We’re all well aware about the capabilities of the Android platform. There are smartphones today that can compete with a wide range of technologies. However, what makes those devices really tick is the core Android platform. But what if you own an iPhone and still want to try out Android phone ? Well, you no longer have to purchase an expensive (or inexpensive) phone to find out. There are best Android emulator for Mac today that can help you run and bring full compatibility with all the features of Android (without owning one), while some even update their emulators with the latest version of Android.
Download android emulator for mac that allows you to download android apps and games from Google Play store and run them on your mac os x running computers. It is easy to install and setup than the android emulator available officially. BlueStacks is a very popular android emulator for Windows PCs and they released a new software to run android. KO Player is an emulator software that allows Android apps run on Mac. This is basically an application to play Android games on your Mac. Android gamers and content creators can benefit largely from this software. You can control the game settings by swiping and tapping the controls as it maps keyboard and mouse commands.
With these Android Emulator For Mac, you can run apps for android, play games, and do pretty much anything like the Android device can (barring phone calls, obviously). Those are just the three main uses of a built in emulator. So we’re going to talk a bit about some of the most popular emulators out there. While some user friendly emulators are present here, we’re also going to talk about developer emulators that can help test out or run android apps and android games.
Instead of giving your only 5 best emulators, we are citing 7 on this post for cross platform. So let’s get to the best Android apps and games emulator for Mac.
Best Android Emulator For Mac
1. ARChon
ARChon is a little different than most of our best Android emulators for PC or Mac in that this one is actually a Google Chrome extension. That’s right — no installing a program on your machine and wasting precious storage space! It is comparable to a virtual machine, virtual device or virtual devices.
Of course, it’s certainly not nearly as seamless as a native program, as it can take a bit of fiddling to get apps and mobile games to work. To use ARChon, once you have it setup in the browser, you’ll have to push or drag APKs to load the apps within the browser. It’s a nice, free program for those that want to be able to use an Android emulator wherever there is Google Chrome.
Not sure where to find APKs for ARChon? You can find many of them for free over at almost any Android APK repository. Some of our most trusted and favorites are APK Mirror or APK Pure.
Download it now:here
2. VirtualBox
Believe it or not, you can actually use VirtualBox to create your own Android emulator for Mac. Download VirtualBox on your Mac machine, and then set it up with the necessary ISO image from Android-x86.org. You’ll be able to create an efficient emulator that allows you to play almost any game or app within Mac.
As an added bonus, VirtualBox gives you a lot of control over how much resources and hardware you devote to it. That allows you to keep your overall machine running smoothly while still running your Android operating system emulator in the background. VirtualBox is free to use; however, it is recommended that you have at least 8GB of RAM on your machine if you want to run this one.
Download it now:here
3. KO Player
KO Player is a relatively new entrant in the emulators game and is one of the newer Android emulators on the list. It markets itself as a mid-market emulator that can run apps and multiple games comfortably. While the focus is mainly on games, this is a full blown Android emulator, so it can run pretty much any app on the Play Store as long as it is compatible with the Android version. The company’s website doesn’t mention which version of Android it’s running, but talks about a few popular apps and games that are compatible with KO Player (WhatsApp, Clash of Clans etc).
It also comes with features like gameplay recording, keyboard gameplay support, and comes with the Google Play Store pre-installed. It is said that about 99% of the Play Store apps are compatible with KO Player. The best part here is that KO Player is a free download, and can be snatched up directly from their official website. As with any free offering, expect some minor issues during usage. However, the app developers are pretty keen on offering a fresh and refined experience through bug fixes.
Download it now:here
4. Nox Player
This is yet another decent alternative for gamers. It comes with the ability to run android games, support joysticks and controllers (assuming your Mac supports actual hardware controller support). There is zero lag during gameplay or general usage, so you can be assured of a smooth performance. Among the list of features here is the ability to keep multiple accounts on Nox, which is handy if you want to use it on the family computer. You will find that the emulator is compatible with pretty much every popular game and app right now.
Further, the emulator is compatible with x86 as well as AMD processors, thus bringing a variety of devices under its compatibility list and access to most Android games. Like with KO Player, Nox allows users to record their screen and share it on social media as they please. It’s one gaming oriented emulator can be very handy for graphics heavy games available as well as strategy games like Clash of Clans and Fortnite (which will reach Android emulation shortly).
More importantly, it’s light on your computer, much like helping it run smoothly and devoid of lag. This is also a free offering with no hidden caveats. Nox also offers the keyboard mapping feature, so the user can play more efficiently with mouse and keyboard. If you are one of those mobile gamers, this one is for you as it is considered as the Android emulator for gamers.
Download it now:here
5. Bluestacks
Bluestacks is probably the most popular Android emulator currently available in the market, and with good reason. This app has served Windows and Mac OS users for a few years now, giving them a viable way using Android on their desktop. This isn’t an ideal setup for developers, though, as Bluestacks is marketed for the masses. This means there will be some lag when you operate, although it’s rapidly diminishing with each update. The recent version of Bluestacks was updated to Android Nougat, making it the freshest Android emulator out there. It’s too soon to tell if and when Bluestacks will update its offering to Android 8.0 or even 9.0 as the latest Android version, so it will have active updates nearly every month.
As it stands, if gaming and social media is your priority, Bluestacks is an excellent emulator to have as it aims itself at gamers. GameLoop is an Android emulator that is used as a gaming platform. It can run all the heavy games and even offer key mapping support, which has become a prerequisite with modern day Android emulators and can bring the better or for worse Android app and game on your Mac. With the added smart keymapping along with a customizable game support, this android emulator is mostly going to boasts a gamer experience.
Bluestacks official emulator is entirely free to download, but will require a subscription per month for continued usage.
Download it now: here
6. Genymotion
One of the newer emulators if you want to run Android on your Mac is Genymotion. We are now coming to the dev-friendly emulators out there. You won’t find all the bells and whistles that you probably see with Bluestacks, Genymotion lets you test out how an Android device and version would work with a particular app or supports Android operating systems. For example, you can have a Nexus 4 running Android 5.0 or an even older device running that version like Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Kit Kat(assuming it’s compatible).
Genymotion can let you run an emulator directly on your PC or on the cloud, which very few emulators out there can do. This means you can share the functionings of your app with the rest of the world without them having to download a dedicated emulator.
This is a game changer for developers who like to get opinions on their projects from the masses or close associates. Naturally, the android emulator for PC option is also present, so you’re free to use it the old fashioned way. This isn’t a free version offering for personal use, though, so be prepared to subscribe to one of Genymotion’s plans to reap the benefits of all the features mentioned above.
Download it now: here
7. Android Studio
Google’s very own Android Studio emulator also comes with an emulator you can download, although it’s significantly less flashy than a few commercial use emulators and actually run android natively. However, it is updated frequently with new features. This is designed specifically for budding and experienced Android developers to test out their apps before it is pushed to the Play Store. It works with both PCs and Macs, so neither platform is left out. It has all the tools to build and design your apps, while the emulator feature allows you to glance through your creation.
Given the feature set, it is definitely not recommended for amateurs, as setting it up could take some time. Android Studio is a free download on both major platforms, and is a 880MB download for Macs. Though updating those services may take time, watch out for more active development in years with this productivity emulator.
Download it now: here
While these emulators offer a great experience for your Mac as it runs android apps/games like Call of Duty Mobile and PUBG mobile, this may also create a negative effect on your device as the level use might increase, especially with the battery life. Running multiple emulators may affect your device operation as it depends on the operating systems and hardware.
Always test your apps or test apps on the emulator you install once you’ve downloaded them and see the emulators ability to run smoothly and see if it is usable as a productivity tool for PC and Mac. There are still best android emulators that you can discover around the web that can run an Android app or game. The installation process may take longer than expected, depending on various factors such as internet speed and the likes.
If you find another Android emulator or free android emulator that is actually a fairly decent, actually works pretty well and that suits your taste, feel free to use it as long as it runs well or work well, gets the work done or the emulators run properly. You can use emulators as a productivity tool for video loading or loading video. Just find one that supports this kind of function. You might be able to get the price free for personal use just like PrimeOS Remix OS player and other Android Studio S emulator or ldplayer android studio.
Mobile apps and games have evolved from trivial distractions into an essential part of our daily lives. For 2017, the number of mobile phone users is expected to reach 4.77 billion, and an increasingly larger share of people that make up this astonishingly large number spend more time with their favorite mobile apps than with their favorite Mac and PC software.
It makes sense for companies to develop solutions that would cross the boundaries of individual platforms and operating systems. Microsoft is pushing their idea of universal apps that can run across their ecosystem, but what about Android? After all, the number of global Android users is steadily reaching 2 billion.
Google’s grand plan for bringing those 2.2 million apps currently found in the Play Store to other platforms revolves around Google Chrome. The company has created a thriving ecosystem backed by excellent free tools that encourage regular people and skilled developers alike to turn their vision into reality and claim their place on the very top of the best-selling chart. Their solution is called ARC Welder, but several other alternatives are also available, two of which are explained in this article.
The name of this Google Chrome extension stands for App Runtime for Chrome. The project launched back in September 2014, and its purpose is to let users run their favorite Android apps on any operating system that supports Google Chrome.
Apart from the fact that ARC Welder is an official tool released by Google, its main advantage lies in its simplicity. Since it’s really just another extension, it will feel instantly familiar to most Google Chrome users. Once installed, the app can be launched from the Apps bookmark, typically located on the left side of your bookmarks bar.
One of the biggest advantage of ARC Welder is its compatibility to run android apps on chromebook. If you are a Chromebook owner, you would know its hard to find apps that normally run on PC or MAC. The workaround is to get run apk on Chromebook using ARC Welder.
Setup
- Go to ARC Welder’s Chrome Web Store page and click the “Add to Chrome” button.
- Confirm the installation of the extension by clicking on the “Add” button.
- Open ARC Welder by clicking on its icon in the Chrome App menu.
- Select the directory where you would like ARC Welder to store application data records.
- Add the apk file of the app that you would like to try.
The only part of the setup procedure you are likely to have problems with is getting the apk file. For applications that are already installed on your device, the simplest way how to obtain their apk file is by backing them up with an app like Titanium Backup. You could also look online to see if the apk file is not available for download, but by doing so, you are potentially exposing yourself to shady websites filled with malware.
Limitations
The biggest technical limitation is the fact that ARC is no longer supported on 32-bit x86 platforms. Most Windows and Mac users should be okay, but Linux users running lightweight 32-bit distributions on older hardware won’t be able to run ARC Welder on their systems.
There’s also no way of running multiple applications at the same time. Each time you run an app, you have to select whether you want it displayed in the portrait or landscape mode. Even though ARC Welder supports Google Play Services, not all developers have updated their applications to support ARC Welder. As a result, you sometimes encounter runtime errors or sudden crashes. This usually happens when you try to access a feature that your computer simply doesn’t have, such as an accelerometer or camera.
Performance is surprisingly good, and less demanding games run without any issues even on weaker hardware. Generally speaking, any modern computer should deliver satisfactory performance.
The Android Emulator is part of the Android software development kit (SDK), which includes a comprehensive set of development tools, such as a debugger, libraries, a handset emulator based on QEMU, documentation, sample code, and tutorials.
With it, developers can test their apps and games right on their computers. Because it would be nearly impossible for a single developer to have access to even a small fraction of Android devices, the emulator supports Android phones, tablets, Android Wear, and Android TV.
The keyboard can be controlled with a mouse and keyboard or using the virtual hardware buttons, touchscreens, directional pads (D-pads), trackballs, wheels, and various sensors. The environment in which apps run on the emulator is a full Android operating system as you know it from your smartphone or tablet. Everything that the app can do on your smartphone can be done inside the emulator, with the exception of virtual support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, SD cards, headphones, and USB.
Setup
- Download the SDK package from Google’s official website.
- Install it just like you would any other application.
- Use the AVD Manager (Tools > Android > AVD Manager) to create a simulated virtual device to run in the Android Emulator.
- If you don’t want to create a brand new one, it’s okay to use one of the pre-configured options.
- Run the emulator with the virtual device you’ve created or selected in the previous step.
- Go to the android-sdk/tools directory in command prompt and then type:
- adb install fileName.apk (Windows)
- ./adb install fileName.apk (Linux or Mac)
- This will load and install the apk file into the virtual device.
Limitations
The one big limitation is the absence of the Play Store. This forces you to jump through a few hoops and makes this method unfit for daily use.
Backed by Intel, Samsung, Qualcomm, AMD, BlueStacks App Player is a dream-come-true solution for all avid Android gamers who have at one point wondered what it would be like to play all their favorite games on PC or Mac. BlueStacks’ “Layercake” technology enables even the most graphics-intensive games to run smoothly in fullscreen. The software translates mouse and keyboard commands to deliver a problem-free experience.
Play Android Games On Mac M1
From the moment you visit the official website, you immediately understand that BlueStacks is all about games. A team of editors picks their favorite games every week, to give their users a steady stream of new things to try out. But you can also install your favorite Android messaging app with the same ease as you can your favorite games.
Rather than emulating the whole operating system, BlueStacks acts more like a special compatibility layer that connects apps to your PC or Mac. New apps behave a lot like native applications, each having their own desktop icon. This makes the software suitable even for casual users, who would otherwise be deterred by the technical complexity of the Android Emulator of Google or limited capabilities of the ARC Welder.
If you are caught up with the Pokemon phenomenon, you can play Pokemon Go on PC using BlueStacks, and of course most of the other popular games as well.
Setup
- Download BlueStacks from the official website.
- Install BlueStacks and run it.
- Select which app you want to install from the home page of BlueStacks.
- Launch the installed app.
Limitations
How To Play Android Games On Mac
BlueStacks is a well-optimized software that can run most games without any problems. For such a capable application, the hardware requirements are not bad at all, and you definitely don’t have to own a high-end gaming PC just to play Angry Birds. That being said, poorly written or optimized Android apps that would perform badly even on smartphones and tablets will perform that much worse when run using BlueStacks.
Playing Android Games On Pc
Each method of running Android games and apps on Mac or PC outlined in this article is suitable for a slightly different type of users. ARC Welder is perfect if you just want to give Android apps on PC or Mac a try without wasting any time on configuration. But if you have some time to spare, the official Android Emulator does everything you could ever need. It’s also a great first step into the world of Android development. Last but not least, BlueStacks is perfect for Android gamers who would like to take their favorite games from the confines of small smartphone screens.