Introducing Best Android Emulators For PC! Now you can easily play games like PUBG, Call of duty, and many more without any hassle! Play on your Windows and Mac Laptops and enjoy your gameplay from now! Emulators help you to imitate, any app in the Operating Systems like Windows, Mac, Linux, and more. Here are the best Android emulators for PC and Mac. The setup is simply too tedious for regular consumer use. Xamarin’s emulator is not as powerful as something like Genymotion, but it’ll.

Even if this might appear as an edge case I know a lot of Android devs using Genymotion emulator for Mac in their daily work, but emulators in general, are RAM eater that slow down the entire system.

Genymotion is an awesome Android emulator, the support is good and the installation is fast and simple: it simply works out of the box!

Available from Android 4.4 to latest Android versions, in all screen sizes and on a large variety of platforms including our own but also AWS, Google, Azure and Alibaba. This is an example of Genymotion Cloud on AWS using c6g (ARM) instance without graphical acceleration. Genymotion is an awesome Android emulator, the support is good and the installation is fast and simple: it simply works out of the box! After experimenting some configurations, I’ve accomplished to run Genymotion on a Windows PC and make it available for connection from my Mac.

After experimenting some configurations, I’ve accomplished to run Genymotion on a Windows PC and make it available for connection from my Mac.

The solution has been tested on a local trusted network nevertheless, an SSH tunnel would be preferable.

This solution can be convenient if you don’t want to overload your Mac with the heaviness of the emulator or/and a long test suite takes some time to finish and in the meantime you need to switch to another emulator.

Precondition:

  • Mac with Android SDK.
  • Windows with Genymotion installed.

First of all, go to Genymotion settings > ADB > Select Use custom Android SDK tool and leave it empty, in this way Genymotion will not restart the local ADB when the external ADB will try to connect.

Now you need to open port 5555 and 5554 to let ADB connects to Genymotion.

On Start, go to Windows System > Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall > Advanced Settings.

ADB remote 5555

Right click on Inbound Rules > New Rule

Select Port

Mac

Select TCP

In Specific local ports type 5555

Select Allow the connection

Uncheck Domain and Public if you need this rule for your home network only

Add a name to the rule I’ve called it ADB remote 5555

Now right click on Inbound Rules > New Rule once again and repeat the process for port 5554.

Genymotion

Use the same configurations, just specify 5554 in Specific local ports, and in the end call the rule ADB remote 5554

It’s time to start Genymotion and run our Android emulator.

Take note of the IP address of the emulator, from now on I’ll call it .

And now it’s time to forward the incoming connections to the Genymotion emulator.

From the windows machine run command line as administrator: go to Start > type cmd > the first result will be CommandPrompt, right-click on it and select Run as administrator.

type

and hit return.

type

and hit return.

Genymotion emulator bl

You can double check you typed correctly running this command

and you should see something like this

Now kill adb on Win

And take note of the local IP typing

I’ll call it .

Go finally to your Mac and restart the adb.

And connect to Genymotion by typing the IP of the Windows PC

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This is the solution I found without using any external software for SSH tunnel or PuTTy, if you want to explore more solutions you can check these posts on StackOverflow

NOTE: The recommended approach is to use the emulator provided with Android Studio via the AVD Manager. Genymotion can only be downloaded for a 30-day trial.

Installing Genymotion (Deprecated)

Genymotion is an incredibly fast, memory-efficient VM that runs the Android OS in a more accurate manner than even the official emulator. Many Android developers do all their device testing using this emulator especially when Google Play services is concerned.

To setup your genymotion emulator sign up and follow the installation guide.

Note: If you already have installed Genymotion on your system then you can skip this steps and go straight to setup Google Play Services

Installation

  1. Sign up for an account on the Genymotion Website
  2. Install the latest VirtualBox, a powerful free virtualization software for Genymotion to run.
    • If you already have VirtualBox installed, be sure to open and upgrade to the latest version.
  3. Download Genymotion Emulator for your platform.
  4. Install the Genymotion Emulator
    • Windows: Run the MSI installer
    • Mac: Open the dmg and drag both apps to Applications directory
  5. Go to the Genymotion ADB settings and set the path to your SDK directory (i.e. for Mac OSX, the directory is /Users/[username]/Library/Android/sdk. For Windows, all SDK files should be by default in C:Documents and Settings<user>AppDataLocalAndroidsdk)
  6. (PC's only) You need to reboot and enable Intel Virtualization Technology or Intel VT-x on the BIOS. Typically you need to reboot and hit F1, Esc, or F10 to enter this mode. See these instructions for more information.

Configuration

  1. Run the Genymotion application
  2. Sign in and add your first virtual device (i.e. Nexus 4 - 4.4.4 - API 19, Nexus 4 - 5.0.0. - API 21).
    • You must use an image running 4.3, 4.4.4, or 5.0.0. Other versions may not work.
    • Do not start your emulator yet!
  3. From within Android Studio, click the genymobile icon and click 'Start' on your virtual device.
    • You can start the emulator through the Android Studio plugin, or can launch the Genymotion application separately.
  4. Wait for device to boot up into a useable state
Android

Note: if starting Genymotion you see the following error:

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Try opening VirtualBox and opening the image directly. If you see an VERR_PDM_DRIVER_NOT_FOUND error, try disabling the audio settings for the virtual image in VirtualBox:

  1. Select Android VM
  2. Click Settings on top.
  3. Go to Audio and Uncheck Enable Audio Checkbox

See this link for more information.

Note: On Ubuntu/Linux, make sure to enable 3D acceleration mode by launching VirtualBox and going to Settings -> Display to fix. VirtualBox appears to prone to memory leaks, so you may find yourself killing the process from time to time. To avoid large CPU consumption by the compiz window manager and swapping in general, try increasing the video memory allocation and Base Memory (found in Settings -> System).

Note: Are you getting an error when starting the emulator? Error Failed to load VMMR0.r0? Follow the advice here. In short, go to virtual box page and download and install VirtualBox 4.3.6 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack.

Note: If you get Failed to load OVI error when re-adding the emulator, you need to use a new name for the same device. For example, 'Nexus 4 - 4.4.4 - API 19' might be called 'Nexus 4 - 4.4.4 - API 19 New'.

Setup Google Play Services

As of version 2.10, setting up Google Play Services on Genymotion is really straightforward. Once in the emulator, a new 'Open GApps' widget will be available in your toolbar. Click it and it’ll do the rest. The 'Open GApps' widget is available for every device running Android 4.4 or higher (whether new or already created, as long as Genymotion 2.10 is installed).

The Open GApps package implemented is the smallest one (i.e. 'pico') as it fits most development and testing needs. If you need access to further Google Apps and Services, simply visit the Play Store and download them from there. If Google Play Services get updated, no need to click the widget again. Updates will be handled directly within your virtual device – just like a real device after all

Manual Installation

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since version 2.10 Genymotion includes native support for Google Play Services and Google Store. Just open the emulator and click in the 'Open GApps' widget showed in the toolbar. More info in Genymotion's blog. If you are working with a previous version you can follow the next steps.

NOTE: These steps need to be followed only if you are using Genymotion < 2.10 and you want to be able to use Google services such as maps and push messaging on your Genymotion device. For basic testing, these steps can be safely skipped.

Check out this handy YouTube video for a guided step-by-step of enabling play services in Genymotion. You may want to use a newer version of these files based on the desired emulator as found below.

  1. Download the opengapps.org image corresponding to your Android version. Make sure to choose x86 and the nano instance.

  2. Drag and drop the zip file onto the running Genymotion emulator device

  3. When asked to flash the device, make sure to proceed with the installation.

  4. You must close and restart the emulator so that Google Play Store can be installed.

  5. After restart, open the 'Play Store' app on your emulator and sign in with a google account.

  6. Make sure to update to the latest version of Google Play Services by opening the 'Play Store' app and then the 'Maps' app to verify play services is running correctly.

  7. If you are using Android 7.0 (API 24) or higher, make sure to install the Chrome app from the Play Store. The WebView browser that comes with API 24 and higher is not a fully feature compatible one.

  8. Download the ARM Translation Installer v1.1 and drag and drop the zip file onto the running Genymotion emulator device. The ARM emulator is only needed for apps that trigger a INSTALL_FAILED_CPU_ABI_INCOMPATIBLE error. See this FAQ for more context.

    • Note: If you get Files successfully copied message, you need to make sure there are no spaces in the filename. Remove any spaces from the name of your zip file before dragging to ensure the file is detected as flashable.

Note: If you see errors, be sure you installed the correct package above that matches the device version in the emulator. For example, if you install Samsung Galaxy S4 API 18 for Genymotion emulator and install Google Services APK for Android 4.3, Google Play should work without any issue. The important thing is to match the google play API version and Genymotion emulator device version.

Best Free Android Emulator

Enable GPS on Emulator

Next, if you don't have the emulator started yet, be sure to boot the genymotion emulator from within the Android Studio plugin:

Now we need to enable the GPS location on the emulator by manually selecting a location on the map:

Troubleshooting

Can't run app on Genymotion emulator

Mac

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If you are encountering issues with a Genymotion device not being detected inside Android Studio, try the following steps. First, close all emulators and unplug any devices. Next, open up the Terminal application on your computer.

Open up the Genymotion application and open Settings => ADB and then select 'Custom SDK tools'. Enter your SDK path into the text field: '/Users/[USERNAME]/Library/Android/sdk':

Finally, go back to the terminal and run:

Genymotion Android Emulator For Macbook

Keep running ./adb devices until you see a device show up in that list:

What Is Genymotion

Connecting to VPN sites

If you are trying to use a VPN client to connect to an internal web site, open VirtualBox and select the emulator image. Click on Settings and make sure Adapter 1 is disabled.

Verify that Adapter 2 is selected for NAT, which will force connections to be routed through your machine.

That's it! Try running the app again.

Issuing Manually Setting Up Play Services

While installing play services, there are a variety of issues that can come up, refer to a few common ones below:

  • Received a Files successfully copied message after dragging over the zip. You need to make sure there are no spaces in the filename. Remove any spaces from the name of your zip file before dragging to ensure the file is detected as flashable.

  • Received a message about files being added to the SD card If you are using a Mac, and get this message while dragging over the file to the emulator, make sure to configure your app security settings to allow all applications.

  • Seeing errors after flashing the emulator? If you see errors, be sure you installed the correct package above that matches the device version in the emulator. For example, if you install Samsung Galaxy S4 API 18 for Genymotion emulator and install Google Services APK for Android 4.3, Google Play should work without any issue. The important thing is to match the google play API version and Genymotion emulator device version.

  • Try rebooting your system. If all else fails, may find in order for things to take hold properly that you need to install the ARM-translator, and then reboot your computer, and after that, install the Gapps and then reboot a second time. This can sometimes fix issues that are otherwise unresolved.