We’re all well aware about the capabilities of the Android platform. There are smartphones today that can compete with a wide range of technologies. However, what makes those devices really tick is the core Android platform. But what if you own an iPhone and still want to try out Android phone ? Well, you no longer have to purchase an expensive (or inexpensive) phone to find out. There are best Android emulator for Mac today that can help you run and bring full compatibility with all the features of Android (without owning one), while some even update their emulators with the latest version of Android.
LDPlayer is an Android emulator that focuses on gaming performance.
With these Android Emulator For Mac, you can run apps for android, play games, and do pretty much anything like the Android device can (barring phone calls, obviously). Those are just the three main uses of a built in emulator. So we’re going to talk a bit about some of the most popular emulators out there. While some user friendly emulators are present here, we’re also going to talk about developer emulators that can help test out or run android apps and android games.
Instead of giving your only 5 best emulators, we are citing 7 on this post for cross platform. So let’s get to the best Android apps and games emulator for Mac.
Nox Android Emulator features Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), and even the user can specify the device emulation specifications by modifying the size of the RAM, the processor to be used, the space allocated, etc. (in the emulator), making it preferable for Android testing as well. Nox App Player is a free Android emulator for Windows 7/8 / 8.1 / 10 / XP and Mac computers. While there are numerous other Android emulators on the internet like Bluestacks, Droid4X, etc., many users tell us that these emulators, which are not compatible with Windows 10, have a lot of bugs even when used in Windows. Pro Tip: Android Emulator tool should have good integration with Android devices. It should be fast and should give a smooth gaming experience for high definition games. It should have a customization option for configurations and support external devices like keyboard, IPad, mouse or joystick for the improved user gaming experience. Nox Player is the the perfect emulator that lets you play android apps and games on Windows PC & macOS. Nox is a free Android emulator built by a company called BigNox. The emulator is designed to bring the best Android gaming experience to the PC. It is one of the fewest Android emulators that are compatible with almost every app.
Best Android Emulator For Mac
1. ARChon
ARChon is a little different than most of our best Android emulators for PC or Mac in that this one is actually a Google Chrome extension. That’s right — no installing a program on your machine and wasting precious storage space! It is comparable to a virtual machine, virtual device or virtual devices.
Of course, it’s certainly not nearly as seamless as a native program, as it can take a bit of fiddling to get apps and mobile games to work. To use ARChon, once you have it setup in the browser, you’ll have to push or drag APKs to load the apps within the browser. It’s a nice, free program for those that want to be able to use an Android emulator wherever there is Google Chrome.
Not sure where to find APKs for ARChon? You can find many of them for free over at almost any Android APK repository. Some of our most trusted and favorites are APK Mirror or APK Pure.
Download it now:here
2. VirtualBox
Believe it or not, you can actually use VirtualBox to create your own Android emulator for Mac. Download VirtualBox on your Mac machine, and then set it up with the necessary ISO image from Android-x86.org. You’ll be able to create an efficient emulator that allows you to play almost any game or app within Mac.
As an added bonus, VirtualBox gives you a lot of control over how much resources and hardware you devote to it. That allows you to keep your overall machine running smoothly while still running your Android operating system emulator in the background. VirtualBox is free to use; however, it is recommended that you have at least 8GB of RAM on your machine if you want to run this one.
Download it now:here
3. KO Player
KO Player is a relatively new entrant in the emulators game and is one of the newer Android emulators on the list. It markets itself as a mid-market emulator that can run apps and multiple games comfortably. While the focus is mainly on games, this is a full blown Android emulator, so it can run pretty much any app on the Play Store as long as it is compatible with the Android version. The company’s website doesn’t mention which version of Android it’s running, but talks about a few popular apps and games that are compatible with KO Player (WhatsApp, Clash of Clans etc).
It also comes with features like gameplay recording, keyboard gameplay support, and comes with the Google Play Store pre-installed. It is said that about 99% of the Play Store apps are compatible with KO Player. The best part here is that KO Player is a free download, and can be snatched up directly from their official website. As with any free offering, expect some minor issues during usage. However, the app developers are pretty keen on offering a fresh and refined experience through bug fixes.
Download it now:here
4. Nox Player
This is yet another decent alternative for gamers. It comes with the ability to run android games, support joysticks and controllers (assuming your Mac supports actual hardware controller support). There is zero lag during gameplay or general usage, so you can be assured of a smooth performance. Among the list of features here is the ability to keep multiple accounts on Nox, which is handy if you want to use it on the family computer. You will find that the emulator is compatible with pretty much every popular game and app right now.
Further, the emulator is compatible with x86 as well as AMD processors, thus bringing a variety of devices under its compatibility list and access to most Android games. Like with KO Player, Nox allows users to record their screen and share it on social media as they please. It’s one gaming oriented emulator can be very handy for graphics heavy games available as well as strategy games like Clash of Clans and Fortnite (which will reach Android emulation shortly).
More importantly, it’s light on your computer, much like helping it run smoothly and devoid of lag. This is also a free offering with no hidden caveats. Nox also offers the keyboard mapping feature, so the user can play more efficiently with mouse and keyboard. If you are one of those mobile gamers, this one is for you as it is considered as the Android emulator for gamers.
Download it now:here
5. Bluestacks
Bluestacks is probably the most popular Android emulator currently available in the market, and with good reason. This app has served Windows and Mac OS users for a few years now, giving them a viable way using Android on their desktop. This isn’t an ideal setup for developers, though, as Bluestacks is marketed for the masses. This means there will be some lag when you operate, although it’s rapidly diminishing with each update. The recent version of Bluestacks was updated to Android Nougat, making it the freshest Android emulator out there. It’s too soon to tell if and when Bluestacks will update its offering to Android 8.0 or even 9.0 as the latest Android version, so it will have active updates nearly every month.
As it stands, if gaming and social media is your priority, Bluestacks is an excellent emulator to have as it aims itself at gamers. GameLoop is an Android emulator that is used as a gaming platform. It can run all the heavy games and even offer key mapping support, which has become a prerequisite with modern day Android emulators and can bring the better or for worse Android app and game on your Mac. With the added smart keymapping along with a customizable game support, this android emulator is mostly going to boasts a gamer experience.
Bluestacks official emulator is entirely free to download, but will require a subscription per month for continued usage.
Download it now: here
6. Genymotion
One of the newer emulators if you want to run Android on your Mac is Genymotion. We are now coming to the dev-friendly emulators out there. You won’t find all the bells and whistles that you probably see with Bluestacks, Genymotion lets you test out how an Android device and version would work with a particular app or supports Android operating systems. For example, you can have a Nexus 4 running Android 5.0 or an even older device running that version like Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Kit Kat(assuming it’s compatible).
Genymotion can let you run an emulator directly on your PC or on the cloud, which very few emulators out there can do. This means you can share the functionings of your app with the rest of the world without them having to download a dedicated emulator.
This is a game changer for developers who like to get opinions on their projects from the masses or close associates. Naturally, the android emulator for PC option is also present, so you’re free to use it the old fashioned way. This isn’t a free version offering for personal use, though, so be prepared to subscribe to one of Genymotion’s plans to reap the benefits of all the features mentioned above.
Download it now: here
7. Android Studio
Google’s very own Android Studio emulator also comes with an emulator you can download, although it’s significantly less flashy than a few commercial use emulators and actually run android natively. However, it is updated frequently with new features. This is designed specifically for budding and experienced Android developers to test out their apps before it is pushed to the Play Store. It works with both PCs and Macs, so neither platform is left out. It has all the tools to build and design your apps, while the emulator feature allows you to glance through your creation.
Given the feature set, it is definitely not recommended for amateurs, as setting it up could take some time. Android Studio is a free download on both major platforms, and is a 880MB download for Macs. Though updating those services may take time, watch out for more active development in years with this productivity emulator.
Download it now: here
While these emulators offer a great experience for your Mac as it runs android apps/games like Call of Duty Mobile and PUBG mobile, this may also create a negative effect on your device as the level use might increase, especially with the battery life. Running multiple emulators may affect your device operation as it depends on the operating systems and hardware.
Always test your apps or test apps on the emulator you install once you’ve downloaded them and see the emulators ability to run smoothly and see if it is usable as a productivity tool for PC and Mac. There are still best android emulators that you can discover around the web that can run an Android app or game. The installation process may take longer than expected, depending on various factors such as internet speed and the likes.
If you find another Android emulator or free android emulator that is actually a fairly decent, actually works pretty well and that suits your taste, feel free to use it as long as it runs well or work well, gets the work done or the emulators run properly. You can use emulators as a productivity tool for video loading or loading video. Just find one that supports this kind of function. You might be able to get the price free for personal use just like PrimeOS Remix OS player and other Android Studio S emulator or ldplayer android studio.
There are many valid reasons why someone would like to run android emulators on their personal computer. App developers might be trying to try their apps prior to shipping them out. Gamer’s might want to utilize a keyboard and mouse on their games. Perhaps you simply want it there to have it.
In any case, an android emulator for windows and macOS is likely, and it is a little simpler than it used to be. Many old favorites either left the space or turned out to be not viable at some point; however, the whole thing else here must work fine for many people.
Android emulators serve different purposes, from assisting developers in trying apps to online gamers playing on a big and widescreen. Perhaps you’re switching from Android to iPhone or vice versa, or you want to try custom software on a personal computer.
The possibilities with an android emulator for windows and macOS are endless. Daily users may also desire to experience the Android operating system on a Windows or macOS PC, complimented with a keyboard and mouse.
Contents
- 3 Top Android Emulators For PC AND MAC Reviewed
Top 5 Android Emulators For PC AND MAC
- Bluestacks – Largest Gaming Library Of Over 200+ Million Games
- GameLoop – Build For Gamers, Record Videos and Take Take Screenshot Make Ease
- MeMu Play – Support 120 Frames for Fgo and Some Other Games
- NoxPlayer – Only Emulator So Far That Includes Android 5/7/9 & 32/64 Bit
- Phoenix OS – Octopus Keymapping Engine
How we chose the best Android Emulators
We consider many factors to come up with this list of emulators. This includes the minimum system requirements, are they easy to install, and support many accounts. We also consider their keymapping capabilities and if they support various kinds of gaming platforms and android emulation system’s.
We also consider the feedback of users. All these are collected in order to determine which one stands out from the rest.
Top Android Emulators For PC AND MAC Reviewed
1. Bluestacks – Largest Gaming Library Of Over 200+ Million Games
Pros:
- Easy to install without technical skill needed
- Support many accounts
- Keymapping capabilities
Cons:
- Limited to gaming
- Notice some lags
- Ads supported
Highlights:
Bluestack is considered the most used and popular Android emulator for PC and macOS. It’s favoured and chosen for gaming and is ridiculously user-friendly. Other than the Google Play Store, you have the choice to download the optimized app from its app store.
This is one of the fastest platforms for mobile gaming with the broadest array of experience-enhancing choices. It also supports Android N on users’ systems with improved graphics and doesn’t consume more power, so your battery will last longer. It doesn’t capture a lot of RAM too.
This android emulator supports keyboard mapping. Bluestack is simple and easy to set up compared to other android emulators available out there. If you download and set it up on your PC, you can get it working almost right away. It is made for gaming mainly, and it has an exceptional keymapping capability that you can set for every game individually.
As for the gaming experience, this emulator does better than other android emulators. But, you will notice lags, particularly on underpowered computers. That being said, it is still one of the most excellent android emulators available, most notably for those who are new to android emulators. You can use this on Google Play.
BlueStacks Android emulator at present is based on Android 7.1.2 (Nougat). You can use it for free but go to the premium one if you want to make the most of its benefits.
2. GameLoop – Build For Gamers, Record Videos and Take Take Screenshot Make Ease
Pros:
- Superb mouse and keyboard integration
- Official partner of PUBGs and Call of Duty
- Great performance
- You can easily download this emulator to Google Play
Cons:
- Only for gaming
- Apps not associated with gaming don’t work well
Highlights:
GameLoop is a user-friendly android emulator which does only one thing, and that’s gaming. If you are searching for an android emulator for PC and macOS that can perform productivity, then this one is the best choice.
GameLoop does gaming better than other android emulators. This is the official partner of Call of Duty mobile, PUBG mobile as well as other games.
Gamers can play Cyber Hunter, Garena Free Fire, Mobile Legends, Cyber Hunter, and other renowned android gaming titles.
Another best thing about this android emulator compared to others is that it is integrated with a key mapping feature that works correctly. The fact that Tencent games developed this emulator, the key mapping for entire Tencent games is performed accurately.
Therefore, if you like an android emulator only for game playing and specifically to play Call of Duty, PUBG Mobile, etc., then Gameloop is a superb option. At this point, this emulator also supports Fortnite games.
3. MeMu Play – Support 120 Frames for Fgo and Some Other Games
Pros:
- Install virtual location on Google Maps
- Support NVidia and AMD
- Set up virtual keys for emulation
Cons:
- Requires a decent computer
- Limited to gaming
Highlights:
MEmu is one of the most renowned android emulators and amongst the fastest open-source emulator for playing games on your desktop. It’s notorious for offering amazing performance as well as a remarkable user experience.
This android emulator enables you to level many accounts for a similar game, or the users can play many games on a single account simultaneously. MEmu has over 20 million users in more than 200 countries and about twenty languages with constant development in progress.
MEmu enables users to play android games for free and has many optimized graphics. It also has an easy, straightforward installation procedure, which supports a mouse, keyboard, and gamepad to play games on mobile perfectly. It also offers a choice to make a custom app distribution or android emulator to meet the needs. It enables file sharing between Windows and Android platforms. MEmu has quick APK installation through the drag and drops feature.
Nox Player Pc Download
At present, Memu is based on Android Lollipop as well as works top of the class with productivity applications. So, if you want to play games such as Pokemon Go or Ingress, this must be the best choice. In general, it is the most excellent emulator if you like to experience Android on a personal computer.
4. NoxPlayer – Only Emulator So Far That Includes Android 5/7/9 & 32/64 Bit
Pros:
- Stunning user interface
- Rooting is easy and simple
- Mapping shortcuts on controllers
- Multiple windows on one device
Cons:
- Your will experience lagging when many windows are open
- Poor security protocols
- Google Play authentication is required
Highlights:
Nox is also one of the most popular android emulators for PC and macOS. It is safe to use and free as well. It has an agreement with GDPR and also cares about user’s personal information and keeps them safe. It is entirely optimized and stable for apps and gaming and makes the use flawless and smoother.
Using this emulator, you will have a similar gaming experience as a system. This one supports the keyboard, gamepad, script recording, instances running continuously, and many others.
Users and gamers have highly recognized Nox from all parts of the globe since it was launched in the market. At present, it has been found in over 200 countries worldwide and has over 150 million users. It has open keyboard mapping working with one click; gaming controls are all on the gamepad, keyboard, and mouse. It allows working multiple functions to work at a time to take pleasure in more games.
Nox supports Android 7 that offers the best user experience as well as superior performance. The integrated macro recorder allows you to record the complex operations and can do the script in just one press of the mouse.
5. Phoenix OS – Octopus Keymapping Engine
Pros:
- It comes with the newest Android version that makes it a gaming professional
- Superfast gaming experience
Cons:
- Only supports Windows
- Lots of Ads
Highlights:
If you want android emulators that have a simple user interface, then consider this one. It provides good integration between desktop and Android. It also works on x86 OS. You can directly install it on the memory of any operating system without affecting the files and documents. It can handle HD games with amazing performance. It also comes with many useful features, such as multi-function support for players.
Nox Android Emulator For Mac
Phoenix OS supports Android 7 that makes it relatively faster when it comes to performance. It is also known for accelerated gaming with 30+ fps with an essential system requirement. Phoenix OS also has impressive support service as well as regularly updated. The visual interface is exceptional thus attracts many users from all parts of the world.
Aside from boasting experience, this also improves a desktop-like experience; therefore, it works well for productivity.
Key Takeaways
Nox Android Emulator For Mac Downloads
With android emulators for PC and macOS, you can play games on your mobile devices and other apps with the use of a keyboard and mouse.
These android emulators can also run a high-end mobile game that cannot run on older or outdated phones. The best thing about these android emulators is that you do not have to worry about the life of your battery.