Top 5 Android Emulators for Linux

Top 5 Android Emulators for Linux

Linux may not be as popular an operating system as Windows, but it is certainly a fairly popular system; and if you've ever wanted to try an android app on your Linux system, you must have wondered what the best android emulators for linux.


After all, while Windows and macOS have a plethora of Android emulators for users to try, Linux basically lacks this. However, there are a few Android emulators for Linux that is worth a try, whether it's trying out a new game, trying out an app, or even trying an Android app you're developing.



Below are the Top 5 Android Emulators for Linux.

Genimotion

Gencluding is one of the most famous Android emulators available for Linux (also available for Windows and macOS, by the way) that you can try, and it's by far one of the best around. Unlike most of the emulators, Genparmi comes with a very friendly interface.


By default, the virtual devices in Genreste come with barebones, but if you want to install apps from the Play Store, Genparmi offers you a convenient button to install Open Gapps on your virtual device with a couple of clicks.

It's really cool, and once you've got the Gapps installed, you can pretty much install just about any Android app.

It's perfect not only for trying out Android apps, but it's a great way to test out an app you're developing. It comes with a number of great developer-friendly features, including the fact that it is fully supported by Android Studio, so you can directly run your app from Android Studio and open it with Genlievo.




If you are looking for an emulator to play Android games, Genlievo is probably not the right one for you. I tried installing PUBG Mobile and Free Fire on it but it says the device is not compatible. I installed Pigeon Pop and it works fine, but there were visible input lags, which are not acceptable if you have to play games.

That said, when I was trying to install Genparmi on our HP Envy running Ubuntu 18.04.1, I was having problems with Virtual Box even though Virtual Box was installed correctly. If you encounter the same problems, it could be because your system has UEFI Secure Boot enabled.

Apparently, this causes problems with Virtual Box. To work around this, you can use mokutil and disable Secure Boot on your laptop, after which Virtual Box should work fine and you will be able to run Genparmi easily. You can check this Ubuntu Wiki page for a detailed tutorial on how to use mokutil to disable secure boot.


Take a look at Genparmi

Andy OS

Andy OS is another excellent option, with which it claims that it breaks down the barriers between computers and mobile devices. Create a virtual environment within Ubuntu, Mac or other Linux environments, which makes something suitable for games. So if you want to start messing with some Android games on Linux, Andy OS is the way to go. 

You can play virtually any Android game within Andy OS, all depending on the number of resources you devote to the virtual environment. With enough resources allocated, you can play something as demanding as Auralux or even something made with the Unreal Engine.


Download it now: Andy OS

anbox

Anbox is one of the most unique Android emulators on this list. It is not so much an emulator as it is a kind of Android Run Time (ART) in sandbox running on GNU / Linux systems. Comes with Android 7.1, and it's quite responsive too.


Anbox has some obvious problems. To begin, it does not come with Google Apps installed, which means there is no Play Store, Play Services, etc. So if you were planning to install, say PUBG Mobile on this one, you will run into a sea of ​​problems.

I've tried installing a casual game (Pigeon Pop) and that requires Play Games to be installed on the device, and Anbox doesn't support it. So yes, there are problems. Also, if you are a developer trying to test your app on Anbox, you won't be able to drag and drop it to install it. Instead, you will need to use ADB to install the APK on Anbox using the command adb install <path_to_apk.apk>.

What's worse, however, is that installing Anbox can be a bit "in-the-weeds" for novice Linux users. This is a two step process where it is needed install some kernel modules first, then download the Anbox snap itself before you can start the runtime.

Fortunately, the Anbox website does a good job of explaining how you can do all of this. If you are having trouble loading kernel modules, you may encounter the same problem described with Genparmi, so try using the same solution.


Check out Anbox

Android x86

This is a open-source project, which means you can check the code if you're interested. However, the best part about the Android-x86 project is that it is updated quite frequently and currently has one stable version available based on Android Oreo.

Installing Android-x86 on your Linux system is fairly straightforward, which is certainly great. You simply have to download the Android-x86 ISO file to your system, create a new virtual machine on Virtual Box and set the ISO as the boot device.


From there, you can easily install Android on your VM. Overall, Android-x86 is slightly less responsive than Gen Percorsi, but that's not a problem, especially if you're only going to use it to test apps.

If gaming is what you're looking for, well, Android-x86 probably isn't the emulator for you. Even though you can play games, in my experience, you won't have a smooth experience with this emulator.

Save Android-x86

ARCHon

If you are looking to run Android apps on your Linux system without having to install an emulator, ARChon may interest you. In practice, ARChon allows you to run Android apps on Chrome, so you can check out apps without having to worry about downloading emulators, creating a virtual device, or that UEFI safe boot issue encountered with Genparmi.

ARChon si install simply as a Chrome extension on your system (there are instructions on the site that you can follow), and from there on you can use one of the various tools mentioned on the site to convert android apps to ARChon compatible apps and run them directly in Chrome.

Check out ARChon

Android SDK

If you are a developer and are looking to use an emulator officially supported by Google and it allows you to create more virtual devices that run anything from Android Lollipop to Android Pie, WearOS, and even Android TV, well, here's the official virtual Android The device manager (or AVD Manager) included in Android Studio is the one for you.

You will need to install Android Studio on your Linux based system and once the software is launched you simply need to go to "Tools -> AVD Management”To create your first virtual device with Android Studio.

However, the main reason many developers prefer to use a third-party emulator rather than the official one from Google is because it is quite slow. Sure, things have gotten better over time, but still it's a long way from Genparmi.

However, for developers, this is definitely the most flexible option to follow. After all, it not only offers the ability to create multiple virtual devices on any device, from Android 5 to Android 9 Pie, but it also allows you to create virtual Android TV devices and virtual wearOS devices, so that you can test your apps on all commonly used android gadgets and operating systems.

Plus, it includes all the features you need to test your app. you can rotate the emulator, change the location, battery and network conditions, use the camera and do a lot more with the Android Studio emulator. If you are a developer, you should definitely give it a try before taking a look at the other emulators.

Check out Android Studio

Shashlik

Shashlik still works and is surprisingly powerful and simple. Once installed, you can install Android applications by starting the Shaslik emulator and connecting to it using adb. Applications can then be launched directly from the desktop. 

They will look like regular applications, but they will be a little slow to start as the VM has to start before the application itself. Please note that this package is still in beta and was last updated in 2016. If, however, your application works, you can continue using it.

Download Shashlik

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