7 Fast, Secure & Effective Android Emulators for Mac and PC

Akansha Pandey
Fluper Official
Published in
5 min readAug 17, 2020

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Savvy users prefer using Android emulators on Mac or PC than on mobile devices. It’s much more comfortable and convenient to test for bugs or issues in-app on a desktop than a mobile device, and no one can deny this fact. More than 80 percent of gamers find it exciting to play games on PC or Mac than on mobile devices, maybe to get a real-time experience. Bug-free testing becomes more manageable for any app developer while conducting it on a Mac or PC. To make testing and overall working effective, app developers are switching to Android emulators. In this blog, we will dive into the top 7 Android emulators for Mac and PC.

Android Emulator for Mac and PC

1. Android Studio’s Emulator

Android Studio is the evasion development console for Android. It comes with a variety of tools to assist developers in developing apps and games majorly for Android. It also has a built-in emulator that you can use to check the app’s proper functioning or game. The setup is rather intricate and time-consuming.

Thus, experts don’t recommend it for consumer-level use. However, developers can utilize this tool as their emulator to test apps. Android Studio supports Kotlin, and you can give it a try. It’s challenging for non-developer to use Android Studio as its set up takes time, but it works superbly for experts.

2. ARChon

ARChon isn’t a conventional emulator. A developer can easily install it as a Google Chrome extension. It then provides Chrome with permission to run Android apps and games. It’s not a secure emulator for everyone. It needs installation via Chrome. From Chrome, you will have to get APKs and load them in. As an added rub, you may also need to engage a tool to transform the APK to make it attuned. There are many more steps you will have to follow to make the emulator work on your Mac or PC. It is beneficial using this emulator as it works with different operating systems such as Mac OS, Linux, Windows, etc. You can still refer to the ARChon guide to know the working better.

3. Bliss OS

Bliss OS emulator works differently as compared to other notable emulators. It works as an Android emulator for Mac or PC through a virtual machine. However, you can use it as a flat run on your PC via a USB stick. A boot-from-USB method is a fantastic option for you. As a VM install, the process is trouble-free, but complicated if you don’t have any experience of making virtual machine. The USB installation ideology is involved, and if you are not an expert, you will have a hard time following the process. It runs the latest OS Android Oreo, and that’s among the newer Android emulator version.

4. Bluestacks

Bluestacks is another mainstream category of all Android emulators. There are various reasons for its typical behavior. For beginners, it’s companionable with Windows and Mac. It is also considered to be the first emulator that works well with such systems. Bluestacks is a fantastic Android that was designed especially for mobile gamers. The emulator also integrates key-mapping and settings for different games installed on the network. It, thus, helps make the entire process more convenient and comfortable for the developers.

5. GameLoop

GameLoop is yet another famous name in the list of Android emulators for Mac and PC. It is also called as Tencent Gaming Buddy. The emulator is majorly used by the gaming app developers of all time. It’s impressive enough that Tencent calls it the executive emulator for its games like PUBG Mobile. Of course, it stands out from other emulators because of its bespoke features. As far as productivity or developmental testing is concerned, Gameloop is among the less recommended emulator. However, if you are fond of mobile FPS gaming features with some titles, this is indeed a reasonably decent gaming emulator. Plus, it also offers you the keyboard controls to make overall experience effective.

Recommended Read: How to curve your career in android game development?

6. Genymotion

This Android emulator is among the favorites’ list of developers. It lets developers efficiently test the app’s performance on a variety of devices and platforms without owning them. It also allows developers to configure the process for a variety of methods with various versions of Android. The emulator also allows app developers to switch between virtual devices of their choice effortlessly. It’s not great for non-tech-savvy users, but this emulator offers various other services for free to developers. You can enjoy its availability on your desktop, laptop, and the cloud.

7. MEmu

MEmu is another useful Android emulator that works great for gaming app developers in particular. One of its most prominent features of this Android emulator is its support for both AMD and Intel chipsets. Additionally, it supports operating systems such as Android Jelly Bean, Kit Kat, and Lollipop. Developers can even run multiple operations at once for numerous gaming features. The emulator was last updated in mid-November 2019 with an added smart key-mapping.

Conclusion

It is a complete list of 7 best Android emulators for Mac and PC. You can choose among these as per your requirement and interest. The trend of emulators is majorly popular among gamers as they prefer using it on PC or Mac to save time and effort. It also helps developers to test and perform bug-fixing before the launch of mobile applications. Don’t forget to tell us if we missed any emulator.

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Akansha Pandey
Fluper Official

She loves to write about what she has learned in all these years in the industry. She thinks that knowledge should be shared with everyone.