There are a lot more steps to make this work than most other Android emulators for PC. As an added rub, you may need to use a tool to change the APK in order to make it compatible. From there, you have to obtain APKs and load them in. You’ll have to install the thing to Chrome. It’s not an easy emulator to get running.

It then gives Chrome the ability to run Android apps and games (albeit with limited support). You install it as a Google Chrome extension. However, most emulators right now run anywhere between Android 7.0 Nougat and Android 9.0 Pie.ĪRChon isn’t a traditional emulator. Luckily, most apps and games still function on older versions of Android so this shouldn’t be a big deal. At this time, no emulators run the latest versions of Android except for ones made for developers.

It’s better that way.įinally, a bit of a disclaimer. Even so, in this day and age, we recommend going the Chromebook route if you want to run Android apps in a laptop or computer environment. However, those with hyper specific use cases and a little knowledge can try ARChon and Bliss. Any gaming emulator works as a productivity emulator to an extent. This isn’t nearly as common because Chromebooks are cheaper and better for using Android apps on something other than a phone and most productivity tools are cross-platform. Of course, this is no problem for developers that already have all the necessary software on their machines. The only drawback for non-developers, is that it comes with an installation of the space-hungry Android Studio and Android Software Development Kit (SDK). Fortunately, Android Studio comes with the “Android Virtual Device” (AVD) which blows all other emulators out of the water in terms of performance and functionality. Android app and game developers like to test apps and games on as many devices a possible before launch. The second most common use case is development. The best Android emulators for gaming include LDPlayer, Bluestacks, MeMu, KoPlayer, and Nox. In most cases, these little tricks aren’t illegal (in most games) so nobody really has a problem with it. They don’t have to rely on the battery life of their devices and the existence of macros and other tricks help the process. Gamers can use emulators on their computers to make some games easier to play. The first is the most common and it’s for gaming.

The three main uses for Android emulators

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