4 Ways To Run Android Apps On Windows
Interested in Android? You don’t have to buy a device or go to a physical electronics store (do those still exist?) to try it out. You can run individual Android apps and play with the latest versions of the Android operating system on Windows. Whether you want to try Android before you buy, experiment with the latest version of Android or sync apps between your Android device and your PC, these Windows programs have you covered.
YouWave
YouWave provides a free 7-day trial, which is more than enough time to get a feel for Android apps. It starts an emulated environment with a home screen and app menu. YouWave doesn’t include many apps, but you can get more from Amazon’s App Store and the AndAppStore. Just click the View menu and select Online Content to view the available app stores. Click their icons to install them and they’ll appear in the emulator’s app menu. From there, you can launch them and explore the universe of Android apps.
Downloads Youwave
BlueStacks
BlueStacks doesn’t replicate the full Android experience, it’s just an “app player” that runs individual apps on your PC. BlueStacks runs in full-screen mode, but you can Alt-Tab and use other programs while it’s open. Click the Get More Apps icon in the menu to get more apps. You’ll need to sign in with Facebook Connect or create a BlueStacks account to continue. Unfortunately, this page doesn’t contain many apps at the moment. BlueStacks really shines if you already have an Android device. You can install the BlueStacks Cloud Connect app, available in the Android market, to synchronize apps between your device and your PC.
Downloads Bluestacks
Google’s Android emulator
Google’s Android software development kit provides a free Android emulator, although it’s targeted at developers. You can run the latest version of Android with this method, so it’s a great way to try out Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, if you have a device that’s stuck on an older version. First, you’ll have to download and install the SDK manager from Google. After installing it, launch it and check off the files for the latest version of Android. Click the Install button and the SDK manager will automatically download and install the required software. Click the Tools menu once the download has finished, select Manage AVDs and click the New button to create a new virtual device. Select your installed version of Android as the target, name your Android virtual device, then click Create AVD. You’ll see your new virtual device in the virtual device manager window. Select it, click the Start button and click Launch to launch the Android emulator. Don’t worry if it takes a while to start — it took over a minute to start for me. Google’s Android emulator definitely doesn’t perform as well as BlueStacks or YouWave. It also doesn’t have the Android Market or any other app store integrated, but you can download app files inside it and install them. Check out our list of Android app-finding websites to find apps for the emulator.
Downloads Google SDK
Run Android 4 ICS with VirtualBox
If you want to play around with Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) but don’t have an Android phone or tablet, you can download the official Android SDK, or better yet, grab a preconfigured virtual machine that will run ICS in VirtualBox. Other than providing an interesting look at the primary competitor to iOS, virtual machines are useful for compatibility testing, and developers and designers should find some value in adding an Android VM alongside their Windows & Internet Explorer VM’s, giving this some practical use beyond the novelty factor.
Here’s how to run Android 4 ICS in VirtualBox:
•Download VirtualBox and install it (free)
•Grab a preconfigured ICS set up from VMLite (free)
•Uncompress the Android-v4.7z file, look for “Android-v4.vbox” and double-click it to load and boot the configuration into VirtualBox
•At the boot menu in VirtualBox, select the lower “Android Startup from /dev/sda” option
•Let Android ICS boot
That’s really all there is to it. The VMLite configuration is complete with mouse support and you’ll find the blue cursor as a replacement for a touch screen. You can switch to full screen mode by pulling down “View” and selecting “Switch to Fullscreen”, just remember to hit Command+F is how to exit out of that. Hitting Command+C will run the VM in scale mode.
Download VirtualBox)
Grab a preconfigured ICS set up from VMLite
Interested in Android? You don’t have to buy a device or go to a physical electronics store (do those still exist?) to try it out. You can run individual Android apps and play with the latest versions of the Android operating system on Windows. Whether you want to try Android before you buy, experiment with the latest version of Android or sync apps between your Android device and your PC, these Windows programs have you covered.
YouWave
YouWave provides a free 7-day trial, which is more than enough time to get a feel for Android apps. It starts an emulated environment with a home screen and app menu. YouWave doesn’t include many apps, but you can get more from Amazon’s App Store and the AndAppStore. Just click the View menu and select Online Content to view the available app stores. Click their icons to install them and they’ll appear in the emulator’s app menu. From there, you can launch them and explore the universe of Android apps.
BlueStacks
BlueStacks doesn’t replicate the full Android experience, it’s just an “app player” that runs individual apps on your PC. BlueStacks runs in full-screen mode, but you can Alt-Tab and use other programs while it’s open. Click the Get More Apps icon in the menu to get more apps. You’ll need to sign in with Facebook Connect or create a BlueStacks account to continue. Unfortunately, this page doesn’t contain many apps at the moment. BlueStacks really shines if you already have an Android device. You can install the BlueStacks Cloud Connect app, available in the Android market, to synchronize apps between your device and your PC.
Google’s Android emulator
Google’s Android software development kit provides a free Android emulator, although it’s targeted at developers. You can run the latest version of Android with this method, so it’s a great way to try out Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, if you have a device that’s stuck on an older version. First, you’ll have to download and install the SDK manager from Google. After installing it, launch it and check off the files for the latest version of Android. Click the Install button and the SDK manager will automatically download and install the required software. Click the Tools menu once the download has finished, select Manage AVDs and click the New button to create a new virtual device. Select your installed version of Android as the target, name your Android virtual device, then click Create AVD. You’ll see your new virtual device in the virtual device manager window. Select it, click the Start button and click Launch to launch the Android emulator. Don’t worry if it takes a while to start — it took over a minute to start for me. Google’s Android emulator definitely doesn’t perform as well as BlueStacks or YouWave. It also doesn’t have the Android Market or any other app store integrated, but you can download app files inside it and install them. Check out our list of Android app-finding websites to find apps for the emulator.
Run Android 4 ICS with VirtualBox
If you want to play around with Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) but don’t have an Android phone or tablet, you can download the official Android SDK, or better yet, grab a preconfigured virtual machine that will run ICS in VirtualBox. Other than providing an interesting look at the primary competitor to iOS, virtual machines are useful for compatibility testing, and developers and designers should find some value in adding an Android VM alongside their Windows & Internet Explorer VM’s, giving this some practical use beyond the novelty factor.
Here’s how to run Android 4 ICS in VirtualBox:
•Download VirtualBox and install it (free)
•Grab a preconfigured ICS set up from VMLite (free)
•Uncompress the Android-v4.7z file, look for “Android-v4.vbox” and double-click it to load and boot the configuration into VirtualBox
•At the boot menu in VirtualBox, select the lower “Android Startup from /dev/sda” option
•Let Android ICS boot
That’s really all there is to it. The VMLite configuration is complete with mouse support and you’ll find the blue cursor as a replacement for a touch screen. You can switch to full screen mode by pulling down “View” and selecting “Switch to Fullscreen”, just remember to hit Command+F is how to exit out of that. Hitting Command+C will run the VM in scale mode.
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