Archives for

BlueStacks

Bluestacks Vs Andy Best Android Emulators For PC In 2019

Emulation is a great tool that allows you to run something designed for one specific console on to another. So for example, in this case, today we’re talking about and comparing 2 emulators that will allow you to play your Android games and run your Android mobile apps right on your desktop.

This is great for a couple of reasons. First, there’s a lot of intense games for mobile! Clash of clans and similar games require a lot of thought (and battery life). They’re really so big, that it would be amazing to play them right on your computer screen. This comes in handy for that, but also if you just use your computer more than your device, you can hook the emulator up to ensure you get notified about messages, so you don’t have to be tied to your phone all day.

Two very popular Android/PC emulators right now are BlueStacks and Andy. They’re both pretty amazing, so to help you narrow down which one you’d like to get, we’re going to compare their features. So without further ado, here’s our take.

Bluestacks

Bluestacks is an Android emulator for PC that has plenty to offer. After an easy download process, you can begin playing all of your favorite mobile games on the big screen: your PC! It’s not only for games though, because you can also utilize other popular apps like Whatsapp, Viber, facebook Messenger, and more.

A common theme among many emulators is that they just tend to be a little on the slow side, and also a little sparse on the scale of graphics quality. You’ll be pleased to hear, though, that this isn’t the case with Bluestacks. Because of their signature “layercake” technology, you’ll get access to all of your favorites, with fantastic quality graphics and smooth gameplay.

Get it here: Bluestacks

Andy

Andy is another great emulator. You can play all of your favorite games and access different apps, everything from Clash of Clans all the way to facebook or your messages. But the neat thing about this particular emulator is that you can really use your phone in tandem if you so choose. For example, you can convert your phone to an external controller, use it for cloud storage, and more. There’s also sensor, camera, and microphone integration, designed for an unforgettable gaming experience.

One of the neat things about Andy is that your games and apps will sync with your Google account. So if you’re playing on your computer and need to get to work, you can pick back up during your lunch hour on your phone. The seamlessness of it all is truly amazing, so you can just keep advancing in levels, whether you have an hour or just a few minutes here and there throughout your day.

Get it here: Andy

Comparison

Both Bluestacks and Andy are awesome emulators, and we’re pretty sure you’ll love whichever one you decide to get. The free programs themselves don’t have a whole lot of differences, as they both will support Android games and similar apps. But they do have their differences in other areas, believe it or not, so we’re going to go ahead and share those with you.

The major difference between Bluestacks and Andy is Enterprise. While you can download both Bluestacks and Andy for free for personal use, they both offer Enterprise options, which you’ll have to pay for, because it is a license.

Andy is very up-front with the cost of their Enterprise option. You can either pay $12 a month, or pre-purchase for the entire year at just $99. If you do this, you’ll be able to play on several different computers, get access to premium support (hello help from developers!), receive early access to new releases, and more. It’s really a great offer, and you know what you’re getting in to up front.

Bluestacks, on the other hand, is not so clear about how their Enterprise program works, although they do say it will remove their ads from the emulator. Their Enterprise program is more geared toward specifically being used in a commercial environment, so there’s more hoops you have to jump through. And when I say hoops, I mean creating an account with them, giving them your business information, contract agreement, and so on. While Andy’s Enterprise program is designed simply, for either standard users or commercial users (because both can benefit from the features), Bluestacks’ Enterprise program really is only for commercial users.

When it comes down to it, we really recommend that you delve even deeper and check out what interface you’d prefer, and more nitty gritty details. As we previously mentioned, both emulators are going to run the same games and other apps, but what kind of experience are you looking for? If you’re willing to pay a few bucks each month, Andy’s Enterprise program promises a lot, even if you’re not a business looking to use their program.

Verdict

You can’t go wrong with either of these great emulators. If you truly just can’t decide, we recommend trying them out. Yes, both! Because the basic versions are entirely free, you’ve got nothing to lose in taking each for a spin. And when you do pick one, be sure to tell us all about it in the comments section. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the program!

5 Best Android Emulators For PC in 2019

If you’re not already familiar with what an Android emulator is, it’s basically a program or software that allows you to get your phone on your computer. This means that you can use social media, workspace, fitness, and all of the other great apps from the Play Store on your desktop laptop or computer.

The really awesome thing about emulators is that they’re usually built for one of two things: gaming, or developing. First of all, the gaming is truly an amazing experience, because if you’re a bit of die-hard fan when it comes to Candy Crush, first-person shooter apps, Clash of Clans, or even virtual farm life, you can move up to such a bigger screen and more immersive gameplay. And for app developers, this is a great way to really visualize what you’re creating, but also test it out to make sure it will run smoothly for all users. So today, we’re sharing the best 5 Android emulators that are out right now.

Andy

Andy takes your computer and turns it into your Android phone in no time. It allows you to run Android on your Windows desktop, and you’ll be able to play and utilize all of the popular games and apps right from your computer. This supports games like Candy Crush, Subway Surfer, and the ever-famous Clash of Clans, where you can use your phone as the joystick, as well as communication apps like Whatsapp, Snapchat, and so much more.

The thing we like about Andy so much, and know you’ll love too, is that every feature except for developer support, is completely free. So you can download this, test it out, and even use it most likely with no issues for as long as you need. If you decide you do want the developer support, you can get that for just $12 a month or $99 for the entire year, at any time.

Download it now: Andyroid

Genymotion

Genymotion definitely leans to the more sophisticated and higher-end side of emulators. Rather than necessarily just playing games, this can really be used for diving deeper into your smartphone and utilizing apps that you may work with on a daily basis, but on your computer. You can utilize Android Studio, Eclipse, and more.

If you’re developing an app on your computer, Genymotion will equip you with the right tools to ensure that every detail is thought of and every page will be seamless when it shows up on smartphones all over the world. You can test your development in web browsers, use GPS widget for testing, see how much battery juice your app will take, and more. It may seem a bit pricey, beginning at $136 a year, but truly Genymotion opens up a whole host of new tools for app developers.

Download it now: Genymotion

Bluestacks 3

With Bluestacks, you’ll actually get to choose between 2 different kinds of emulators, and we think it’s fantastic to have options. The first is App Player, which is geared towards a wide variety of apps. A wide variety, as in, any app you want. That’s right: Bluestacks 3 makes every single app in the Play Store available on your desktop.

The second emulator is specifically geared towards gamers. This one is for every hardcore Clash of Clan-ner, Angry Birds thrower, and dedicated digital farmer out there. With this version, you’ll get exclusive in-game gifts for only Bluestack users. There’s a ton of other features as well, but our favorite is probably the friends-list and corresponding chat window. Not simply because it’s a friends list, but because you can sync your contacts from Google, Facebook, Steam, or all three if you choose.

Download it now: Bluestacks

KoPlayer

KoPlayer is a free emulator, which makes this a great option if you’re wanting to try it but aren’t necessarily sure yet that you want to commit to paying a monthly fee for one. You’ll be able to play all of your favorite Android games right on your computer after an easy download and installation process.

This awesome app offers keyboard mapping so you can use the typical gaming keys, W, A, S, and D for most, if not all, of your gaming excursions. Another neat thing about KoPlayer is that you can also take advantage of the built-in recorder to record your gameplay, and then easily share on your facebook or upload it to your YouTube channel.

Download it now: KoPlayer

Android Studio

If you’re currently working on creating your own app, or are wanting to know what program to use in getting started, look no further than Android Studio. Similar to Genymotion, this is a great emulator designed more for developers rather than gamers. Android Studio has a lot of amazing features that developers can utilize to create a quality app that goes far beyond others.

Those features really are what makes Android Studio so great. While there’s certainly a level of code required to make every app function the way it does, Android Studio also offers a truly visual creation experience. For those developers that need to see it before they can believe it, the Visual Layout Editor will allow you add images and text, then resize and organize it to look exactly how you’re envisioning it. This is a truly fantastic tool!

Download it now: Android Developer

Verdict

One thing we try to do in all of our articles is offer a lot of variety, and this one is no different. Whether you’re a gamer, developer, or even just curious, there’s something on this list for everyone. If you try one of these emulators out, please be sure to tell us about your experience and what you’re utilizing it for in the comments section.

BlueStacks 2 Android emulator now lets you run multiple apps at once

For those who don’t own an #Android device, but would like to experience it anyway, #BlueStacks has served as a solid alternative since 2011. Although the service was laggy and slow during its early days, the developers have taken giant strides in making it a popular service. It has 109 million downloads now, which says something about the popularity of the service.

The company has now announced a revamped version of this app called BlueStacks 2, which introduces quite a bit of new features on board. First and foremost, it comes with the ability to keep multiple apps open at the same time, something which the predecessor was incapable of doing. This means that users will be able to use the app now like a proper Android device, without having to compromise on the experience.

The developers also mention that the app will have a refined UI and some other handy features on board, which would make it worthy of the 2.0 upgrade. It’s currently a Windows only offering, but will be available for Macs sometime soon.

It is a free download from the official BlueStacks site, so make sure you give it a try from the link below. Also make sure you check out the introduction video posted by the company.

Source: BlueStacks

AMD Brings Android Support To Windows Through BlueStacks

AMD and BlueStacks have announced that they have collaborated together to bring Android to Windows. This comes just days after Intel’s announcement that it will provide a way to make Android run from within Windows. AMD however might have the upper hand as its latest processors will include an ARM chip, the same architecture that Android apps use, making it possibly more efficient.

The previous version of BlueStacks was an app player however this new technology to be used will be able to run the full version of Android on an AMD device. AMDs version will allow Android to run in a virtual environment which is different from Intel’s implementation which requires users to switch between both operating systems.

According to Steve Belt, corporate vice president Product Management at AMD, “Windows and Android are both mature operating systems, each satisfying the needs of millions of users. Users whose devices and preferences span the two ecosystems no longer have to face device-specific restrictions on the benefits of one ecosystem or the other because AMD and BlueStacks have created a seamless user experience between the operating systems. Now users have access to all the apps — games, communications and content consumption — they love on their Android mobile devices right at their fingertips, while getting important productivity tasks or high-end PC gaming accomplished on their Windows PC.”

Some of the key features of BlueStacks running on 4^th generation AMD processors are as follows

The same Android interface such as settings, customizations, and controls
Can run Android apps at full screen resolution with the help of direct access to AMD graphics
Supports hundreds of thousands of apps from the various Android app stores
Seamless interoperability allowing Android apps to access files in the Windows system

Rosen Sharma, CEO of BlueStacks, said that “We’re working with AMD to build the next great PC and AMD’s industry-leading hardware allows for a more flexible experience with Android apps on the PC for end-users. AMD shares our vision of Mobile Plus in providing users with easy access to their favorite Android games, mobile apps and productivity tools from all their devices and moving towards a more open/shared ecosystem.”

via gizmodo

Bluestacks’ GamePop to sell for $129

GamePop, an upcoming console for Android gaming, will have a retail price of $129 when it hits the market.

Bluestacks, the company which developed an App Player software that brings Android to Windows and Mac computers, is behind the GamePop console.

GamePop is said to be Bluestacks’ answer to the Ouya, an Android-based gaming console which obtained crowdfunding success on Kickstarter.

GamePop, however, is different from Ouya in terms of the payment model it is using. It offers users a one-year subscription that costs $6.99 a month, or a total of $83.88 for an entire year.

Bluestacks clarifies that this does payment model not bind users to a contract per se, but there are consequences in case users decide to stop the subscription. For one, they have to send back the GamePop to Bluestacks, and pay a restocking fee of $25 within 30 days. An early termination fee of $100 is also payable by the user if the GamePop is not returned.

Anyway, during the subscription period, users may choose from more than 500 games to play from its catalog.

Such games are offerings from several top mobile game developers which have teamed up with Bluestacks in its newest endeavor. Among its partners are Halfbrick, Intellijoy, OutFit7, Glu Mobile, and Deemedya, adding credence to the phrase Bluestacks is using to refer to the GamePop, which is “Netflix for games.” Some examples of such games which will be available on the GamePop are Jetpack Joyride, Talking Tom 2, and Kids Shape Puzzle. According to Bluestacks, the games have a total value of more than $200.

Meanwhile, Bluestacks has not revealed what kind of hardware it is using on the GamePop. The company, however, assures that the games will match, or even top, the speed of high-quality smartphones. It is likewise working on a controller that is purportedly unlike those available in the market today.

GamePop is scheduled to be released in the winter, according to its official website.

via androidspin, bluestacks

BlueStacks Takes on Ouya in the Sub $100 Console Wars

BlueStacks is a startup that has been bringing Android apps to Mac and PC has announced that it has passed the 10 million user milestone, since Ouya has gained much ground via the crowd funding website Kickstarter BlueStacks is retaliating to show that they are the top dogs in this space.

BlueStacks has brought more than 750 thousand Android apps to Mac, PC and TV’s along with its own games console coupled with a subscription service. BlueStacks are offering a package called ‘GamePop‘ which is $6.99 per month for the service for this you get; a custom console and controller for free. The free console is only available until the end of May when the offer ends, after then BlueStacks plan to add pricing options to the console.

Limited Time Only

If you’re the kind of gamer that wouldn’t mind trying out Android as a gaming medium then this packages is definitely value for money, you can pre-order the GamePop package right now; you better hurry though this deal ends in may. The consoles of the other hand don’t ship till this winter so it’s a nice christmas present for all of you early shoppers.

Since this console is fairly new they expect it to be popping up in stores next year. Hot on the heels of Ouya’s success. BlueStacks revealed the service along with the console at the game developers conference (GDC), this allowed developers to take a look at the specs and the SDK for the service. The design is of the console is much like the Boxee box made by D-Link, they console has been valuated at under $100 around about the same as the Ouya.

Developers and Partnerships

Unlike BlueStacks model, Ouya will sell you the console for $99 and they say all of there games will be free to try. Ouya has had more than 12,00 developers sign up to develop for the platform, 4,000 have signed up in the last two months. Ouya has also went through the conventional distribution routes of the game stores and the supermarkets like BestBuy and Gamestop; where as BlueStacks are yet to make those links for distribution.

BlueStack announced there GamePop service along side their App Player software for devices running Windows 8 back in February, this means that BlueStacks software will be preloaded onto over 100 million devices. The 100 million devices is down to BlueStacks partnerships with AMD, Asus and Lenovo.

Source – TechCrunch

BlueStacks App Player now available for Windows 8

Bluestacks is an amazing software. For those who have no idea about Bluestacks, it’s basically a product which revolves around enabling Android applications to run on Windows PCs, Macintosh computers and Windows tablets. Long back, I wanted to install whatsapp on my Windows PC, however, whatsapp isn’t available on computer. Nevertheless, I was able to install it on my PC with the help of Bluestacks. It’s a great software for folks who are looking to run Android apps on their PC or laptops, and we know that Android app store is huge with over 750k+ apps in it.

Bluestacks has been available for Windows 7 OS, and now Bluestacks has released the final version of its promised Windows 8 App Player, and it’s tailored for the Surface Pro tablet. Microsoft’s Surface devices aren’t doing exactly well and are suffering from lackluster sales volume, whereas the reviews have been good, and this App Player from Bluestacks will be able to increase the demand of Surface Pro tablet even further. It’s the first time Windows 8 has been supported by App Player, and with the help of this utility, users can install over 750k apps on their Windows 8 device. It’s definitely a big leap as Windows 8 app store has a little over 35k apps, so there’s a lot of difference.

“The Surface Pro is an innovative device, but it has none of the top apps,” says BlueStacks CEO, Rosen Sharma. “This fixes that and adds a lot of value for buyers.”

Since the software is fully adapted to run on Windows 8, users can also launch the Player from a tile pinned to the Windows 8 Start screen, thus giving a seamless experience for the user. Apart from that, unlike Windows 7 releases which consumed some screen real estate to display BlueStacks control strip at the bottom of the screen, the Windows 8 version supports true full-screen mode, which is a boon to tablet users who have limited screen size. Instead of the bottom strip, folks at Bluestacks have added a “Charms” menu on right side of the screen which displays Back, Menu, Settings and Home buttons which are standard buttons on all the Android powered devices and are required to run the apps.

via TechCrunch

Android apps can also make use of tilt and motion sensor of the Surface Pro/Windows 8 tablet in order to have the app displayed in portrait or landscape mode accordingly.

“We have had a lot of people write us that they were on the fence about getting a Surface Pro, and were waiting for something like this,” says John Gargiulo, BlueStacks VP of Marketing and Biz Dev

The company has agreements with several top PC companies, including AMD, Asus, MSI, and Lenovo. These agreements will result in Bluestacks software being installed on over 100 million PCs this year. The startup company is also trying to strike similar deals with Dell and HP, and we hope Windows devices made by those companies are able to run Android apps out of the box. What’s your thought on this?

Bluestacks Releases Beta Version for Mac OS X

iMac, MacBook Pro, and other Apple kit owners can now enjoy roughly 750,000 Android apps Android apps on their devices thanks to the newly-released beta version of Bluestacks. The Android app player is now available for download on the Bluestacks website for Mac OS X users around six months after its alpha version was released. By comparison, the alpha version of Bluestacks only supported 17 Android apps.

For those who aren’t familiar with Bluestacks, the app player is a virtualization engine that allows apps created for various operating systems to be run on the same computer, in a simultaneous manner. On the part of the user, the process appears simple. Users can run individual apps from their desktop or use the software to enjoy the full Android experience. This is in line with Bluestack’s belief in hiding the complexity of the technology from the user, like what other advanced technology does.

Initially, Bluestacks was only available for Windows users. The company has even forged deals with companies like Qualcomm, ASUS, and AMD to encourage a wider adoption of Bluestacks, bringing plenty of Android titles to Windows users. Asus is offering Bluestacks as [email protected] whereas AMD calls it the AMD AppZone Player. AMD, as TechCrunch reports, is pre-installing AMD AppZone Player on more than 100 million units, whereas Asus will have 22 million pre-installs. Meanwhile, just this month, Bluestacks announced that its software has gotten more than 5 million organic installs on both Windows and Apple.

Slashgear says that Apple users may not exhibit the same level of interest for Bluestacks, given that Android and Apple are fierce rivals. Still, Mac users who are eager to explore Android apps will possibly find the innovation from Bluestacks interesting. One notable feature of the Bluestacks App Player for Mac is an App Discovery feature that assists users in finding fresh apps.

Bluestacks for Mac OS X may be downloaded from this link.

via 1, 2

BlueStacks Partners With AMD

BlueStacks has announced a new partnership with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) that will allow users of the tablets and PCs running on AMD to enjoy Android applications. The apps are available through the AMD AppZone store that will enable Windows users to enjoy 500,000 Android apps. This is a substantial addition to the 2,000 apps available on the Windows 8 app store.

The AMD AppZone, according to BlueStacks and AMD, is currently the largest library of Android apps that are compatible with Windows devices. It also offers applications optimized for AMD Radeon graphics processing units and AMD accelerated processing units. This collection includes a wide range of games such as Fruit Ninja Free, Tower Defense, Farm Invasion, Defender II, Drag Racing Bike Edition, Traffic Control, Casino Crime, Happy Vikings, Impossible Quest, Kids Numbers and Math Lite, and Mini Game Paradise. There are also entertainment apps like Skitch, WikiMobile 2, Nook eReader, Feedly, Blio eBooks, Sky.FM, Living Social, Applorer Gamebox, Cyberlink PowerDVD, VUDU On-Demand Service, and Adobe Flash Player. In the Photo and Video category, users may download Adobe Photoshop CS6, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Windows Live Essentials, Cyberlink Media Show, Video Studio Pro, Vegas Movie Studio HD, Muvizu Movies in Minutes, GIMP, and Paint Shop Pro. Lastly, the Productivity and Tools section offers Evernote, AVG PC Tuneup, Norton Internet Security, Microsoft PowerPoint, AMD System Monitor, EnGadget, and NeoCal Lite Calculator.

The AMD AppZone collection is a mix of free and paid applications. The free apps, which are around 50 in number, are instantly downloaded onto one’s device. Meanwhile, the paid apps redirect the users to the developer’s website for purchasing. The app store interface and the apps themselves are currently able to receive input from keyboard and mouse units. BlueStacks, however, anticipating the launch of Windows 8, is working on a touchscreen interface, as well.

It may be recalled that BlueStacks launched its original x86 app player last year. Back then, it was designed for Intel-powered devices alone.

BlueStacks has faith in the app store concept, with its CEO Rosen Sharma calling it a “multi-billion dollar opportunity.” According to Sharma, “BlueStacks-powered business models are ready to disrupt the PC industry by leveraging the unprecedented growth in the mobile ecosystem.”

via pcworld

Android Apps Can Now Access Mac OS X by BlueStacks

Bluestacks, the award-winning Android emulator platform that brings Android to Windows, is now available on the Mac OS X, as well.

Launched just this March, the original Bluestacks gave a chance to those users on Windows who did not have an Android device to enjoy the innovations on the open-source OS. Likewise, it allowed users to link their Windows PC to their Android devices. The idea appealed to so many users that in only nine days, Bluestacks already had a million downloads. Though it initially started with a few basic apps on its alpha version like Alchemy, Talking Tom, and Drag Racing, the list of apps compatible with Bluestacks is now growing for Windows users. At present, the Android apps available come in a variety of categories, such as Games, Music, Kids, Photos, News, Messaging, and Social.

Recently, however, the Bluestacks team had been hard at work at offering the same experience for Mac users. Now, the alpha version comes with seventeen apps including Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Zebra Paint, Pulse, Glow Hockey, Paper Toss, Seesmic, Basketball Shot, Robo Defense, Elastic World, and Air Control Lite. Despite Bluestacks being an alpha version, most of these applications run smoothly, although improvements could be made regarding their speed. Some, however, as expected in an alpha version, had some bugs that need to be fixed.

When Bluestacks for Mac is compared to Bluestacks for Windows, the former has few functionalities at the moment. The sync function, for instance, is still missing, as well as the ability to download apps from a variety of app libraries such as Get Jar, Amazon Appstore, and Google Play.

These issues will likely be addressed once the Bluestacks team brings the emulator into its beta version. This might prompt some to hold off on downloading Bluestacks until these features are finally in place. That said, those who are simply curious how Android apps work on a Mac could head over to the Bluestacks website to try it out.

Bluestacks has been much lauded for its ambition, and rightly so. In a time when users are divided by the kind of OS they are using, an emulator like this will push developers to create apps for that can be enjoyed across different devices.

via android authority

Bluestacks Takes Home Best Software Award From CES And Opens Up Beta

Bluestacks is a pretty cool company, why, because they’ve developed PC software to run your favorite Android apps on the PC.

At the recent International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Bluestacks took home the CNET award for best software. Just prior to CES it was revealed that Bluestacks will also allow you to use your favorite Android apps on the forthcoming Windows 8 platform, several companies are scheduled to release Windows 8 tablets and phones this year.

Bluestacks just opened up their BETA for signups, a Bluestacks spokesperson has confirmed to thedroidguy that the new Bluestacks BETA will let ARM apps like Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds and hundreds of thousands of other ARM based Android apps run, where the ALPHA did not.

Find out more here

BlueStacks Brings Android To PCs And More

Today, BlueStacks announced that they have secured financing to help expand development of their new technology that could possible enable users to run Android applications using their Windows desktop. Thanks to the help of over $7.5 million investment from several companies such as Ignition Ventures, Radar Partners, Helion Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, we could see this software by the third quarter of this year. (more…)