♞ Coming up on 9TO5Linux ♞ 5 Best Android Emulators For
Linux [2022 Edition] – Free And Paid List of Free and Paid Android Emulators
for Linux Desktops The immense popularity of
Android is the reason why developers love it so much. However, as a consumer of these apps,
it’d not be feasible to run resource-heavy apps on smartphones that you can barely make a call with.
And here’s where Android emulators for Linux come to the rescue.
Android emulator is an application that acts as a real Android device. You can install it
on your desktop computer to run Android applications. The best part of it is,
it can also run on a low-powered PC. Hence, we’ve compiled a list of the 5 best Android
emulators for Linux operating systems. 5 Best Android Emulators For Linux (2022)
1. Android-x86 emulator for Linux 2. AVD (Android Virtual Device)
3. Genymotion 4. Bliss OS
5. Anbox 1. Android-x86 emulator for Linux
Price: Free Android-x86 is one of the best alternatives to
other phone emulators if you want to run Android games or applications. Instead of installing on
top of a particular OS, it has a separate ISO to boot as a standalone Android operating system.
As the name suggests, Android-x86 targets the x86 architecture. You can also run it
without installation using the Live CD option. By default, it starts with an interface similar
to an Android application launcher, but you can also change it to a Windows-style desktop.
Furthermore, you can also download themes from the Google Play Store.
Android-x86 provides full support for Google services.
Key features of Android-x86: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support with GUI
Bluetooth, G-sensor support External storage automount support.
Theme support to GRUB-EFI Preinstalled terminal emulator
Another thing that makes this Android emulator more reliable is timely software
updates. Recently, the first stable Android-x86 release based on Android Pie 9.0 brought various
new features such as experimental Vulkan support for newer Intel and AMD GPUs.
2. AVD (Android Virtual Device) Price: Free
AVD is one of the cleanest Android copies that emulates an Android device and provides almost
all capabilities of a real-world Android device. It comes along with Android Studio IDE that you
can also use for application development. You can even simulate incoming phone calls and
text messages, different network speeds, rotation, and other hardware sensors.
You can connect external devices using a USB to transfer data or debug an Android application.
Since the Android Studio is the product of Google, you can expect direct support from Google. Also,
AVD can be the best choice for developers who want a code editor with extended functionality.
A developer can use the virtual device through its graphical user interface or command line for live
testing. Moreover, they can also test Android applications based on augmented reality.
Key features of Android Virtual Device: Direct Google support
Easy testing and debugging Navigation gestures
Screenshots & screen recording Virtual scene camera and ARCore
Additionally, you can also create multiple Android emulators for Linux and other devices,
such as Android tablets, Wear OS smartwatches, and Android TV devices.
3. Genymotion Price: Desktop (starts at $136/yr),
Cloud ($0.5/min for PaaS, $0.05/min for SaaS) If you ever search for the best online Android
emulator, I guarantee you that you’ll definitely find one common name, i.e.,
Genymotion. Genymotion is a commercial product available for both cloud and desktop versions.
But one of the reasons I’ve ranked it lower because it’s not open source and free.
But being a proprietary emulator, it provides regular support and security. And If you’re
a professional developer, then I would definitely suggest considering it apart from
AVD. It also fully supports the Android Studio IDE that developers can use to test and debug Android
apps. Not only that, but you also have ADB access to utilize the testing framework securely.
Additionally, Genymotion Android Emulator has built-in support for all functionalities such as
cellular, Wi-Fi, GPS, and SD card support. Key features of Genymotion:
Wi-Fi & GPS Camera capture
Support Android Studio Cloud-based and Desktop virtual device
SMS & Call
If you don’t want to install Genymotion Desktop, you can also use its Android emulator
online to run the application in the browser. Using the Genymotion Cloud,
you can enjoy heavy games and apps on a large desktop screen without downloading anything.
4. Bliss OS Price: Free
Another alternative to the ISO-based Android-x86 that you can also consider is the Bliss OS.
It supports booting in either MBR or UEFI mode to run Android applications smoothly
on any Linux computer or Tablet. Apart from normal Android functions,
Bliss OS has the best cutting-edge user interface. It includes many options for customization
and theming. You can also choose between Desktop or Tablet UI, based on the launcher being used.
Moreover, Bliss OS offers high speed and stability to run popular applications on its free Android
emulator. You can even adjust the application size according to your device screen.
Bliss OS is also available as a custom ROM for Android smartphones
with unlockable bootloaders. So, if you’re into rooting your android device,
do make sure to check it out. Key features of Bliss OS:
Polished Design Network & Wi-Fi
Google Play Store ARM application
Available for both Mobile & Tablet To running ARM & ARM64 based applications,
you can try the latest beta version of Bliss OS based on Android 10.
5. Anbox Price: Free
Anbox is the Canonical product that also builds the most famous and my favorite Linux distro,
Ubuntu. But I am still placing it in the last spot because
Anbox does not support Google Play Store. It is much like a compatibility layer that runs
Android applications on any GNU/Linux operating system. Hence, instead of the Play Store,
you need to use the ADB tool to install the app using its downloaded APK.
Anbox utilizes the host machine kernel and resources to run the Android OS instead of
creating an emulated system. As a result of this, Anbox works fluently and swiftly to run apps
on its free Android emulator. Additionally, Anbox features a unique
model of leveraging LXC containers to separate Android OS from the host machine completely.
Doing so works more like a virtual machine and makes users feel like they’re using a
handheld Android smartphone, making it one of the best Android emulators for Linux.
Key features of Anbox: Open-source
Container-based approach Secure and scalable
APK application support Cloud version available
You can also install other mobile OS on Anbox, such as Ubuntu Touch, Sailfish, or LuneOS.
Anbox is also the best Android emulator for Kali Linux.
Want more Android Emulators? In the end, I would also like to
mention other available top Android emulators for Linux that could turn out to be quite handy.
To name a few, there is ARChon, AndyOS, and many more. But they’re still under development,
and others have limited capabilities. There are also some Android-x86-based Android
OSes out there like Prime OS and Phoenix OS but, most of them are running far outdated versions of
Android (Android 7.0 Nougat). If you want an Android emulator for
other platforms, you can check my channel on the best android emulators for Windows PC and
iOS emulators for Mac. Thanks for watching,
I hope you enjoyed this video, If you did hit that thumbs up button, it helps
me to make good content for you, other then that, I will see you in tomorrow's video, peace out.