The mobile phone market is divided into two different platforms: iOS and Android. However, if there is something to highlight, it is that in terms of video games, its importance has been increasing in recent years and with exclusive titles along the way. However, having a powerful terminal is very expensive. Well, we are going to teach you how to run Android games and applications on Windows, which will save you having to buy a mobile phone for it.
One of the novelties that Microsoft announced for Windows 11 is the ability to run Android applications as if they were native to the operating system. This is due to the Linux subsystem that has already been implemented in Windows 10 and that the Redmond company has extended to the point of supporting Google’s operating system. However, at the moment you can only access it if you are part of the Windows Insider program. Of course there are alternatives to it and waves we are going to comment below.
How to use Android apps on my Windows PC?
Here are three ways you can run Android apps including games on your Windows PC. One of them is based on cloud emulation and the other two on using your PC for it. Keep in mind that running emulated apps require much more power than on the original devices. So we recommend you have a high-performance PC for it. After all, you are running code for ARM on an x86 processor and with a complex operating system on top of it.
Through the cloud with Bluestacks
For this you need an application called BlueStacks X, which is nothing more than an Android emulator with the necessary improvements to run the games. Don’t worry if your computer doesn’t have a touch screen, since you can configure your keyboard and mouse. In addition, it will allow you to touch other settings such as: resolution, dots per inch, FPS limit and the CPU and RAM resources for the emulator. By the way, to run Android games under Windows, BlueStacks X works as a virtual machine, so we recommend that you enable Intel VT-X or AMD-V in your computer’s BIOS.
However, BlueStacks X is a special case as it doesn’t natively emulate the games from your system, but instead makes use of cloud computing to actually work. In other words, what is running in a virtualized way is not Android, but a small operating system that remotely accesses a server. So it is an ideal option if you have a very modest computer.
Locally with Genymotion
The other option is Genymotion, which emulates Android on your system using VirtualBox, so you will have to have this application on your PC. Like BlueStacks you will need to have virtualization active in your system’s BIOS. The first time you launch it, it will ask you for things like resolution, allocated hardware resources, and Android version. Once this is done, you will see that the classic start window of an Android terminal appears.
Through the emulator in Android Studio for Windows
The other option from Android Studio provided by Google itself, since it comes standard with an emulator or rather an interpreter. For this you need to have 16 GB of RAM memory on the PC . So it can be a good excuse to expand the capacity of your PC. As for the steps to follow, they are the following:
- You must create an Android virtual device or AVD, each of them simulates a different terminal
- On the opening screen of Android Studio, select the three vertical dots and Virtual Device Manager.
- Once the project is open, select View > Tool Windows > Device Manager in the main menu bar to see the list of available Android terminals.
- If you need to create an AVD, you just have to follow these steps:
- In the Device Manager click on Create Device, from which the Select Hardware window will appear.
- You will get a list of devices, if it does not come out you can even create one. We recommend using an existing one.
- The next thing you should do is select the System Image , which is nothing more than the version of the operating system you want to use. Do not use a system image that is lower than what is needed by the application you want to use.
- The next thing that remains is to confirm the configuration, once you have done it you can use it to test not only the applications you have made, but also the different APKs.
Where do I get the applications?
Some emulated systems come with the Play Store as standard, but you can also search for APK applications in different repositories. As a note, some Android games have PC clients, which consist of an Android emulator with the self-contained App already configured for it. Though they usually covertly use BlueStacks or Genymotion for it.