougat and has a nonis more suitable for low-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 .apk files.end computers
;MEmu
:A free Another closed-source Android emulator and also with very good accuracy, sometimes outperforming BlueStackscompatibility.
;LDPlayer
:An Another closed-source Android emulator and also with good accuracycompatibility. When testing games along side alongside Nox, LDPlayer shows to have better performance/compatibility with games.
==Hardware features==''These are Android operating system features. This list only includes hardware features that can be possible to emulated through software or will be possible in the near future. Including everything would result in an endless list.''<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle;width:100%"|- style="font-weight:bold;Droid4x"! colspan=2 | Name! Genymotion[https://docs.genymotion.com/desktop/04_Emulating_sensors_and_features/]! Bluestacks! Google Play Games! Trinity! WSA! Android StudioHas good accuracy but forcefully uninstalls VirtualBox, so it cannot co! [[Recommended_Linux_distros#Android|BlissOS]]! [[Recommended_Linux_distros#Android|Android-x86]]|-exist | colspan=2 | [[Wikipedia:Android_(operating_system)#Home_screen|Home screen]]<br/><small>This shouldn't be confused with Genymotion emulator frontend/GUI.</small>| {{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{?}}<ref group=N4>[https://developer.android.com/games/playgames/pg-emulator#navigation Exclusive to developer builds] and Xamarin[https://old.reddit.com/r/GalaxyTab/comments/mt5ekb/in_android_12_google_is_all_about_tablets_again/ it's looking similar to Android 12 tablet home menu launcher] ([https://youtu.be/2KEaPQpfzkQ?t=408 Demonstration]). It's not recommended because it will unclear whether this app directly emulates the native home screen or provides an alternative UI/UX with limited features.</ref>| {{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/touch-and-input/game-controllers Game controllers]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}[https://support.bluestacks.com/hc/en-us/articles/4405061625485 *]| {{✓}}[https://blog.google/products/google-play/google-play-games-beta-october-2023-update/ *]| {{N}}[https://github.com/TrinityEmulator/TrinityEmulator/issues/3 *]| {{✓}}[https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/android/wsa/release-notes#build-22084000040 *]| {{?}}| {{✓}}[https://tested.blissos.org/hardware/inputs/gamepad/ *]| {{?}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/touch-and-input/keyboard-input Keyboard input]| {{?}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}[https://youtu.be/2KEaPQpfzkQ?t=153 *]| {{✓}}| {{?}}| {{✓}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/games/playgames/input-mouse Mouse input]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}[https://youtu.be/2KEaPQpfzkQ?t=153 *]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/jetpack/compose/touch-input/pointer-input/multi-touch Multi-touch]| {{✓}}[https://docs.genymotion.com/desktop/03_Virtual_devices/#touchscreen]| {{✓}}[https://www.bluestacks.com/multi-touch.html][https://www.bluestacks.com/blog/bluestacks-exclusives/bluestacks-multi-touch-support-en.html]| {{?}}[https://support.google.com/googleplay/thread/249633800/lack-of-multi-touch-support-on-play-games-beta?hl=en]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/media/camera/camerax Camera]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{Y}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/usb USB and USB passthrough]| {{✓}}| {{N}}[https://old.reddit.com/r/BlueStacks/comments/z54s8p/usb_devices_in_bluestacks/iy2gtgb/ *]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{Y}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/notifications Notifications]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{~}}[https://developer.android.com/games/playgames/faq#q_can_we_use_push_notifications_for_google_play_games *]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}[https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/android/wsa/release-notes#build-220440000190 *]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator-install-add-files Sideloading/Installing]| {{?}}| {{✓}}<ref group=N4>If you're using latest version of BlueStacks you'll need to install hidden background services (xunleia file manager to copy game cache when loading your own .exeapk files, or simply use .xapk containers.</ref>| {{~}}<ref group=N4>Exclusive to developer builds, [https://youtu.be/2KEaPQpfzkQ?t=280 Demonstration]. For using sideloading in the developer builds you need to use adb install "AppName.apk" command in the Command Prompt.</ref>| {{✓}}<ref group=N4>[https://github.com/TrinityEmulator/TrinityEmulator/wiki/Advanced-Usages#adb-connection Use adb to connect] then use adb install command.</ref>| {{~}}[https://github.com/Simizfo/WSATools#requisites *]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/wifi/wifi-scan Wi-Fi]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}[https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator-wifi *]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/reference/android/location/Location Location]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{✓}}[https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator-extended-controls *]| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/bluetooth Bluetooth]| {{?}}| {{N}}[https://support.bluestacks.com/hc/en-us/articles/360061235612-Bluetooth-support-on-BlueStacks-5 *]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{N}}[https://xdaforums.com/t/looking-wsa-for-windows-11-where-bluetooth-also-works.4610551/post-88829045 *]| {{Y}}[https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22604305/how-to-use-android-emulator-for-testing-bluetooth-application *]| {{✓}}[https://tested.blissos.org/hardware/connectivity/bluetooth/ *]| {{?}}|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/develop/sensors-and Thunder-location/sensors/sensors_motion Motion sensors]| {{?}}| {{Y}}[https://support.bluestacks.execom/hc/en-us/articles/360058638032-Advanced-settings-for-key-controls-in-BlueStacks-5-#%E2%80%9C9%E2%80%9D *]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{Y}}[https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator-extended-controls *]| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| rowspan=2 | Connectivity| [[Preservation_projects#Private_Platform_Servers|Google Play Games]]<br/>[[Preservation_projects#Private_Platform_Servers|Google Play Services]]<br/><small>Achievements, both by Challenges, Leaderboards etc.</small>| {{?}}| {{Y}}[https://support.bluestacks.com/hc/en-us/articles/360059697231-How-to-log-in-to-Google-Play-Store-on-BlueStacks-5 *]| {{Y}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{✓}}| {{?}}| {{?}}[https://groups.google.com/g/android-x86/c/BGVX_bwpibA *]|-| [[Wikipedia:Google_Cloud_Messaging|Google Cloud Messaging (GCM)]]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-! colspan=9 | [[Wikipedia:Android_version_history|OS version]]|-| colspan=2 | [[Wikipedia:Android_version_history#Android_4.4_KitKat|KitKat]] (API 19)<br/><small>Supporting [[Wikipedia:Android_version_history#Android_4.4_KitKat|Android 4.4 (KitKat)]] is crucial for emulators due to compatibility and [[Preservation_projects|preservation]] reasons.<br/> Older applications and games often rely on the Chinese company "[[Wikipedia:Dalvik_(software)|Dalvik]]", which developed Droid4xisn't present in newer versions and there could be '''[https://web.archive.org/web/20141215220606/http://www.androidruntime.com:80/list compatibility issues]'''.<br/>Android 5.0 (Lollipop)(API 21) introduced the "[[Wikipedia:Android_Runtime|Android RunTime]]" (ART) , [[Wikipedia:Android_Runtime#History|replacing "Dalvik" entirely]].<br/>Having said that seed Chinese torrents constantly ART is mostly backwards compatible with Dalvik. See these sources for more information: [https://xdaforums.com/t/explained-art-runtime-in-android-4-4-kitkat.2622098/ 1], [https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-dalvik-and they -art-in-android/ 2], [https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/verifying-apps-art 3].</small>| {{N}}<ref group=N4 name=GenymotionOSsupport>[https://support.genymotion.com/hc/en-us/articles/9511224511901-Which-Android-versions-are-available Genymotion: Which Android versions are available?], Since September 2022, Genymotion no longer provide Android 4.4 and below images, see[https://support.genymotion.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002708018-I-can-t-find-Android-4-4-and-below this page].</ref>| {{N}}<ref group=N4>You need to use [[Wikipedia:BlueStacks#BlueStacks_3|BlueStacks 3 version]] (not 3N), because it is the latest version supports KitKat.</ref>| {{N}}| {{N}}| {{N}}| {{Y}}| {{N}}<ref group=N4 name=BlissOSsupport>[https://blissos.org/index.html#download BlissOS OS support].</ref>| {{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=Androidx86OSsupport>KitKat and Nougat supported with [https://sourceforge.net/projects/android-x86/files/ Android-x86].</ref>|-| colspan=2 | [[Wikipedia:Android_version_history#Android_7.1_Nougat|7.1 Nougat]] (API 25)<br/><small>New JIT Compiler, making for 75 percent faster app installations and a pain 50 percent reduction in compiled code size.<br/>JIT compiler with code profiling to uninstall or deactivate ART, which lets it constantly improve the performance of Android apps as they run.<br/>Vulkan 3D rendering API support.</small>| {{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=GenymotionOSsupport></ref>| {{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=BluestacksOSsupport>[https://support.bluestacks.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058931031-How-to-utilize-the-different-Android-versions-available-on-BlueStacks-5#%E2%80%9C1%E2%80%9D Which Android versions are available on BlueStacks?].</ref>| {{N}}| {{N}}| {{N}}| {{Y}}| {{N}}<ref group=N4 name=BlissOSsupport></ref>| {{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=Androidx86OSsupport></ref>|-| colspan=2 | [[Wikipedia:Android_version_history#Android_12|Snow Cone]] (API 31)<br/><small>Android Runtime (ART) module added to the updatable core OS components via Google Play, added functionality to existing modules.</small>| {{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=GenymotionOSsupport></ref>| {{N}}<ref group=N4 name=BluestacksOSsupport></ref>| {{Y}}| {{N}}<abbr title="It uses android-x86 9.0 64bit">*</abbr>| {{N}}| {{Y}}| {{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=BlissOSsupport></ref>| {{N}}<ref group=N4 name=Androidx86OSsupport></ref>|-! colspan=10 | [https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/abis Supported ABIs]|-| colspan=2 | [https://web.archive.org/web/20180507120451/https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/abis#sa armeabi]| colspan=8 | armeabi and MIPS support deprecated in case you've already fallen [[Compatibility layer|libndk translation layer]] version r16 and [https://android.googlesource.com/platform/ndk/+/master/docs/Roadmap.md#ndk-r17 removed in r17].<br/>But [[Compatibility layer|libhoudini translation layer]] still supports it?|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/abis#v7a armeabi-v7a]<br/><small>Supporting armeabi-v7a ABI is crucial for itemulators due to compatibility and [[Preservation_projects|preservation]] reasons.<br/> Older applications and games often rely on the [[Wikipedia:ARM_architecture_family|ARM 32-bit (Cortex)]] architecture, use Revo Uninstallerwhich isn't used in newer hardware.</small>|?|{{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=BlueStacksABI>[https://support.bluestacks.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058929011-What-is-Application-Binary-Interface-ABI-in-BlueStacks-5 What is Application Binary Interface (ABI)in BlueStacks 5 ]</ref>|?|?|?|{{Y}}|?|?|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/abis#arm64-v8a arm64-v8a]|?|{{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=BlueStacksABI></ref>|{{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=GooglePlayGamesABI>[https://developer.android.com/games/playgames/start#playbility-architecture Google Play Games ABI Architecture support].</ref>|?|?|{{Y}}|?|?|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/abis#x86 x86]|?|{{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=BlueStacksABI></ref>|{{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=GooglePlayGamesABI></ref>|?|?|{{Y}}|?|?|-| colspan=2 | [https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/abis#86-64 x86_64]|?|{{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=BlueStacksABI></ref>|{{Y}}<ref group=N4 name=GooglePlayGamesABI></ref>|{{Y}}|?|{{Y}}[https://developer.android.com/games/optimize/64-bit#64-bit-emulator *]|?|?|-! colspan=10 | [https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/graphics/opengl/about-opengl Supported APIs]|-| colspan=2 | [https://registry.khronos.org/OpenGL/index_es.php#specs11 OpenGL ES 1.x]<br/><small>Supporting OpenGL ES 1.x is crucial for emulators due to compatibility and [[Preservation_projects|preservation]] reasons.</small>|?|?|?|?|?|{{Y}}|?|?|-| colspan=2 | [https://registry.khronos.org/OpenGL/index_es.php#specs31 OpenGL ES 3.x]<br/><small>The OpenGL ES 3.x APIs is backwards-compatible with the 2.x APIs which is crucial for emulators due to compatibility and [[Preservation_projects|preservation]] reasons.</small>|?|?|?|{{Y}}[https://youtu.be/tfq4MsxaHZw?t=923 *]|?|{{Y}}|?|?|-| colspan=2 | [https://registry.khronos.org/vulkan/#apispecs Vulkan 1.3]<br/><small>See [https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/graphics/android-baseline-profile Android Baseline 2022 profile] and also see [https://source.android.com/docs/core/graphics/implement-vulkan#versions Vulkan API versions for several Android releases].<br/>Vulkan releases are backward compatible with each other.|?|?|?|?|?|?|?|?|}</div><references group=N4/>
==Enhancements==<div style="overflow-x:auto;Andy OSwidth:100%">{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle;width:Not recommended because it will install a 100%"|- style="font-weight:bold;"! colspan=2 | Name! Genymotion! Bluestacks! Google Play Games! Trinity! WSA! Android Studio! [[Recommended_linux_distros#Emulation_focused|BlissOS]]! [[Recommended_linux_distros#Emulation_focused|Android-x86]]|-|rowspan=6 | Post-Processing| [[Shader_Presets|Shader Chain]]| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| [[Shaders_and_filters|Filters]]| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{~}}<ref group=N3>Android Studio emulator [https://wwwdeveloper.redditandroid.com/rstudio/run/managing-avds#skins supports lots of device frame and custom skin] (similar to libretro overlay/emulationbezels). You can get additional skins from various sources (e.g. [https:/comments/8rq4fmgithub.com/reminder_that_andyroid_mines_cryptocurrencymingchen/ cryptocurrency minerandroid-emulator-skins mingchen's Android Emulator Skins] on your system without asking or informing about this to the user. Just like Genymotion, Andy OS uses VirtualBox, but with a twist[https: if it detects an installed VirtualBox during installation//sourceforge.net/projects/android-emulator-skins/files/ CREAL's AVD skins]), '''it will delete it''' and will refuse to workalso you can use buttons on these device frames. Beware!</ref>| {{✗}}| {{✗}};DuOS|-:Not to be confused with a |[[Shaders_and_filters#AI-powered filters|AI-powered filter compatible]]<br/><small>([httphttps://ds-duoswww.blogspotnvidia.com/ similarlyen-us/geforce/news/gfecnt/nvidia-freestyle-named Nintendo DS emulatoransel-enhancements-geforce-experience-article/ Freestyle])</small>| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| [[Wikipedia:Category:Anti-aliasing_algorithms|Post-rendering AA]] by Roor<br/><small>(FXAA, is a relative newcomer to the Android emulation market, made by American Megatrends i.e. the very same people behind the BIOSTXAA and MLAA/SMAA)</small>| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| [[Wikipedia:Comparison_gallery_of_image_scaling_algorithms|Post-rendering scaling]]<br/UEFI firmware your PC may be using. Emulation is modest at best><small>(Sharp bilinear, with games Lanczos and apps such as [[DraSticWikipedia:GPUOpen#FidelityFX_Super_Resolution|FSR 1]] struggling on lower)</small>| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-end hardware. And to top it all off, it isn't free either.|[[High_dynamic_range#Inverse_tone_mapping|Inverse tone mapping compatible]]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}};Google Chrome|-| rowspan=5 | [https:Can open //tasvideos.apk files using the ARC Welder extension, though their emulation on PC is average at best. Here's a org/Emulatorresources/Features TAS features]| [[httpWikipedia:Macro_(computer_science)|Macros/Scripts]]/docs.google.com[https:/spreadsheets/d/1iIbxaftAu_ho5rv9fUlXSLTzwU6MbKOldsWXyrYiyo8tasvideos.org/edit#gid=0 compatibility listLuaScripting Lua] and a | {{?}}| {{Y}}[https://www.redditbluestacks.com/rfeatures/chromeapks dedicated subredditmacros.html *]| {{?}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| Rewind| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Fast-Forward/Turbo Speed| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Savestates| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| [https://tasvideos. Google has announced org/Movies Movie recording/playback]| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| rowspan=10 | Quality of life| [[Save_disk_space_for_ISOs#PlayStation_1|Streamable compression format]]| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Per-Game Profiles| {{?}}| {{Y}}[httphttps://arstechnicasupport.bluestacks.com/gadgetshc/2016en-us/05articles/the360055522292-play-store-comesHow-to-chromeuse-osthe-butGame-notcontrols-themenu-wayon-weBlueStacks-were5 *]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-expecting/ Play Store for Chrome OS], but it works on a different "container" technology that is embedded in the Chrome OS. In addition, Google will | Command Line Options| {{?}}| {{Y}}[httphttps://blogold.chromiumreddit.orgcom/r/BlueStacks/comments/2016163yg7p/08command_line_options/from*]| {{?}}| {{Y}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-chrome| On-apps-to-web.html discontinue Google Chrome apps on PC]Screen Display<br/><small>Showcases messages, so any major updates to ARC Welder controller input state which is useful for PC is unlikelyspeedrunners, performance data, active settings, and various notifications.</small>| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}};Windroy| {{?}}|-:(Without the 'e' suffix) is a fast Android emulator that does not rely | Built-in On-Screen Control<br/><small>Simulating touch input on VirtualBox display via keyboard or any similar technologygamepad. It isn't accurate thoughThis QoL enhancement is crucial for lots of touch input exclusive games. While Google Play store <br/>Also you 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_processuse third party apps such as [https://github.exe crashes. The official site is down since July 2016, so any updates are unlikelycom/Shyri/TouchMapper TouchMapper] for this.</small>| {{?}};Windroye| {{Y}}[https:(With the 'e' suffix) uses VirtualBox, but still offers better performance than BlueStacks//support. The Play Store is installed by default and has no stability issues found in Windroybluestacks. com/hc/en-us/articles/360058928871 *]| {{?}}| {{N}}| {{?}}[https://wwwold.reddit.com/r/ClashOfClansWSA/comments/31lklrz62m2v/misc_windroye_for_pcfaster_than_bluestacks_262_mbhow_do_i_remap_key_to_screen_presses_for_gaming/ A related Reddit topic can be found here.*]| {{?}};Android x86| {{?}}| {{?}}|-:An open| [[Compatibility_layer|Built-source project that aims in translation layer]]| {{✗}}<ref group=N3>You need to port the Android operating manually install libhoudini translation layer on guest system to x86-based netbooksfor Genymotion. See [[Compatibility layer]] page.</ref>| {{✓}}| {{✓}}[https://developer.android. Comes with Google Play and libhoudini (x86com/games/playgames/ARM start#playbility-architecture *]| {{✓}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{Y}}<ref group=N3>BlissOS supports out-of-package translation layer[https://blissos.org/ (See 'Bliss OS Variations->Native-bridge' section) installed]. Also see [https://docs. 3D acceleration works well both when installed directly on the machine as a local OS and also on VMwareblissos. VMware Player 15 supports emulating OpenGL ES 3 on the target and performance is quite goodorg/knowledgebase/frequently-asked-questions/hardware-compatibility this page]. VirtualBox 3d support </ref>| {{~}}<ref group=N3>libhoudini is poor and probably won't work. not bundled with Android -x86 is continually being improved , there's a script under /system/bin named "enable_houdini" which tries to download it and can be tried fairly painlessly through VMwareinstall from two different urls. Genymotion So, if these sources are offline, manual installation is (or at least used to be) a closednecessary. See [https://groups.google.com/g/android-source fork of Android x86, designed exclusively to be run on VirtualBox/c/tXyfFZ7xeTw this page] for more information.</ref>|-;| [[AnboxHypervisors|Built-in VM]]:A project that aims | {{~}}<ref group=N3>Exclusive to run Android applications on Ubuntu distributions"with VirtualBox" builds.</ref>| {{Y}}<br/><small>Multiple<ref group=N3>BlueStacks uses QEMU (before v2. Currently5), it is on alpha state and only known to work on Ubuntu 16VirtualBox (after v2.045). Anbox requires custom kernel modules to run because unlike other emulators which emulate the whole Linux kernelAlso as mentioned in "Before diving in" section, this one uses the host systemBlueStacks '''supports'''s Linux kernel directlyHyper-V if you are using BlueStacks v4 Hyper-V builds or v5.20+ versions.</ref>| {{Y}}<br/><small>Hyper-V</small>;Shashlik| {{Y}}<br/><small>[https:A project by KDE that aims to run Android applications on Linux using KDE5 and Qt5 technology//github.com/TrinityEmulator/TrinityEmulator#4-code-organization QEMU 5. The project is infancy state 0]<ref group=N3>Also supports Hyper-V and only known to run on latest Kubuntu versionsobsolete HAXM for hardware acceleration. It currently lacks ARM processor emulation, so not many games will run. It is however known to play </ref>| {{Y}}<br/><small>Hyper-V</small>| {{Y}}<br/><small>[https://wwwdeveloper.youtubeandroid.com/watch?vstudio/intro/update#recommended QEMU]<ref group=9SC6c_ih_Ac Flappy Bird] and can show N3>Also supports [https://wwwdeveloper.youtubeandroid.com/watch?v=ju_R8ftiIp4 Spotify's login screenstudio/run/emulator-acceleration#vm-windows-aehd AEHD]. It uses modified , [[QEMU]] to emulate the Android operating system. Last major update was March 2016 and seems abandonedhttps://developer;Xamarin Android Player:A newcomer to the Android emulation marketandroid. Not much is known about this because it required a minimum of $25com/studio/run/month subscription of main Xamarin products. The main Xamarin products were emulator-acceleration#choose-windows-hypervisor WHPX for Windows] and [https://blogdeveloper.xamarinandroid.com/xamarinstudio/run/emulator-foracceleration#vm-all made available linux KVM for freeLinux] after the purchase by Microsoft, but Xamarin Android Player was discontinuedfor hardware acceleration.</ref></small>| {{✗}};Project Astoria| {{✗}}:A Microsoft|-developed Android emulator | File Sharing<br/><small>Similar to "Shared Folder" enhancement for Windows 10 Mobile included in several insider previews[[Hypervisors#Type_2_hypervisors|Type-2 hypervisors]]. It could run </small>| {{?}}| {{~}}<ref group=N3>Only for media type files, it supports [https://wwwsupport.redditbluestacks.com/rhc/windowsphone/commentsen-us/3gaoctarticles/android_apps_that_work_on_win10_right_now/ a few applications360055684992-How-to-use-the-Media-Manager-on-BlueStacks-5 media file sharing via Media Manager], though apps required Google Play Services did not run or had issues. This project was reportedly </ref>| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| Big Picture Mode| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{N}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| Multiple instances and instance manager| {{?}}| {{Y}}[httphttps://www.windowscentralbluestacks.com/microsoftsfeatures/multi-project-astoria-delayed discontinuedinstance.html 1] in November 2015 and [httphttps://wwwsupport.winbetabluestacks.orgcom/hc/en-us/newsarticles/microsoft360052834092-How-confirmsto-thecreate-and-manage-instances-deathusing-ofthe-projectMulti-astoriainstance-focusingManager-on-other-bridgesBlueStacks-instead its cancellation was confirmed5 2] on February 2016, so the emulator is not included in more recent versions of Windows 10 Mobile. ==Emulation issues=====Google apps===Android is open source, but the Google Play Store has to be licensed from Google in order to incorporate it into a build, including Play Services and many other Google apps. That often means developers pay a fee that can trickle back to the user in some form (either through adware, privacy-invading trackers, or by selling the emulator as a commercial product). Custom ROMs for real Android devices on Android 4 and earlier used to bundle the Google Play Store but this changed with newer versions. The new method is to install a custom ROM and then install "GApps" through another service like | {{N}}[https://opengappsyoutu.orgbe/ the Open GApps Project2KEaPQpfzkQ?t=422 *].| {{N}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}|-| rowspan===Architectural differences===2 | Misc| [[Wikipedia:Variable_refresh_rate|Variable Refresh Rate compatible]]| {{?}}| {{N}}| {{?}}Many games often optimize and compile specifically for ARM processors, which prevents them from being executable on x86 CPUs, even when using a project like Android-x86. Some emulators like BlueStacks have ARM emulation by default; in others like Genymotion, it is possible to install an ARM emulator manually (though only on older versions as such functionality is broken in newer releases).| {{?}}| {{?}}===Conflict===| {{?}}Many emulators like to uninstall each other for some reason. Droid4x, Andyroid, Genymotion, and Xamarin cannot co-exist on the same machine without modifying their installers, which can be a problem if one game works on only one of these emulators but other games do not.| {{?}}| {{?}}===Antitamper protection===|-In order to reduce cheating| Debug features</br><small>adb support, many games refuse to run if they discover that the device has been rooted[https://developer. If the emulator comes rooted by default, it must be manually unrooted before the game can be playedandroid. The rooting method for modern devices is Magiskcom/agi AGI support], which installs itself in the bootloader instead of the system partition, which makes it harder to detectintegration with IDE etc.</small>| {{?}}Some games take more aggressive measures to detect the presence of Custom ROMs (unofficial firmware) or Android emulators (like the ones listed in this page) in the variety of ways like checking for the existence or absence of system files in order to prevent the game from running in any unverified environments| {{~}}[https://support.bluestacks. These games are very difficult or plain impossible com/hc/en-us/articles/360053245871-How-to play on emulators without resorting to cracked versions of -use-the games. ===Android-based Operating Systems===BlueStacks-5-Settings-menu#%E2%80%9C6%E2%80%9D *]There are many | {{Y}}[[wikipediahttps:Fork_(software_development)|forks]] of Android, these go beyond a custom UI and are new OS's that use the Android code in addition to writing their own code//developer. depending on how much (and what) new code, features and API's were added, will determine the effects they will have on Android emulation but if one is for sure, these forks are (most likely) going to cause some emulation issuesandroid.com/games/playgames/pg-emulator *]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{Y}}==Emulator Specific Issues==| {{?}}===BlueStacks===| {{?}}* '''Can't root the device:''' |}</div>The latest Kingroot's .apk will do the job when loaded inside BlueStacks. It's that simple.<references group=N3/>
Alternatively, you could use Universal [[BlueStacks]] Rooting Software on an existing BlueStacks installation. Before opening it, go to the folder where BlueStacks is installed under Program Files, and run "HD-Quit.exe" once. ==PlayStation Mobile=={{Main|PlayStation_Mobile}}
Then==Android consoles==Because it's possible to fork and create your own Android-based OS, from the extracted "BlueStacks RootEZ 32_64"many developers have used Android to power their own commercial consoles. However, as mentioned before, open just because it uses Android as administrator "BlueStacks RootEZ.exe". Click "Automatic Detect from Installed Bluestacks"a base does not mean they will all work correctly on a standard Android emulator, enable "Enlarge System (Root.fs) Size to 400MB"as they may require specific hardware setup, and click "I'm ready for Step 1". A commandextra non-line window should appear. Now just wait until "Preparing Complete" appears. Thenstandard APIs or frameworks provided by the OS of the console, click "Go for Step 2" and wait until "Rooting is Complete" appearsor extra authentication that relies on the services bundled with the console.
Close the application, '''Note: [[Smart_TV_emulators|Smart TVs and open the "output" folder in the same directory as the extracted applicationsmart TV boxes/digital media players/media boxes]] (e. You should find a newly generated "Rootg.fs" file. You can use it to replace the existing one under "%programdata%\BlueStacks\Android" (Press Windows+R and go thereChromeCast with Google TV, Amazon Fire TV)are not consoles, but it's recommended to keep a backup despite some of the original in case the new one causes Bluestacks them are able to hang in the loading screen for more than a few minutesrun video games.  The package also includes Nova Explorer and Root Launcher. You may verify the rooting status distinction is simple: If a device is not designed with the "Root Checker" app from Google Playgaming as its sole or main purpose, then it's not an Android console. Considering some apps check for Google Play services for online checks, you Please do not add [[Home_Media_Player|Home media players]] or general Android devices that can also install "Modded Google Play Store"play video games, "such as [[https:Smart_TV_emulators|Smart TVs and smart TV boxes/digital media players/wwwmedia boxes]] etc.luckypatchers.com/ Lucky Patcher]" and "Magisk"to this section===Andyroid===* '''Unable To Launch VM Process:'''  On the taskbar, right-click Andyroid's notification icon, and choose Settings, Advanced, Set Andy Protocol. Type "tcp<div style=" and confirm, then launch Andyroid. ===Androidoverflow-x86===* '''3D Support is broken on VMWare when using newer kernelsx:''' Kernels > 4.14 with version 8.1 break 3d acceleration in VMWare (see httpsauto;width://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/android-x86/4.9100%7Csort:date/android-x86/wB65vJnuJiI/ytJaWYWUBwAJ). Use kernel 4.9 with 8.1 instead. * '''Setting resolution in VMWare''' Pass in a kernel option to grub when booting. Select the boot entry and then press 'e' to edit it, and then 'e' to edit again. Add the kernel option here. For example, to use a video resolution of 1920x1080, add 'video=1920x1080'. Press return to save the changes (for this boot session only), and 'b' to boot (the keys to edit and boot may be different depending on your grub version, there are usually instructions on the grub screen for the requisite keys) ==Android Consoles==Because it's possible to fork and created you're own Android-based OS, many developers have used Android to power their own commercial console. However, as mentioned before, just because it uses Android as a base does not mean they will all work properly on a normal Android emulator.">{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|[[MAME]] support
! scope="col"|Description
|-
|Amazon Fire TVAtlantis Land Kora
|None
|None
|
|-
|Atlantis Land Kora[https://www.clementoni.com/it-en/16612-clemstation-60/ Clemstation 6.0]|None|None|Released in 2018 by Clementoni, the Clemstation is a "multimedia educational console" only sold in Italy that appears to be on a running custom version of Android. Because it's still being sold, it's unknown how games will be made for it and when it will be discontinued. Information on how many units have been sold so far has not been released to the public. |-|Diyomate X18
|None
|None
|
|-
|Baidu Shadow StickflarePlay
|None
|None
|
|-
|Diyomate X18Fuze Tomahawk F1|None|None|A Chinese console with Nvidia Tegra SoC, similar to Nvidia Shield. Has some heavy-hitting exclusive Android titles such as ''Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1'' and ''Dynasty Warriors 8'', but eventually flopped.|-|GPD Mars Gamebox
|None
|None
|
|-
|flarePlay[[XD/XD+|GPD XD / XD+]]
|None
|None
|A foldable handheld console manufactured by Gamepad Digital (GPD).
|-
|GPD Mars GameboxLeapFrog Epic
|None
|None
|
|-
|Nexus PlayerMy Clem Box
|None
|None
|Released in 2018 by Italian toy company Clementoni and sold exclusively in Italy, My Clem Box is an educational console with Wii-like motion controls. Because it's still being sold, it's unknown how games will be made for it and when it will be discontinued. Information on how many units have been sold so far has not been released to the public. |-|[https://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/zukanneopad NEO Consoles]|None|None|Released in 2017 by Takara Tomy. The NEO Series are educational consoles only sold in Japan and appear to use a custom version of Android. Because it's still being sold, it's unknown how games will be made for it and when it will be discontinued. Information on how many units have been sold so far has not been released to the public.
|-
|Nvidia Shield TV
|None
|None
|A console/media box hybrid manufactured by Nvidia. Has a lot of heavy-hitting titles such as ''Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance'', ''Doom 3'', ''Half-Life 2'', etc.
|-
|[[Ouya Emulatorsemulators|Ouya]]
|None
|[https://archive.org/details/ouyalibrary?&sort=-downloads&page=2 Yes]
|A failed microconsole that started from a Kickstarter project. The controller sucks and the games can be found elsewhere. Since the Ouya runs on Android, emulation is technically possible by extracting menu/application apk APK files and running them in an Android emulator or VM.
|-
|PlayJam GameStick
|None
|None
|A tiny console the size of a USB thumb drive.
|-
|Razer Forge TV
|None
|None
|
|-
|Phoenix One
|None
|None
|A console/desktop computer hybrid, equipped with Qualcomm 660 SoC, running PhoenixOS which is an Android distro designed for desktop computers. Has a "computer mode" that enables multi-window multitasking and system-wide file manager integration, such as copying & pasting files.
|-
|Razer Forge TV
|
|-
|Skyworth miniStation
|None
|None
|A console designed by Tencent and manufactured by multiple manufacturers such as Lenovo and Skyworth. Designed to run cellphone games and simple emulators.
|-
|Snail Games OBox
|-
|}
</div>
 
 
==GM Android-based==
Some General Motors cars are equipped with an in-car entertainment system running on Android.
 
[https://developer.gm.com/app-gallery App Gallery].
 
==Emulation issues==
===Google apps===
Android is open-source, but the Google Play Store has to be licensed from Google in order to incorporate it into a build, including Play Services and many other Google apps. That often means developers pay a fee that can trickle back to the user in some form (either through adware, privacy-invading trackers, or by selling the emulator as a commercial product). Custom ROMs for real Android devices on Android 4 and earlier used to bundle the Google Play Store, but this changed with newer versions. The new method is to install a custom ROM and then install "GApps" through another service like [https://opengapps.org/ the Open GApps Project].
 
===Architectural differences===
Many games often optimize and compile specifically for ARM processors, which prevents them from being executable on x86 CPUs, even when using a project like Android-x86. Some emulators, like BlueStacks, have ARM translation layer by default; in others, like Genymotion, it is possible to install an ARM translation layer manually. See [[#Hardware features]] supported ABI section and [[#Enhancements]] built-in translation layer section for more information.
 
===Conflict===
Many emulators like to uninstall each other for some reason. Droid4x, Andyroid, Genymotion, and Xamarin cannot co-exist on the same machine without modifying their installers, which can be a problem if one game works on only one of these emulators but other games do not. Also keep in mind that you should turn off Hyper-V windows feature if [[Hypervisors|Type-2 hypervisor]] used for emulator backend due to [[Hypervisors#Hyper-V_feature_conflict_issue|conflict issue]], although some emulators like BlueStacks provide special Hyper-V build for this.
 
===Antitamper protection===
In order to reduce cheating, many games refuse to run if they discover that the device has been rooted. If the emulator comes rooted by default, it must be manually unrooted before the game can be played. The rooting method for modern devices is Magisk, which installs itself in the bootloader instead of the system partition, which makes it harder to detect.
 
Some games take more aggressive measures to detect the presence of Custom ROMs (unofficial firmware) or Android emulators (like the ones listed on this page) in a variety of ways, such as checking for the existence or absence of system files in order to prevent the game from running in any unverified environments. These games are very difficult or plain impossible to play on emulators without resorting to cracked versions of the games.
 
===Android-based Operating Systems===
There are many [[wikipedia:Fork_(software_development)|forks]] of Android; some of these go beyond a custom UI and are instead entirely new OSes that use the Android code in addition to writing their own code, such as Amazon's Fire OS; in some cases these come as compatibility layers on top of an otherwise unrelated OS, such as Windows Subsystem for Android. Depending on how much (and what) new code, features, and APIs were added, will determine the effects they will have on Android emulation but if one thing is for sure, these forks are (most likely) going to cause some emulation issues.
 
===Emulator Specific Issues===
====BlueStacks====
* '''Can't root the device:'''
 
The latest Kingroot's .apk will do the job when loaded inside BlueStacks. It's that simple.
 
Alternatively, you could use Universal [[BlueStacks]] Rooting Software on an existing BlueStacks installation. Before opening it, go to the folder where BlueStacks is installed under Program Files, and run "HD-Quit.exe" once.
 
Then, from the extracted "BlueStacks RootEZ 32_64", open as administrator "BlueStacks RootEZ.exe". Click "Automatic Detect from Installed Bluestacks", enable "Enlarge System (Root.fs) Size to 400MB", and click "I'm ready for Step 1". A command-line window should appear. Now just wait until "Preparing Complete" appears. Then, click "Go for Step 2" and wait until "Rooting is Complete" appears.
 
Close the application, and open the "output" folder in the same directory as the extracted application. You should find a newly generated "Root.fs" file. You can use it to replace the existing one under "%programdata%\BlueStacks\Android" (Press Windows+R and go there), but it's recommended to keep a backup of the original in case the new one causes Bluestacks to hang in the loading screen for more than a few minutes.
 
The package also includes Nova Explorer and Root Launcher. You may verify the rooting status with the "Root Checker" app from Google Play. Considering some apps check for Google Play services for online checks, you can also install "Modded Google Play Store", "[https://www.luckypatchers.com/ Lucky Patcher]" and "Magisk".
 
====Andyroid====
* '''Unable To Launch VM Process:'''
 
On the taskbar, right-click Andyroid's notification icon, and choose Settings, Advanced, Set Andy Protocol. Type "tcp" and confirm, then launch Andyroid.
 
====Android-x86====
* '''3D Support is broken on VMWare when using newer kernels:'''
 
Kernels > 4.14 with version 8.1 break 3d acceleration in VMWare (see https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/android-x86/4.9%7Csort:date/android-x86/wB65vJnuJiI/ytJaWYWUBwAJ). Use kernel 4.9 with 8.1 instead.
 
* '''Setting resolution in VMWare'''
 
Pass in a kernel option to grub when booting. Select the boot entry and then press 'e' to edit it, and then 'e' to edit again. Add the kernel option here. For example, to use a video resolution of 1920x1080, add 'video=1920x1080'. Press return to save the changes (for this boot session only), and 'b' to boot (the keys to edit and boot may be different depending on your grub version, there are usually instructions on the grub screen for the requisite keys)
 
====KMRE====
* '''Installing third-party apks'''
Installing third-party apks requires a dedicated installer <code>kmre-apk-installer</code>. It could be acquired by command <code>sudo apt update && sudo apt install kmre-apk-installer</code>.
 
Notice that KMRE is still not designed with third-party apps in mind. Installing third-party apps may result in abnormal behaviors of KMRE such as unable to start & stop itself on demand due to clogged-up background processes of third-party apps.
 
Installing apks inside KMRE is specifically filtered out unless the application running is upgrading itself.
 
* '''Receiving a notice that the mobile environment is not running while trying to install third-party apps'''
Go to app store - mobile apps to trigger the startup process of KMRE. You can see a startup notice in the bottom right corner on the desktop while it's starting up.
 
* '''Accessing Android system settings'''
Execute command <code>startapp com.android.settings</code> in the terminal. Notice that changing system settings is very likely to break KMRE.
* '''Accessing files of Android'''
Files in <code>/storage/emulated/0</code> are mapped to <code>/var/lib/kmre/data/kmre-1000-${LOGNAME}</code>.
 
'''Notice that this path contains a hard link to <code>/home</code>. KMRE will filter out file deletion, but not creation and modification. Improper file management in Android could result in data loss in host machine.'''
 
As KMRE is not really an emulator/hypervisor, the <code>/</code> and other paths such as <code>/sys</code> on Android doesn't have mappings, but some paths are mapped to <code>/var/lib/kmre/kmre-1000-${LOGNAME}</code>.
==See also==
*[[Cellphone emulators]] - info Information on emulators for various feature phone/non-smartphone platforms.*[[Emulators on Android]] - Various emulators on Android OS ==External links==*[[Wikipedia:Comparison_of_mobile_operating_systems|Comparison of mobile operating systems]]*[[Wikipedia:Android_version_history|Android version history]], [https://wwwdeveloper.luckypatchersandroid.com/ - Lucky Patcher APK's latest versiontopic/performance/baselineprofiles/overview Android Baseline profiles]*[https://developer.android.com/ Android Developer]*[Categoryhttps:Consoles]//xdaforums.com/t/list-of-devices-armv7-armv6-armv5.1596800/ XDAForums - List of devices: ARMv7, ARMv6, ARMv5]*[[CategoryWikipedia:Comparison_of_high-definition_smartphone_displays#720p_by_1280_.28HD_ready.29|Early Android emulatorsdevices with OLED and HD Ready display]]
[[Category:Mobiles|*]
[[Category:Android-based|*]]
[[Category:Android emulators|*]]
[[Category:Operating systems|*]]
[[Category:Mobile Operating Systems|*]]
[[Category:Various Emulation]]
----
{{NEL}}
==Notes==
<references group=N />
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