How To Run Android Apps On Your PC

Today Android is one of the most used Linux based platforms, It's the largest installed base of any mobile platform and growing fast, everyday million of users power-on their Android for the first time and start searching for the apps.

Android apps are software applications designed to run on Android Smartphones, Google TV, and tablets etc. However you can't directly run Android apps on your Windows PC or Mac OSX.

As i said, Android apps are designed for Androids only, which is a different operating system itself, So technically it's not possible to run an app on Windows which is designed for a different platform.

Everyone wants to use android apps without buying any costly android phone, and this is when Emulators come to the rescue!

Emulators??

Emulators are softwares that copies the functions of an Operating system into another (Guest) Operating system. It means you can use Android Emulators to make your PC or Mac function like a virtual Android Mobile or tablet. In this post i'm going to share all the available "Android Emulators" and possible ways to run all the popular Android apps right on your PC.

Possible ways

BlueStacks App Player

BlueStacks is the most popular one. If you are looking for a way to play those highly graphical 3D android games on your PC in full-screen mode, then you are definitely going to love this app player. It supports almost all the 3D games and apps. You can also run ARM-based apps in BlueStacks, which is not supported by other emulators.
BlueStacks has a search feature, where you can search your favorite app and download it. Downloaded apps are also accessible directly from your desktop.
Another feature that makes BlueStacks a better app player is, It lets you install your custom apps. There are many android app providing sites where you can download tons of apps without spending a single penny and install them on BlueStacks. :D

System requirements?

You need Windows XP with Service Pack 3 or higher OS, and at least 2 GB of RAM to install BlueStacks. Additionally it requires a good and compatible graphics card with latest drivers installed to emulate high performance apps. In few words, BlueStacks requires a hell of your computer resources.

Related: Download BlueStacks App Player Offline Installer

Intel Appup

Intel Appup is also a good alternative to BlueStacks, It's system requirements are not that high as compared to BlueStacks, Like BlueStacks it also supports thousands of PC and Android Apps. They have their own App Store where you can get all your favorite apps and games, all the apps on the Intel Appup Store are scanned by Intel.

Installation is also easy, you just need to sign-up once and start your download. Sign-up gives you access to all your apps on up-to five PCs. But the down-side is you can't install custom apps on Intel App Up. The only way to install apps on Intel Appup is to download them from Intel Appup Store, and the problem is there are very few apps that are free, you need to buy other apps to install.

WindowsAndroid

Running apps using BlueStacks or other emulators is nothing new but what if you can run whole Android 4.0 on your PC? Yes, WindowsAndroid (Windroy now) has made it possible to run complete Android 4.0 OS on your PC as a native application. It doesn't run on any simulator or Virtual Machine but runs directly on your Machine by Windows Kernel so it's fast. It has all the android capabilities and can also run 3D games.

It has over 6,000 free to download apps and games to search from Allmyapps PC App Store. WindowsAndroid also supports custom apps, you can download apps from anywhere you want and just drag-and-drop them on WindowsAndroid to install.

YouWave

YouWave is also a simulates a virtual Android OS on your PC using VirtualBox, So you can’t use it if you have VirtualBox installed — you’ll have to uninstall VirtualBox first.

It's probably the easiest and the fastest way to run Android Apps right on your PC. There are thousands of apps available via App Stores within YouWavem you can also access Google Play to it. Custom downloaded apps can also be installed, However ARM-based apps are not supported.

It currently has the Home Version of Android 4.0 ICS and Gingerbread (Basic Version). Some other features of YouWave are Simulated SD card functionality - enables game saving, Saved State - enables fast restart, Enables multi-player online games, Dynamic rotating - phone-like instant response, Volume control buttons, Retractable control panel.

Related: YouWave Android 4.1.1 Emulator Free Download

More Ways?

Android SDK

Well, there is one other way, but if you are a lazy person like me then it's not for you :P
Google's Android Software Development Kit is for developers who want to develop their own apps for Android Platform, It emulates the latest version of Android on your PC.
Since it's for developers, installing and using this emulator is not that simple, it requires a lot of time and patience. First you’ll need Java installed. Then you'll need to download the SDK Tools from Google, and then some more system files required for the latest Android.
i'll cover this tutorial in another post, so for now, I suggest you stick to either BlueStacks, or WindowsAndroid.

Let us know about your views and experiences in the comments. :)

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