How To Run Android in PC : You Don’t Need An Android Phone To Rock!

Android is the most rocking mobile OS now. Sometimes it seem like “Oh my world is ruining coz I don’t have an Android!”. Even me was frustra...

Android is the most rocking mobile OS now. Sometimes it seem like “Oh my world is ruining coz I don’t have an Android!”. Even me was frustrated before because I don’t have an Android phone. Yet I don’t have one, then how I share those Android apps? Am I just throwing stones in the dark? Nah! Not having an Android device doesn’t make your world end. There’s always a way out. As previously I have talked about running Java app on Windows in “2 Ways To Run Java Mobile Application in Windows”, here I am sharing how to use Android in Windows. So, don’t hang up. Let’s proceed to out lesson.

There are 5-6 ways I found on internet to run Android on Windows but I can’t make them working for me. So in my case, they are bullshit. While I decided to give up the search for an Android Emulator, I found one at last. After checking it for 20-25 days, I am sharing this. Note that this lesson is only for those who are not able to buy an Android device due to economic or other reasons. Also for those who just can’t buy one without having no reasons (like me :-D).

This tutorial will also work with Mac and Linux OS though here I am sharing only about Windows.

 

Getting Started

You must need Java Development Kit (JDK) installed in your PC 1st. To download this, just visit here and download the “Java SE 6 Update 26-JDK”.

Then install it as normal.

Note: When installing Java, make sure not to install any crapware it tries to sneak in like the worthless Yahoo toolbar.

Then download the Android Emulator from the developer site. Make sure to select the correct version for your computer. Here I am using .exe files for windows.

After downloading has finished, run the installer_r11-windows.exe (if you have downloaded other version’s, then decompress it and run setup.exe). Install it as usual.

Troubleshooting: While installing, it might prompt that JDK not found (Even if you have installed it.) Don’t be panic. If you have already installed it, then just click back from the install wizard and again click next. This time it will find the JDK. Sounds silly huh? But it works this way for me.

After finishing installation, run SDK Manager.exe from the installation directory. The SDK will check Google’s servers for available packages.

If you see an SSL error message, click the Settings tab on the left in the SDK and AVD Manager window that opened in the background.  Here, uncheck the Force https box, click Ok, and then reopen the setup.



Now, the Package Installer will open.  You can choose what you want to install, and then click Install to begin installing the Android emulator on your computer. I have chosen “Android SDK Tools, revision 11”, “Android SDK Platform-tools, revision 5”, “SDK Platform Android 2.2, API8, revision 2” and “Samples for SDK API19, revision 1

By default, all of the SDK platforms, samples, and APIs will be selected for install.  This can take quite a while to download, as several versions of Android are currently available.  If you only want to play around with Android, choose the version you want.  You’ll want the SDK Platform Android your.version.  Then click the Reject bullet on all the other entries, and click Install.

Once you have select install, downloading and installation process will start automatically. Just wait for sometimes, have a break till this finishes. You’ll see a window showing the download and installation progress.  This may take a few minutes, depending on your Internet speed.

 

Setting Up Android Emulator

Once you have finished downloading required tools, you can setup the emulator to begun your test. Go to Virtual Devices > Click On New From the right hand panel. Enter a name for your virtualized Android, and select the version of Android you want to use from the drop-down menu.  This will only show the version you installed previously, so you may only see one version listed depending on your selection.

Enter a size under the SD Card entry; this is a virtual SD card that’s actually an IMG file that Android will use to store your settings and files in.  Then, select a screen size from the skin options.  The default is a standard, Nexus One-type display, while the others are different sizes including even a BlackBerry-style device. Click Create AVD when you’re finished. Check the previous picture to get the instruction.

The program may appear to freeze while it is creating the AVD, so just wait until you see the confirmation window.

You’re now ready to run Android on your PC!  Select your new virtual Android, and click Start on the right. You can choose to scale the display if you’ve chosen a larger screen size than your monitor will fit, and then select Launch.

Android will now begin to load in your emulator.  Several command prompt windows may open, and then you’ll see the emulator itself.  Notice that the default, large screen size will display a keypad and virtual buttons on the right side of the emulated device. Android may take several minutes to load, especially on your first run.  After a while, the boot screen will switch to an Android boot animation.

Finally, you’ll be presented with your new Android home screen!  Use your mouse as you would normally, though remember that you don’t need to double-click to open apps. You can open pre-installed apps from the launcher menu, though unfortunately these emulator images do not include the Android Marketplace.

View your favorite websites in the browser, and they will render just as they would on an Android device.  Note that you can enter text using the on screen keyboard in the emulator, or with your standard keyboard.  Since this is an emulator, you may notice some lag in entering text. You can download and install .apk files. You can browse internet via this.

Additionally, you can get real touch of Android by installing Apps.

 

 

Launch Android Virtual Machines Later

Anytime you want to launch your Android virtual machines in the emulator, just run the SDK Setup.exe as before, and select them from the Virtual Devices list.  Alternately, you can launch an emulator directly from the command line.  To do this, browse to your Android SDK folder and open the Tools folder.  Press the Shift key and right-click, and then select Open Command Window Here.

Now enter the following in the Command Prompt, substituting the name of your Android virtual machine for your_device:

emulator.exe @YourDeviceName

Additionally, you can create a shortcut for this too. Right-click on the Emulator.exe in the SDK Tools folder, and select Create Shortcut. This shortcut would actually only run the emulator in Command Prompt and not load an actual virtual device.  You’ll need to change the properties to do this, so right-click and select Properties. Select the Shortcut tab, and then scroll to the end of the Target box.  Enter the name of your virtual Android as before, as @your_Android after the emulator.exe, and then click Ok.

Now you can launch your Android directly from your Desktop or Start menu.

 

Customizing

Click and hold on the home screen to change the background or try out widgets.

You’ll even see the nifty Android Lock screen if you leave your virtual machine alone for a few minutes.  Just click the arrow and drag it to the other side of the screen to unlock.

You can always repeat the steps later to create a new Android virtual machine.  Here we’ve created an Android 1.5 virtual machine with the QVGA screen size.

You might get some crashes while using it. That;s not much. I have faced it for 2-3 times. But it’s really fun to enjoy Android even on you PC! So you should give a try.

 

Resources

How To Run Android On PC. How To Run Android On Windows. How To Run Android On Mac. How To Run Android On Linux. Tutorial To Android Emulator. Full Tips To Run Android in PC. run android on pc. Tutorial. Android Emulator Cannot locate the JDK Java development kit.

7 comments :

  1. can i make call or send message with it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Ruhshan's Blog Nah! Sorry to say that you can't Make Call/Send SMS via this. You can do almost everything else with it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. im getting Error when i clicked Launch , Error looks like this

    invalid command-line parameter: Files\Android\android-sdk\tools/emulator-arm.exe.
    Hint: use '@foo' to launch a virtual device named 'foo'.
    please use -help for more information

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Krupesh3333 Hi,
    Please try to give some more info (if possible - ScreenShot)
    Like where you are getting this error, are you able to run it anyway, your system configuration, have you followed those steps perfectly?
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  5. How to install .apk files on linux?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just download the JDK binary and run it from /usr/local... Then follow from installing Android Emulator. You can then emulate .apk in linux

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have a collection of games and apps at the best Android security store. Have you got it? You are looking for more exciting games. Does your application have the best memory? I have the best quality app store you can refer and find here: https://iplaystoredownloadfree.com/

    These are the most downloaded stores in 2018:

    - Play Store for SamSung Download
    - Play Store for PC Download
    - Play Store for iOS Download

    Wish you have the best games and applications. Free apps for everyone in the world. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.