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.

1. Android Emulator For Apple M1
2. Emulators On M1 Mac
3. Emulator Android For Mac M1 Download
4. Android Studio Emulator Mac M1

Just a couple of days ago the first PREVIEW version of the Android Emulator for Apple M1 (Apple Silicon) Chips were released. I downloaded the latest version. After pressing the launch button you will get your Android application running in your ARM virtual emulator:-) Conclusion. In this post, we have seen that is possible to install Android Studio in Macbook Air M1 and use a virtual device even that your M1 doesn’t support VT-x. You can learn more about this emulator in the following references.

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.

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This article explains how to use the Android Device Manager to createand configure Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) that emulate physical Androiddevices. You can use these virtual devices to run and test your appwithout having to rely on a physical device.

After you have verified that hardware acceleration is enabled (asdescribed inHardware Acceleration for Emulator Performance),the next step is to use the Android Device Manager (also referred toas the Xamarin Android Device Manager) to create virtual devices thatyou can use to test and debug your app.

Android Device Manager on Windows

This article explains how to use the Android Device Manager to create,duplicate, customize, and launch Android virtual devices.

You use the Android Device Manager to create and configure AndroidVirtual Devices (AVDs) that run in theAndroid Emulator.Each AVD is an emulator configuration that simulates a physical Androiddevice. This makes it possible to run and test your app in a variety ofconfigurations that simulate different physical Android devices.

Requirements

To use the Android Device Manager, you will need the following items:

• Visual Studio 2019 Community, Professional, or Enterprise.

• OR Visual Studio 2017 version 15.8 or later is required. Visual StudioCommunity, Professional, and Enterprise editions are supported.

• Visual Studio Tools for Xamarin version 4.9 or later.

• The Android SDK must be installed (seeSetting up the Android SDK for Xamarin.Android).Be sure to install the Android SDK at its default location if itis not already installed: C:Program Files (x86)Androidandroid-sdk.

• The following packages must be installed (via theAndroid SDK Manager):

  • Android SDK Tools version 26.1.1 or later
  • Android SDK Platform-Tools 27.0.1 or later
  • Android SDK Build-Tools 27.0.3 or later
  • Android Emulator 27.2.7 or later.

  These packages should be displayed with Installed status as seen inthe following screenshot:

Launching the Device Manager

Launch the Android Device Manager from the Tools menu byclicking Tools > Android > Android Device Manager:

If the following error dialog is presented on launch, see theTroubleshooting section for workaroundinstructions:

Main Screen

When you first launch the Android Device Manager, it presents a screenthat displays all currently-configured virtual devices. For eachvirtual device, the Name, OS (Android Version), Processor,Memory size, and screen Resolution are displayed:

When you select a device in the list, the Start button appears onthe right. You can click the Start button to launch the emulatorwith this virtual device:

After the emulator starts with the selected virtual device, theStart button changes to a Stop button that you can use to haltthe emulator:

New Device

To create a new device, click the New button (located in the upperright-hand area of the screen):

Clicking New launches the New Device screen:

To configure a new device in the New Device screen, use thefollowing steps:

1. Give the device a new name. In the following example, the new deviceis named Pixel_API_27:

2. Select a physical device to emulate by clicking the Base Devicepull-down menu:

3. Select a processor type for this virtual device by clicking theProcessor pull-down menu. Selecting x86 will provide thebest performance because it enables the emulator to take advantageof hardware acceleration.The x86_64 option will also make use of hardware acceleration,but it runs slightly slower than x86 (x86_64 is normallyused for testing 64-bit apps):

4. Select the Android version (API level) by clicking the OSpull-down menu. For example, select Oreo 8.1 - API 27 to createa virtual device for API level 27:

   If you select an Android API level that has not yet been installed, theDevice Manager will display A new device will be downloadedmessage at the bottom of the screen – it will download andinstall the necessary files as it creates the new virtual device:

5. If you want to include Google Play Services APIs in your virtualdevice, enable the Google APIs option. To include the GooglePlay Store app, enable the Google Play Store option:

   Note that Google Play Store images are available only for some basedevice types such as Pixel, Pixel 2, Nexus 5, and Nexus 5X.

6. Edit any properties that you need to modify. To make changes toproperties, seeEditing Android Virtual Device Properties.

7. Add any additional properties that you need to explicitly set. TheNew Device screen lists only the most commonly-modifiedproperties, but you can click the Add Property pull-down menu(at the bottom) to add additional properties:

   You can also define a custom property by selecting Custom... atthe top of the property list.

8. Click the Create button (lower right-hand corner) to create thenew device:

9. You might get a License Acceptance screen. Click Accept ifyou agree to the license terms:

10. The Android Device Manager adds the new device to the list ofinstalled virtual devices while displaying a Creating progressindicator during device creation:

11. When the creation process is complete, the new device is shown inthe list of installed virtual devices with a Start button,ready to launch:

Edit Device

To edit an existing virtual device, select the device and click theEdit button (located in the upper right-hand corner of the screen):

Clicking Edit launches the Device Editor for the selected virtual device:

The Device Editor screen lists the properties of the virtual deviceunder the Property column, with the corresponding values of each property inthe Value column. When you select a property, a detailed descriptionof that property is displayed on the right.

To change a property, edit its value in the Value column.For example, in the following screenshot the hw.lcd.density propertyis being changed from 480 to 240:

After you have made the necessary configuration changes, click the Save button.For more information about changing virtual device properties, seeEditing Android Virtual Device Properties.

Additional Options

Additional options for working with devices are available from theAdditional Options (…) pull-down menu in the upperright-hand corner:

The additional options menu contains the following items:

• Duplicate and Edit – Duplicates the currently-selecteddevice and opens it in the New Device screen with a differentunique name. For example, selecting Pixel_API_27 and clickingDuplicate and Edit appends a counter to the name:

• Reveal in Explorer – Opens a Windows Explorer window in thefolder that holds the files for the virtual device. For example,selecting Pixel_API_27 and clicking Reveal in Explorer opensa window like the following example:

• Factory Reset – Resets the selected device to its defaultsettings, erasing any user changes made to the internal state of thedevice while it was running (this also erases the currentQuick Bootsnapshot, if any). This change does not alter modifications that youmake to the virtual device during creation and editing. A dialog boxwill appear with the reminder that this reset cannot be undone. ClickFactory Reset to confirm the reset:

• Delete – Permanently deletes the selected virtual device. Adialog box will appear with the reminder that deleting a devicecannot be undone. Click Delete if you are certain that you wantto delete the device.

Note

If you are using a Mac with an Apple chip, such as the M1, you will need to install the Android Emulator for M1 preview from GitHub.

Android Device Manager on macOS

This article explains how to use the Android Device Manager to create,duplicate, customize, and launch Android virtual devices.

You use the Android Device Manager to create and configure AndroidVirtual Devices (AVDs) that run in theAndroid Emulator.Each AVD is an emulator configuration that simulates a physical Androiddevice. This makes it possible to run and test your app in a variety ofconfigurations that simulate different physical Android devices.

Requirements

To use the Android Device Manager, you will need the following items:

• Visual Studio for Mac 7.6 or later.

• The Android SDK must be installed (seeSetting up the Android SDK for Xamarin.Android).

• The following packages must be installed (via theAndroid SDK Manager):

  • SDK tools version 26.1.1 or later
  • Android SDK Platform-Tools 28.0.1 or later
  • Android SDK Build-Tools 26.0.3 or later

  These packages should be displayed with Installed status as seen inthe following screenshot:

Launching the Device Manager

Launch the Android Device Manager by clicking Tools > Device Manager:

If the following error dialog is presented on launch, see theTroubleshooting section for workaroundinstructions:

Main Screen

When you first launch the Android Device Manager, it presents a screenthat displays all currently-configured virtual devices. For eachvirtual device, the Name, OS (Android Version), Processor,Memory size, and screen Resolution are displayed:

When you select a device in the list, the Play button appears onthe right. You can click the Play button to launch the emulatorwith this virtual device:

After the emulator starts with the selected virtual device, thePlay button changes to a Stop button that you can use to haltthe emulator:

When you stop the emulator, you may get a prompt asking if you want to savethe current state for the next quick boot:

Saving the current state will make the emulator boot faster when this virtualdevice is launched again. For more information about Quick Boot, seeQuick Boot.

New Device

Android Emulator For Apple M1

To create a new device, click the New Device button (located in the upperleft-hand area of the screen):

Clicking New Device launches the New Device screen:

Use the following steps to configure a new device in the New Devicescreen:

1. Give the device a new name. In the following example, the new deviceis named Pixel_API_27:

2. Select a physical device to emulate by clicking the Base Devicepull-down menu:

3. Select a processor type for this virtual device by clicking theProcessor pull-down menu. Selecting x86 will provide thebest performance because it enables the emulator to take advantageof hardware acceleration.The x86_64 option will also make use of hardware acceleration,but it runs slightly slower than x86 (x86_64 is normallyused for testing 64-bit apps):

4. Select the Android version (API level) by clicking the OSpull-down menu. For example, select Oreo 8.1 - API 27 to createa virtual device for API level 27:

   If you select an Android API level that has not yet been installed,the Device Manager will display A new device will be downloadedmessage at the bottom of the screen – it will download andinstall the necessary files as it creates the new virtual device:

5. If you want to include Google Play Services APIs in your virtualdevice, enable the Google APIs option. To include the GooglePlay Store app, enable the Google Play Store option:

   Note that Google Play Store images are available only for some basedevice types such as Pixel, Pixel 2, Nexus 5, and Nexus 5X.

6. Edit any properties that you need to modify. To make changes toproperties, seeEditing Android Virtual Device Properties.

7. Add any additional properties that you need to explicitly set. TheNew Device screen lists only the most commonly-modifiedproperties, but you can click the Add Property pull-down menu(at the bottom) to add additional properties:

   You can also define a custom property by clicking Custom...at the top of this property list.

8. Click the Create button (lower right-hand corner) to create thenew device:

9. The Android Device Manager adds the new device to the list ofinstalled virtual devices while displaying a Creating progressindicator during device creation:

10. When the creation process is complete, the new device is shown inthe list of installed virtual devices with a Start button,ready to launch:

Edit Device

To edit an existing virtual device, select the Additional Optionspull-down menu (gear icon) and select Edit:

Clicking Edit launches the Device Editor for the selected virtual device:

The Device Editor screen lists the properties of the virtual deviceunder the Property column, with the corresponding values of each property inthe Value column. When you select a property, a detailed descriptionof that property is displayed on the right.

To change a property, edit its value in the Value column.For example, in the following screenshot the hw.lcd.density propertyis being changed from 480 to 240:

After you have made the necessary configuration changes, click the Save button.For more information about changing virtual device properties, seeEditing Android Virtual Device Properties.

Additional Options

Additional options for working with a device are available from thepull-down menu located to the left of the Play button:

The additional options menu contains the following items:

• Edit – Opens the currently-selected device in the deviceeditor as described earlier.

• Duplicate and Edit – Duplicates the currently-selecteddevice and opens it in the New Device screen with a differentunique name. For example, selecting Pixel 2 API 28 and clickingDuplicate and Edit appends a counter to the name:

• Reveal in Finder – Opens a macOS Finder window in thefolder that holds the files for the virtual device. For example,selecting Pixel 2 API 28 and clicking Reveal in Finder opensa window like the following example:

• Factory Reset – Resets the selected device to its defaultsettings, erasing any user changes made to the internal state of thedevice while it was running (this also erases the currentQuick Bootsnapshot, if any). This change does not alter modifications that youmake to the virtual device during creation and editing. A dialog boxwill appear with the reminder that this reset cannot be undone. ClickFactory Reset to confirm the reset.

• Delete – Permanently deletes the selected virtual device. Adialog box will appear with the reminder that deleting a devicecannot be undone. Click Delete if you are certain that you wantto delete the device.

Troubleshooting

The following sections explain how to diagnose and work around problemsthat may occur when using the Android Device Manager to configurevirtual devices.

Android SDK in Non-Standard Location

Typically, the Android SDK is installed at the following location:

C:Program Files (x86)Androidandroid-sdk

If the SDK is not installed at this location, you may get this error when you launchthe Android Device Manager:

To work around this problem, use the following steps:

1. From the Windows desktop, navigate toC:UsersusernameAppDataRoamingXamarinDeviceManager:

2. Double-click to open one of the log files and locate the Configfile path. For example:

3. Navigate to this location and double-click user.config to open it.

4. In user.config, locate the <UserSettings> element and add anAndroidSdkPath attribute to it. Set this attribute to the pathwhere the Android SDK is installed on your computer and save thefile. For example, <UserSettings> would look like the following ifthe Android SDK was installed at C:ProgramsAndroidSDK:

After making this change to user.config, you should be able tolaunch the Android Device Manager.

Wrong Version of Android SDK Tools

If Android SDK tools 26.1.1 or later is not installed, you may see thiserror dialog on launch:

If you see this error dialog, click Open SDK Manager to open theAndroid SDK Manager. In the Android SDK Manager, click the Toolstab and install the following packages:

• Android SDK Tools 26.1.1 or later
• Android SDK Platform-Tools 27.0.1 or later
• Android SDK Build-Tools 27.0.3 or later

Snapshot disables WiFi on Android Oreo

If you have an AVD configured for Android Oreo with simulated Wi-Fi access,restarting the AVD after a snapshot may cause Wi-Fi access to become disabled.

To work around this problem,

1. Select the AVD in the Android Device Manager.

2. From the additional options menu, click Reveal in Explorer.

3. Navigate to snapshots > default_boot.

4. Delete the snapshot.pb file:

5. Restart the AVD.

After these changes are made, the AVD will restart in a state thatallows Wi-Fi to work again.

Emulators On M1 Mac

Wrong Version of Android SDK Tools

If Android SDK tools 26.1.1 or later is not installed, you may see thiserror dialog on launch:

If you see this error dialog, click OK to open the Android SDKManager. In the Android SDK Manager, click the Tools tab andinstall the following packages:

• Android SDK Tools 26.1.1 or later
• Android SDK Platform-Tools 28.0.1 or later
• Android SDK Build-Tools 26.0.3 or later

Snapshot disables WiFi on Android Oreo

If you have an AVD configured for Android Oreo with simulated Wi-Fi access,restarting the AVD after a snapshot may cause Wi-Fi access to become disabled.

To work around this problem,

1. Select the AVD in the Android Device Manager.

2. From the additional options menu, click Reveal in Finder.

3. Navigate to snapshots > default_boot.

4. Delete the snapshot.pb file:

5. Restart the AVD.

After these changes are made, the AVD will restart in a state thatallows Wi-Fi to work again.

Generating a Bug Report

If you find a problem with the Android Device Manager thatcannot be resolved using the above troubleshooting tips, please file abug report by right-clicking the title bar and selecting Generate BugReport:

If you find a problem with the Android Device Manager thatcannot be resolved using the above troubleshooting tips, please file abug report by clicking Help > Report a Problem:

Summary

This guide introduced the Android Device Manager available in VisualStudio Tools for Xamarin and Visual Studio for Mac. It explainedessential features such as starting and stopping the Android emulator,selecting an Android virtual device (AVD) to run, creating new virtualdevices, and how to edit a virtual device. It explained how toedit profile hardware properties for further customization, and itprovided troubleshooting tips for common problems.

Related Links

Emulator Android For Mac M1 Download

Related Video

Android Studio Emulator Mac M1

Find more Xamarin videos on Channel 9 and YouTube.