Best Emulator Android For Mac

Android emulators are a great way to experience Android on your Windows or Mac computer. They allow you to have the mobile feel of an android phone without having to buy a new device. Plus, they’re perfect for playing games that aren’t available in the Apple Store!

1. Best Android Emulator For Mac 2021
2. The Best Emulator Android For Mac
3. Best Android Emulator For Mac 2020
4. Android
5. Best Android Emulator For Mac 2019

The Nox player is totally free and available for Mac OS users as well. Gameloop is a specially designed android emulator for gamers. An Android emulator is a software application that allows your mobile to imitate Android OS features into your PC. It allows you to install Android Apps on your computer or laptop and use them. Macintosh OS or popularly known as Mac OS used by Apple on its Mac PC’s and Macbook’s is an awesome OS, with its awesome user-interface, and great features, wouldn’t it be more awesome if we are. An Android or iOS application or a browser gets emulated by an emulator on an operating system considered as a defined one, such as that of Mac and Windows. What it does is that it establishes virtual hardware conditions of that of an Android or iOS device.

So you want to run android apps on your PC? Well, it just so happens that there are a ton of android emulators out there. However, not all android emulators are created equal. Some have limited features while others offer the same functionality as Android devices themselves. In this article, we will discuss our top 10 best android emulators for Windows and Mac!

Hopefully, by the end of this post, you’ll be able to find one that suits all your needs!

Advantages of Android emulators

Android emulators are great tools for developers and android enthusiasts to test out android apps without having an android device. Moreover, the android emulators enable you to enjoy the same experience as if you were using a phone or tablet – meaning that they can be used with keyboard+mouse or touch screen, depending on what suits your needs best.

The android emulators also offer an opportunity to test out different builds of android without having access to a variety of devices – meaning that they can be pretty handy if you need a place to tinker with new android versions and new builds of android.

Mostly the android emulators are also compatible with a variety of other operating systems, meaning that you can use them on your Windows or Mac machine without the need for any specialized software – just download the emulator like normal and away you go! Android emulators provide an opportunity for people who don’t like owning their own android devices to still be able to use Android apps or games on a computer.

Developers are able to test their app’s compatibility with various versions of Android as well as screen sizes and resolutions without having an actual phone. Android emulation allows developers to test out their apps on various devices without having access to each individual device separately.

Emulation also offers users an opportunity to run android apps that may not be compatible with specific OS’s, meaning that Android can be used on a variety of different computers.

BlueStacks

The number one Android emulator on this list is BlueStacks. This versatile emulator comes with a variety of benefits such as the ability to run pretty much any version of android you want, compatibility with Windows and Mac operating systems (as well as Linux), an intuitive user interface that’s super easy to use and lots more.

BlueStacks comes with an inbuilt app store, meaning that after installation, you can go ahead and download any of your favorite apps without the need for a separate app market.

The emulator also includes integrated Google Play services, making it compatible with all Android games as well! This is one of the safest android emulators on the market for Mac and Windows. This is a great option if you’re looking to avoid downloading any malware.

The emulator also offers the ability to record gameplay on your computer without having any additional software – perfect for gamers who want to show off their gaming skills!

However, one of the most notable features of this software is it, instance manager. With it, you’re able to launch multiple android instances at the same time. This is great if you need more than one emulator for different purposes – such as testing out a new game or working on an app that needs two versions of Android in order to work properly.

BlueStacks is one of the best android emulators out there and will allow you to access pretty much anything that Android has to offer, including all your favorite apps!

Pros:

• Great for beginners.
• Fits on most screens (meaning that you can enjoy Android without having to buy a whole new computer).
• Ability to test out different versions of android and operating systems.

Cons:

• Doesn’t work with all games – especially ones that require an accelerometer or gyroscope.
• Doesn’t work with some apps and games that require Android OS versions lower than Jellybean.
• Requires a powerful computer to run smoothly.

NoxPlayer

NoxPlayer is another one of the best Android emulators for Windows and Mac. It’s not as popular as BlueStacks, but it has a lot to offer – like support for hardware acceleration! As we all know, there are many games that require good graphics card and processor power in order to run smoothly. So if you’re looking for a way to optimize your emulator experience, NoxPlayer might be the best option.

What makes it stand out from other Android emulators? Well, first of all – its performance! It can easily run games with the highest graphics settings without any hiccups or long loading times. Secondly, it’s very user-friendly and easy to use – perfect for beginners!

Lastly, it has a big advantage over most of the other emulators on this list. NoxPlayer is also available as an Android app which means that you can install and run it directly from your phone or tablet if you’re running low on space. That’s pretty neat, right?

Pros

• Easy to use
• Free for personal and commercial purposes.
• High-performance emulation (runs Android apps at near native speeds)
• Completely cross-platform (supports Windows, Mac and Linux)

Cons

• Runs on Android 5, which is too outdated to enjoy new games.
• Comes with some bloatware, i.e., difficult-to-delete software.
• Some antivirus software may detect its files as suspicious.

LDPlayer

LDPlayer is a powerful Android emulator that lets you run your favourite apps on Windows. It has been around for more than five years, and it comes with a user-friendly interface.

LDPlayer includes a built-in web browser, so you can surf the internet right from your desktop computer running Windows or Mac OS X. What’s more, this Android emulator introduces support for multi-touch – it supports up to ten points of input at once!

What’s more, one of the most prominent features in LDPlayer is its compatibility with thousands of Android games and applications. In addition to that, we must mention that even if your computer doesn’t meet the requirements for this emulator; you may still be able to run it.

Pros:

– LDPlayer is compatible with thousands of Android games and applications. It includes a built-in web browser, so you can surf the internet right from your desktop computer running Windows or Mac OS X.

What’s more, it supports up to ten points of input at once!

Cons:

• The emulator is not free.
• It takes a while to set up the emulator and get it running smoothly on your computer, depending on how powerful it is.
• LDPlayer doesn’t come with any keyboard shortcuts by default.

Andy Android Emulator

Andy is one of the best on this list. It has a lot of features and it’s pretty fast, requires just minimum system requirements to install on your computer. With Andy you can experience the same Android as on an actual device but without having to actually own one. This emulator also allows for multiple users accounts which makes great for testing apps or games.

The emulator also supports sync with Dropbox which is very convenient when you want to access your files from any device.

Andy allows you to sync the folders and system settings with a computer, while this may not sound like much it can come in handy at times where all other Android Emulators fail.

Pros:

Great for testing apps and games. Multiple accounts

Cons:

Expensive service, Requires more system resources so it’s not as fast as some other emulators in this list

MEmuPlay

One of the top rated Android emulators on our list is MEmuPlay. It is specifically created for gaming and offers an amazing user interface.

MEmuPlay is a highly customizable Android emulator which is available for Windows and Mac.

It has many features that make it one of the most desirable emulators on our list, including:

– It can be used to play games in high performance with its frame rate limit feature

– Ability to change screen size

– Optimized graphics engine for smoother HD graphics

– The emulator is quite lightweight and can be used on a wide range of PC’s

– It offers the ability to change the orientation of your screen from portrait to landscape while you are playing games. This allows users to play in either position which may come up depending on what they want to do with their device at that moment.

Pros:

– Its frame rate limit feature allows you to play games on a high-performance level. With this, gamers can enjoy smoother HD graphics and never experience lag when playing their favourite game.

You have the ability to customize your resolution which means that MEmuPlay will be perfect for any type of computer.

This emulator is also quite lightweight and can be used on a wide range of PC’s, regardless of the hardware specifications.

Ability to change screen orientation from portrait to landscape.

Cons:

– There is a lack of customization when it comes to the home screen

– The emulator may be difficult to use for gamers who are new to these types of programs.

Android Studio Emulator

The Android Studio is the official development environment created by Google. It has an inbuilt powerful emulator that lets you test and debug your applications without the need for a physical device.

The emulator has been designed to be as close as possible to an actual phone, which allows app developers to detect problems before they are deployed on a real-world system. It also enables the testing of different devices with one single installation of Android Studio.

The inbuilt emulator has been designed with some of the following features to make it as realistic as possible:

• Emulates phone calls and sensors like GPS, accelerometer, etc.
• Supports hardware acceleration
• Includes support for USB devices such as keyboard, gamepad, mouse and other peripherals to make testing apps more realistic.
• Provides an easy way to take screenshots at any time

It also comes pre-installed with Android SDKs so you can start developing right away without having to install it separately in your computer. It also has built-in tools like DDMS (Dalvik Debug Monitor Server) and CPU/Memory profiler, which can be used by developers as well as power users to debug and analyze applications.

The emulator lets developers test their apps on different system architectures (x86 or ARM) as well as different Android versions to ensure that it will work across all devices.

The emulator is versatile and has a lot of features for developers such as creating multiple virtual screens, generating pre-defined screen sizes (Smartphone, TV), adding/removing system overlays like battery level or using Google Play Store to download apps into the device.

Lastly, the Android Studio Emulator is enabled with Google Play Services and it can be accessed by logging into your account.

ARChon

ARChon (also known as ARChon Runtime for Chrome) is a versatile custom extension for Chrome or Chromium browser that can easily run Android apps straight on Windows PC and a wide variety of other supported platforms.

ARChon is an open-source, free Android emulator that allows users to emulate the android experience on their PC. Unlike other emulators mentioned above, ARCHON isn’t a traditional emulator, it is installed as a chrome extension. Hence, the extension must be downloaded and installed on Chrome browser. When installed, it gives chrome the ability to run android apps and games.

ARChon works with any operating system that can run an instance of Chrome, including macOS, Linux, Windows, etc.

How to download and install ARChon on Chrome.

• Download the ARChon.zip file and unzip it via Winrar or 7zip.
• Open Google Chrome browser on your windows.
• Click on the 3 dot option key at the top right corner of the browser. Select tools> Extension.
• You can also type chrome://extensions// on the address bar to take you directly to the extension tab.
• Once on the extension tab, enable the “developer mode” option at the top right.
• Select the developer mode and click on “load unpacked extension”. Select the unzipped ARChon folder.
• ARChon should start installing on your chrome browser. You may come across a warning after the installation but just ignore it.

Once you’re done with everything, you can then download any apk file of your choice, unzip it, and follow the same process as you install ARChon.

You should then find the app on your chrome://apps folder.

Beware that note all files are compatible with chrome. So ensure that the one you’re using is compatible and also update your browser to the latest version.

GameLoop

GameLoop is a free Android emulator software which you can play mobile games on your Windows computer.

However, as the name suggests, GameLoop was specifically built for gamers. It was formerly known as TenCent Gaming Buddy, and was developed by TenCent, a company that also created and distributed the Android version of the popular game “PUGB”.

With its help, gaming enthusiasts can discover, download, and play almost all available Android games on their PCs instantly!

Like other Android emulators, GameLoop allow users to install and play mobile games directly from its game store. You can instantly start playing any game you find without additional configuration.

Additionally, whenever a new game is updated or released, you can immediately access it using GameLoop.

While you can’t use the emulator to play all Android games, GameLoop does have a massive library of gaming apps. Once installed, you can use it to play many popular games, the likes of Clash of Clans, Call of Duty Mobile, Candy Crush Saga, and lots more! As soon as these games get emulated on your Windows laptop or desktop, you can start using your mouse or keyboard for control.

An emulator is an application running software on another platform, intended for one platform. What you do not know is which emulator to play Android games on your PC you can go for. Finding the best android emulator for gaming is not easy as there are many, and you could spend a lot of time setting up each emulator to find the one that works best.

In this guide, I am going to show you the best emulator with a detailed review. I’ll tell you what you need to know about it, instead.

As there are a lot of emulators available today so if you’re looking to run Android games on your Windows PC. There can be multiple reasons, why you would want to use an Android emulator on your Windows machine for those who are curious.

Best Android Emulator For Mac 2021

Gamers may want to play their android games using a mouse and keyboard. Maybe you just want that to get it there. In any case, it’s possible to simulate Android on Desktop.

Best Android Emulator for Gaming – 2020

We suggest you choose an emulator that its developers update periodically, so you can play the latest version of your favorite games without any problem. Remember that a couple of emulators on our list have not received updates for a while, and you can check your system compatibility.

There is no need to worry about compatibility issues, as a software developer and tester, I have tested about 50 emulators myself. And writing this article to help my readers learn about the top 10 best android emulator for Gaming on pc.

1- Bluestacks – Best Android Gaming Emulator For PC

One of Android’s first emulators to enable Android users to play Android games on a PC. It’s also one of Android’s most popular free emulators with a built-in app store and thousands of gamer-friendly features and attributes. BlueStack’s latest version comes with a new and upgraded UI, improved performance and delivers distraction-free mobile gaming to your PC. The user interface is quick and easy to customize. As part of the UI, the developers have added core gameplay functions that allow you to switch modes and run add-ons such as BlueStacks Store and Quests only when necessary, resulting in minimal device performance impacts.

Bluestacks is the first to mark their sign as an emulator for PC and Mac OS. Because of its smooth results, Bluestacks is also the best in ranking amongst others. For the convenience of Windows users, it produces cloud-based cross-platform apps. For gaming, this emulator is preferred and is incredibly easy to set up. Apart from the Play Store, you have the option of installing customized BlueStacks software from your own app store.

As far as gaming performance is concerned, Blustacks outperforms many other Android emulators but you’d still find lags, particularly on underpowered PCs. For Bluestacks, there’s a misconception and at times it can look a little bloated. The goal of Bluestacks was to address that with mixed results. This also provides key mapping and built configurations for several games. This would be helpful in making things simpler.

2- Nox Player – Best Android Emulator For Mac

NoxPlayer has been targeted for smartphone gamers who like playing Android games on a computer to monitor the gameplay more precisely. It supports both keyboard controls and gameplay controls via GamePad (Joystick). While downloading Nox player gives you the adventure to play android games with the aid of a keyboard on a big screen. You don’t have to think about advertisements that come in the way during games play. This emulator blocks the ad and enables the user to play the game flawlessly. And also updates the Nox emulator to standard bases to support its users.

it is the best emulator option for playing android games on PC and Mac OS. It’s very easy to download and provides all of its features at no cost. You can also map the Nox emulator intuitively to your keyboard for proper game playing.

Nox player can manage high FPS games without any clutter and allows the recording of keypads, gamepads, and scripts (helps to capture a later play sequence on screen). Although it may take you some time to get to know the controls, Nox Player will turn out to be the best place to run Android Apps and Games on Windows or Mac once you get along with that.

3- MEmu – Best Android Emulator For Windows 10

MEmu supports all Android games with a high degree of consistency and allows you to open several instances so you can level up more easily or play several games simultaneously. Screenshots and recordings are easy to pass between the Windows system and your virtual Android app. Despite the inclusion of Google Play, you can choose to sideload APKs if you wish.

This program, like the other Android emulator, boasts versatile configuration features and better user- response. This has increased controls of the team, simulation of the GPS location, file sharing, and multi-features.

The Best Emulator Android For Mac

Support for both AMD and Intel chipsets is one of its best features. Many works on AMD processors but it’s great to see developers are paying attention to AMD’s technology specifically. In addition, it supports Jelly Bean, Kit Kat, and Lollipop, Nuguat and latest version for Android. You can also run multiple instances for multiple games or testing functions at once. It is targeted at gamers close to Bluestacks and close emulators.

Best Android Emulator For Mac 2020

4- LD Player

LD Player is a free Android emulator that lets PC users easily play Android games on Windows. This supports a broad range of features when playing high-performance, high-graphic mobile games on Windows, based on Android. You can also access Google Play Store for other apps in addition to playing Android games on Desktop, and specify the location of the device. LD Player practically works better than a real phone with its multifunctional interface and user-friendly settings.

LDPlayer has some very cool features to it. For different games, it has a high FPS mode, like PUBG. It is, however, inferior to the BlueStacks high FPS mode that operates across all games and supports up to 240fps. According to their recommendations, if you have a beefy device capable of very high framerates, you would need a graphics card equal to or better than a GTX 960 to allow 2k resolution and there is even a Vsync option to avoid the screen tearing. The keyboard and mouse support is built-, and keybindings can be modified. You can choose from a range of Android Virtual Apps.

This emulator handles multiplayer games in an easy and convenient way. LD player is compatible with various types of games that deliver smooth controls, safe and efficient operations. Without any process loss, you can run multiple games at a time. You can also run the Google Play Store along with the Google Mobile Services Package in addition to playing Android games on your Mac.

5- KoPlayer

Koplayer gains the quality experience of Android playing on their Windows PC or Mac. This is a strong and free Android gaming emulator places the emphasis on providing its users with a lag-free gaming experience. KOPlayer is free software that lets you emulate a device using the Android GUI. Programs such as BlueStacks, Nox & Memu Player can be a good substitute. Given this, there are plenty of good emulators for PC. And why would a customer want to start using these services for software? As the answer is that Ko Player is lightweight and also runs on slower computers. This can be a great source to play mobile games with strong graphics like PUBG & Call of Duty on PC. And it doesn’t matter if you want to have access to a surveillance device or a big screen arcade game.

You can also record and share games for you, and it can be used to install non-gaming applications like Twitter, Whatsapp, etc. You can also install the mobile edition of Microsoft Word if you want a free word processor. In the end, KoPlayer includes all a gamer wants and more. Software acceleration supports greatly, and x86 architecture enhancements make KoPlayer less pro.

That supports advanced features such as acceleration by OpenGL & hardware. It brings playing experience of Android standard to the Windows platform. For streamline controls, the emulator supports multiple profiles, screen recording, gamepad & keyboard mapping. The software has built-in Google Play Store GMS support to easily download your favorite games.

6- Remix OS Player

Android provides a wide variety of games on the Play Store that can all be played on the Remix OS Player. Remix OS also provides a key mapping tool for the more devoted player, which allows playing Android games with touch control schemes more effectively with the keyboard and mouse. Playing mobile games on your PC would be simpler than ever, with Remix OS Game. It’s helpful to have the ability to play major games on your smartphone or laptop, but some people want a bigger screen or better peripherals.

Android

Remix OS Player is now available for Windows PCs for the first time, with potential support for Mac. Configuration requires that the user access a .exe file directly from their desktop to run Remix OS. Remix OS Player is the fastest and most powerful Android emulator on the market, built on Android Studio developed by Google. Due to multiple window support, Remix OS Player will help Android developers customize their apps for the Android PC / Chrome OS environment for gaming.

This emulator is compatible with virtually every game in the Google Play market, so you won’t have to worry about changing hundreds of settings every time you download a new title. Also, Remix OS Player is one of the few emulators you can play several games at once. Remix OS Player offers every emulator out there with the most realistic Android gaming and PC experience, the company reports, “We’ve given you the opportunity to enjoy Android games and applications on Remix OS faster and easier than ever by balancing Remix OS with the latest in emulator technology.”

7- Gameloop – Best Android Gaming Emulator for Mac

Gameloop is considered to be one of the most popular Android emulators on Windows. It is compatible with many games and can allow smooth play on low-profile computers. The best feature of this app is that it is highly optimized, helping to quickly install games and monitor graphics of high quality.

It is previously known as Tencent Gaming Buddy, is also one of the best gaming emulators that offer stunning performance for running mobile games on PC, especially for games from the Tencent Developer. Games like PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile can be well handled by GameLoop. It is truly dedicated to Android gaming but the lack of support for other numerous good gaming titles is needed to be improved. Also, the Android emulator cannot be used for testing Android apps. Its architecture provides gamers with little attention to other emulation features and emphasizes versatility and precision in mouse and keyboard controls in particular. GameLoop is an outstanding overall emulator of Android games. It also lets you customize controls and networking for a smoother popularity experience.

Best Android Emulator For Mac 2019

You can change controls to your taste and enjoy your gameplay. While you are playing games with your keyboard and mouse, GameLoop will use the default gaming settings. Everything you need to do is visit the settings box and tweak the controls if you want to change them. The app comes with an integrated browser for the game. So, you can download and install games with a single click from their website. The network is designed and makes use of your PC’s resources to ensure lag-free play. Tencent also provided a feature called ‘Network Acceleration’ with the modified version of their emulator to boost your playing of high-ping games.

8- PrimeOS – Best Android Emulator For Gaming

PrimeOS is a free emulator that has various features providing you with a new mobile interface and access to Android devices. This emulator is like a merger of both an Android PC and offers you the best of both worlds. It has a standard taskbar, resizable application windows, multi-user mode, menu- launcher to start applications, settings, notification panel, etc. Prime OS is yet another candidate for an effective Desktop Android gaming platform.

It’s based on an Android x86 open source project. Prime OS is developed with gamers in mind and has an integrated gaming center where you can view and organize all your games. This facilitates multitasking, the processing of multimedia content (video and music), and more. This can also be used for functionality such as editing images or spreadsheets.

In your computer, you mount this as a partition and it boots up running native Android. It’s a gamer-focused Android experience, but if you really want to, you can use this entirely for productivity. PrimeOS features a gaming hub, mouse and keyboard support, and most Android applications and games are accessible. For a far better experience than an emulator, it will turn your PC into an Android Machine. The OS has a “Gaming Hub” in it: an android games store. This OS uses DecaPro, which offers a better gaming experience. It is probably the OS you need if you want to feel more confident playing your favorite smartphone shooting games.

9- AmiDuOS

AMIDuOS is one of several controller-supported Android emulators. In comparison to a standard Android emulator, AMIDuOS has built a virtual machine for running Android on a Windows PC. It is one of the smaller Android PC emulators that come with Amazon’s App Store offering applications and games. While configuring AmiDuOS, you can manually set the DPI via the settings, along with other things. The added advantage is that you can use the emulator’s root software because it comes with special user root privileges. The user will give out $15 for the complete version of this best Android emulator after the 30-day free trial.

AMIDuOS was one of Android’s most feature-rich emulators that stood the test of time. This lightweight launcher provided excellent Android compatibility and instantly turned a Windows 10 device into a complete Android smartphone. AMIDuOS was among Android’s most popular low-end PC emulators. This Android emulator was running on Android Lollipop and enabled the acceleration of graphics coupled with native ARM extensions for Android applications.

The Android emulator provides a complete Android tablet experience including multi-touch and gesture support such as Zoom and Click, along with a fully-featured keyboard app. The AMIDuOS app can also support the GPS and Compass apps, allowing multi-touch map steering. It will support acceleration in 3D to give you a better gaming experience on Windows. It uses the Windows OpenGL drivers to support the most graphics-intensive games for a better frame rate. Applications are mostly running in the x86-mode to provide peak performance, while the ARM emulation is only being performed as required.

10- Dolpin

Dolphin is best android emulator for gaming for two recent video game consoles from Nintendo: the GameCube and the Wii. It allows PC gamers to enjoy games in full HD (1080p) for these two consoles with many improvements: compatibility with all PC controllers, turbo speed, network base multiplayer. On 6 April 2013, the Dolphin development team launched the first builds for Google’s Android mobile operating system. As of September 2013, only a handful of devices had the hardware to adopt OpenGL ES 3.0, with the launch of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean by Google officially promoting the standard in software since July 2014. On average, games run at 1 FPS.

Depending on the device hardware there may be some games that don’t run fluently fully. If you want to play maximum speed games make sure that you have a decent CPU. That’s the biggest part! It is advisable to use Intel i5 Sandy or Ivy Bridge CPUs or higher for good performance. Dolphin can be played using the Wiimote and Nunchuk. Even better, as of revision r4771, Dolphin supports several Wiimotes. Play with 4 Wiimotes up to. The Wiimote is connected to the Wii console through a Bluetooth interface. Bluetooth-speaking machines, too. So, attaching a Wiimote to a machine is typically no problem.

Wherever you like, you can save a running game, and reload a state. Anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering bring beauty and realism to the playing. A game on the Dolphin usually looks much better than on the original Wii console. Real quality is based on the graphics card.

11- DRoid4X

DRoid4X is a very common online name. It is used on Windows 10 PCs and laptops as an android emulator. You can run many popular Android games and applications on your windows machine using this emulator. This emulator running on your Computer as a guest operating system, so you can check the Google Play Store without downloading it on your smartphones.

The droid4x is a newly created, android emulator. This simulator provides you with all the latest features you’d want in an emulator. It gives you permission to use your keyboard for playback and setup. You do have an option to use the joystick on your computer that will help to increase your experience and your interest. This emulator’s controls refer to your android computer. You can also take an image of the computer you are working on or shoot a video for the websites you can send. Only a few months ago, the emulator came into the market and we gained a lot of attention.

ABOUT EDITOR

Sime is a 26 years old blogger from Planet Earth. He is writing mutiple tech blogs since 5 years. He is also a professional iOS Engineer and currently doing Masters in Information Security from NUST.

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