If there’s an Android application you really love and wish you could run on your computer, now you can: there’s a dead simple way to run Android apps on your PC or Mac without the fuss of moonlighting as an Android developer.
What Is BlueStacks?
Let’s say there’s a mobile game you really love and want to play it on your PC with a bigger screen and a more comfortable interface. Or maybe you’ve grown used to a certain Android app for managing your to-do list or calendar.
Rather than go through the hassle of installing the whole Android Software Development Kit (SDK) to emulate Andorid, we’re going to take advantage of a really fantastic and free tool: BlueStacks. BlueStacks is essentially a self-contained virtual machine designed to run Android on a Windows or Mac computer. It comes with the Play Store pre-installed, and you can go from zero to running your favorite apps in a matter of minutes.
The entire experience is incredibly smooth on modern hardware (BlueStacks has been around for years and what was originally a pretty rocky alpha-software experience is now quite polished) and even things that previously didn’t works so well (like access to the host computer’s web cam or issues with applications that require GPS data) now work surprisingly well.
There are only two small quirks. First, the current version of BlueStacks only runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat, so if you need something newer than that, you’ll need to install the Android SDK instead. Second, multitouch is missing, unless you’re using BlueStacks on a computer with a touch screen monitor. If you are, you can use multi-touch, but otherwise you’re out of luck if the app you’re using requires it.
How to Install BlueStacks
To get started with BlueStacks, simply head over to their downloads page and grab an appropriate installer for your computer. We’re using Windows in our example, but the process for Mac should be pretty similar.
Once the installer has finished downloading, launch it. You’ll be taken through the usual app installation process, confirming at the end that you want BlueStacks to have access to the App Store and Application Communications. Make sure those two options are checked.
Next, you’ll be prompted to create a BlueStacks account using your Google account to sign in. A BlueStacks account gives you access to some interesting features (like chatting with other BlueStacks users while they’re playing the same games as you), but the best feature is that it syncs your settings across devices—so if you install BlueStacks on your desktop and laptop, everything is the same regardless of where you’re using it.
Once you complete the profile setup, you’ll be presented with the BlueStacks GUI and your now-running (emulated) Android device:
Just as if you turned on a new Android tablet for the first time, you’ll be run through the basic setup. Select your language, sign in with your Google account (for access to the Play Store and other features), and all the other usual stuff you do when setting up an Android device for the first time.
Speaking of signing in, be forewarned: as you perform the two above steps (creating a BlueStacks account and signing into your Google account for the first time) you’ll get two security alerts from Google indicating that you just signed into Firefox on Windows and a Samsung Galaxy S5 device. This is because the BlueStacks wrapper is identifying itself as a Firefox browser and the emulation signature it’s using for its Android hardware identifies itself as an S5—neither of those security emails are anything to worry about.
How to Use BlueStacks to Run Android Apps
Once you’ve finished the Android setup process, it will dump you right into the home screen of your new emulated Android device. Everything you know about using an Android device applies here: the settings menu is still there, the Play Store is there, and you can click on apps to launch them or open the settings menu by clicking on the app drawer. Simply use your mouse like you would use your finger on the screen (or, if you actually have a touch screen monitor, feel free to use your actual finger).
Let’s start by clicking on the Play Store icon to download some apps.
You can immediately start browsing apps by category as well as by entering search terms in the white search box at the top of the screen. If you already have an Android device you use regularly, however, there’s an even faster way to get the apps you use on your phone or tablet onto your emulated copy of Android—click on the menu icon, highlighted in red above. Within the slide out menu, select “My apps & games” in the sidebar.
At this point, your Android emulator should be up and running smoothly. You know how to install new apps (and old favorites), and you’ve got a nice interface to help smooth over the bumps between your PC interface and the Android interface. Now go download your favorite apps and enjoy them on your big, spacious desktop PC!
Feel free to comment your experience..
No comments:
Post a Comment
Drop Your comments