Open source android emulator for windows

Are you looking for the best open-source Android emulator for your PC? An emulator is a convenient way to use Android applications on PCs. There are a variety of emulators available that offer functionality for free.

People use Android emulators for various reasons. Some of them want to play games because they are so much easier on a computer. Others find the battery life of their phone restrictive. They prefer to operate their apps on a PC or Mac because it is easier and more convenient.

You also have game and app developers who use emulators to test their products. Regardless of your reasons, you have plenty of options to choose from. The market is filled with effective and efficient Android emulators. If you only care about open-source Android emulators for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Ubuntu, these are some of the best on the market:

Also Read: 5 Best Cloud Android Emulator easy to setup

Here we have listed some open-source Android emulators for Windows and macOS platforms.

1. Prime OS

This free 500MB emulator comes from India. You can get it in three editions, namely: Mainline (For systems from 2014 onward), Standard (For systems from 2011 onward), and Classic (For older, lower-end computers). 

The emulator has a nice feel and a clean interface which includes resizable app windows and panels for settings, notification, and the like. Some people have called it the perfect alternative to Bluestacks. 

Along with GPU support tools, a Decapro key mapping tool, and other gaming features, the emulator accurately recreates the Android experience on your computer. 

Complaints about the emulator are rare. Though, some people believe that the download size is too large. Others do not appreciate the fact that external graphics like NVidia do not always work as expected. 

If you have a lower-end PC, the emulator may cause lagging issues where video games are concerned. But even with those problems, Prime OS is still a great emulator. 

System requirements

2. Bliss OS

Bliss OS has its issues. For instance, the hardware support is insufficient. Additionally, the app’s resources may not accommodate power users. But that doesn’t take anything away from the emulator’s unique attributes. 

Bliss OS stands out because you have to install it as a separate operating system. This is another complication. The emulator will confuse people that do not know how to create bootable USB drives or to use virtual boxes. But if you can overcome these hurdles, Bliss OS will deliver an incredible Android experience on your computer. 

System Requirements

3. Bluestacks

Bluestacks is one of the biggest names in the Android emulator business. The emulator doesn’t stop at recreating the Android experience on your computer. It was designed to act as a convenient gaming platform. People use it because it has decent graphics and it doesn’t use that much RAM. 

It doesn’t take long to install. The interface is clean and the gaming controls are easy to customize. If that wasn’t enough, the emulator is compatible with Windows and Mac. Even though it is technically free, $24 will get you the premium version. 

Some people think that Bluestacks is too heavy. However, this can’t be helped. The emulator is loaded with features and functions. Admittedly, some of the features are buggy. It is also worth noting that you can’t control home screen applications.

System Requirements

4. MEmu

MEmu is one of the best open-source Android emulators on the market. It stands out because it works with Intel and AMD chipsets. If you like mobile games, the emulator is one of the fastest. You are guaranteed a smooth user experience and optimized graphics. 

The installation process is simple and straightforward. The premium version costs $3 per month. Along with removing the ads found on the free version, it provides additional customization and support options. 

Do not expect the emulator to support every single game. You should also expect some lagging with certain games. But it gets so many things right that some of these weaknesses will most likely go unnoticed. 

System Requirements

5. Nox

Nox was designed with mobile gamers in mind, which is why it has a function that allows you to key-map the gesture controls. The emulator is safe and stable. It makes every effort possible to comply with GDPR. You don’t have to worry about the emulator’s makers misusing your personal information. 

If installed properly, it will give users the same gaming experience they normally encounter on their mobile devices. Available in over two hundred countries and boasting over a hundred million users, you can use it to run multiple games and functions at once. 

Like most of the best open-source Android emulators, this one is completely free. The interface is user-friendly but it isn’t perfect. It has a few failings that will be ironed out over time. You should also know that opening too many windows will cause it to lag. But these problems cannot take away from the many benefits the emulator offers. 

6. ARCHon

People have criticized this open source Android emulator because installation is complicated. You have to convert the Android APK default files to chrome-compatible APK files. If you don’t know how to do this, there are instructions.

But people that lack the necessary technical knowledge will tell you that these guidelines are not easy to follow. That being said, these issues are a necessary evil. After all, ARCHon is the only emulator on this list that works in a Google Chrome Browser. 

This allows users to take advantage of Google’s reliability. The emulator executes applications quickly and efficiently. You can run multiple applications in a single browser at the same time. The emulator is compatible with Windows, Linux, and Mac.

The trouble you have to go through to install ARCHon is worth it to get an emulator that supports chrome. You won’t find another emulator that has that advantage. 

System Requirements

• Storage: 512 MB.
• GPU Card: ATI FireGL T2-128.
• CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.00GHz.
• File Size: 250 MB.
• Operating System: Win XP or later with .NET framework installed.

Conclusion

Android is a highly popular operating system that is used in mobile devices. But if you want to use your mobile apps and games on a PC or Mac, you need one of the emulators above.

They will reproduce the look and feel of the Android experience on your computer. Some of them are better than others. But you won’t be disappointed regardless of the emulator you choose.

For instance, many people argue that Bluestacks is the best. But it doesn’t support the Chrome browser like ARCHon, and neither can you install it as a separate operating system like Bliss OS. Each emulator on the list above has something interesting to offer. 

Tags: android emulatorLinuxOpen source Android emulator Linuxwindows

         QEMU README
         ===========

QEMU is a generic and open source machine & userspace emulator and
virtualizer.

QEMU is capable of emulating a complete machine in software without any
need for hardware virtualization support. By using dynamic translation,
it achieves very good performance. QEMU can also integrate with the Xen
and KVM hypervisors to provide emulated hardware while allowing the
hypervisor to manage the CPU. With hypervisor support, QEMU can achieve
near native performance for CPUs. When QEMU emulates CPUs directly it is
capable of running operating systems made for one machine (e.g. an ARMv7
board) on a different machine (e.g. an x86_64 PC board).

QEMU is also capable of providing userspace API virtualization for Linux
and BSD kernel interfaces. This allows binaries compiled against one
architecture ABI (e.g. the Linux PPC64 ABI) to be run on a host using a
different architecture ABI (e.g. the Linux x86_64 ABI). This does not
involve any hardware emulation, simply CPU and syscall emulation.

QEMU aims to fit into a variety of use cases. It can be invoked directly
by users wishing to have full control over its behaviour and settings.
It also aims to facilitate integration into higher level management
layers, by providing a stable command line interface and monitor API.
It is commonly invoked indirectly via the libvirt library when using
open source applications such as oVirt, OpenStack and virt-manager.

QEMU as a whole is released under the GNU General Public License,
version 2. For full licensing details, consult the LICENSE file.


Building
========

QEMU is multi-platform software intended to be buildable on all modern
Linux platforms, OS-X, Win32 (via the Mingw64 toolchain) and a variety
of other UNIX targets. The simple steps to build QEMU are:

  mkdir build
  cd build
  ../configure
  make

Additional information can also be found online via the QEMU website:

  https://qemu.org/Hosts/Linux
  https://qemu.org/Hosts/Mac
  https://qemu.org/Hosts/W32


Submitting patches
==================

The QEMU source code is maintained under the GIT version control system.

   git clone git://git.qemu.org/qemu.git

When submitting patches, one common approach is to use 'git
format-patch' and/or 'git send-email' to format & send the mail to the
qemu-devel@nongnu.org mailing list. All patches submitted must contain
a 'Signed-off-by' line from the author. Patches should follow the
guidelines set out in the HACKING and CODING_STYLE files.

Additional information on submitting patches can be found online via
the QEMU website

  https://qemu.org/Contribute/SubmitAPatch
  https://qemu.org/Contribute/TrivialPatches

The QEMU website is also maintained under source control.

  git clone git://git.qemu.org/qemu-web.git
  https://www.qemu.org/2017/02/04/the-new-qemu-website-is-up/

A 'git-publish' utility was created to make above process less
cumbersome, and is highly recommended for making regular contributions,
or even just for sending consecutive patch series revisions. It also
requires a working 'git send-email' setup, and by default doesn't
automate everything, so you may want to go through the above steps
manually for once.

For installation instructions, please go to

  https://github.com/stefanha/git-publish

The workflow with 'git-publish' is:

  $ git checkout master -b my-feature
  $ # work on new commits, add your 'Signed-off-by' lines to each
  $ git publish

Your patch series will be sent and tagged as my-feature-v1 if you need to refer
back to it in the future.

Sending v2:

  $ git checkout my-feature # same topic branch
  $ # making changes to the commits (using 'git rebase', for example)
  $ git publish

Your patch series will be sent with 'v2' tag in the subject and the git tip
will be tagged as my-feature-v2.

Bug reporting
=============

The QEMU project uses Launchpad as its primary upstream bug tracker. Bugs
found when running code built from QEMU git or upstream released sources
should be reported via:

  https://bugs.launchpad.net/qemu/

If using QEMU via an operating system vendor pre-built binary package, it
is preferable to report bugs to the vendor's own bug tracker first. If
the bug is also known to affect latest upstream code, it can also be
reported via launchpad.

For additional information on bug reporting consult:

  https://qemu.org/Contribute/ReportABug


Contact
=======

The QEMU community can be contacted in a number of ways, with the two
main methods being email and IRC

 - qemu-devel@nongnu.org
   https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/qemu-devel
 - #qemu on irc.oftc.net

Information on additional methods of contacting the community can be
found online via the QEMU website:

  https://qemu.org/Contribute/StartHere

-- End