Are there any remaining half decent android emulators for Windows?
General Question
Asking because bluestacks seems to have become a cloud-based nightmare full of pop up ads that is impossible to uninstall, and the others I've tried either don't work or get detected as malware.
If it makes a difference, I'm running Windows 11 on the Insider Preview channel.
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If you are using Windows 11: Windows Subsystem for Android™️ | Microsoft Learn
A guide for installing it on Windows 10: How To Install Windows Subsystem For Android On Windows 10 (itechtics.com)
assuming your pc meets the specs, you can use android studio - pretty sure its mostly for building apps, but you can use it as an emulator and simulate running any android device on your pc, so you can download apps to it and whatever else you wanna do
You're overthinking it. It's literally built into Windows already. From the Microsoft Store app, install the Amazon Appstore app. That will automatically install the built in Windows Subsystem for Android. There are some extra steps you need to install the Google Play Store if what you need isn't in the Amazon Appstore. A quick Bing search for "how to install the Google Play Store on windows 11" should suffice.
I recommend using the Windows Subsystem for Android, it is from Microsoft and integrates nicely with Windows, it works a million times better than any emulator I've used, Android apps run seamlessly in their own windows, they are indistinguishable from native Windows apps. You can sideload your own APKs if what you want isn't on the Amazon app store.
Seconding WSA — I think others can be deprecated because of this one. Of course Android Studio’s own emulator should still also work but it’s for development purpose so do consider that.
look for 'phone link'
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/sync-across-your-devices?r=1
that's not an android emulator
I can't recommend anything. I personally had to uninstall the Windows Android Subsystem as it was still stuck on the crippled Amazon store and sideloading was useless. And if I have to go through steps for the Google Play Store, then nope.
I do agree BlueStacks was great until it became an ad infested mess.
If you have a Samsung phone, you can just use Dex. But that is not an emulator.
So I am at a loss as well