Installing an apk on android emulator on Mac OS

Question

I tried following these steps(from here):

go to sdk folder, then go to tools.
copy your apk file inside the tool directory
./emulator -avd myEmulator
to run the emulator on mac 
./adb install myApp.apk
to install app on the emulator

But when I run "./emulator -avd phoneEmulator" (phoneEmulator is the name of my emulator) it just displays:

My-MacBook-Pro:tools myName$ ./emulator -avd phoneEmulator
2012-07-30 22:44:33.377 emulator-arm[2859:80b] Warning once: This application, or a
library it uses, is using NSQuickDrawView, which has been deprecated. 
Apps should cease use of QuickDraw and move to Quartz.

It's as if that command is never returning.

If I can't input the 2nd command ./adb install myApp.apk in that window, where do I call it?

score 30 · Accepted Answer · answered May 15 '13 at 12:25

30

Open Terminal
go to android-sdk-mac\platform-tools
type ./adb install myApp.apk

answered May 15 '13 at 12:25

Kirit Vaghela

12,572
4
76
80

Sonu · Answer 2 · 2018-03-10T19:34:27.163

27

You can work around by:

You have a *.apk file with you if you don't have, download it.
Open Android Studio and Run the emulator.
Open the finder and go to the location which contains your *.apk file.
Drag that *.apk and drop into the emulator and it will ask for confirmation after your confirmation it will install the *.apk in the emulator.
You can find it in application menu once installation succeeds.

edited Mar 10 '18 at 19:34

answered Mar 10 '18 at 19:07

Sonu

272
3
5

2

This is the best answer. – devluv Jan 13 '20 at 06:37
This answer should be at the top – Vikrant Bhat Mar 30 '22 at 10:42
Of course, it was drag and drop, it's a mac... Silly me... – ikiK Sep 13 '22 at 11:00

score 20 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 15 '13 at 02:49

20

First of all, you SHOULD NOT copy APKs to the tools or any other SDK directory. Do not cd to the SDK directories, just add them to the PATH environment var or use their absolute path in command lines. Then, if you want to run the emulator and then execute command from the same terminal, send the process to background (&):

$ export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/sdk/tools:path/to/sdk/platform-tools
$ emulator -avd myEmulator &
$ adb install /path/to/my.apk

answered Jun 15 '13 at 02:49

Diego Torres Milano

65,697
9
111
134

2

Yes - rather surprising that no one made these points earlier. – Chris Stratton Jun 15 '13 at 04:29

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 24 '13 at 06:55

5

You can work around by:

Upload yourapp.apk to internet. I.e: yourhost.com/yourapp.apk
Run emulator
Open internet browser on your emulator, visit link yourhost.com/yourapp.apk
Download and install

answered Jun 24 '13 at 06:55

Frank Nguyen

6,493
3
38
37

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 31 '12 at 02:59

0

adb can be run from a seperate terminal once this emulator boots up.

answered Jul 31 '12 at 02:59

TheSteve

1,138
6
12

When I do this ("./adb install BarcodeScanner4.2.apk") I get "-bash: ./adb: No such file or directory". Any ideas? – TruthOf42 Aug 07 '12 at 17:31
Did you cd to the location of adb? That message means that bash can't find "./adb" – TheSteve Aug 08 '12 at 00:12

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 31 '12 at 05:08

0

May Be, Useful to all the command in MAC OS Terminal

answered Jul 31 '12 at 05:08

Ashok Domadiya

1,124
13
31

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 05 '14 at 21:47

0

Am I the only one whose apps install in the emulator when I run them as Android Application from eclipse?

I mean - why go though the trouble of adb when you could just use eclipse? (unless you have something against eclipse!)

answered Mar 05 '14 at 21:47

Ajay Gautam

997
12
14

Vito Valov · Answer 8 · 2017-01-15T11:19:39.457

0

Try this app. It will install the apk by just double clicking on it after you create an association to .apk files. It's all explained in the github source.

edited Jan 15 '17 at 11:19

answered Apr 13 '15 at 23:38

Vito Valov

1,765
1
19
37

This link is no longer available. – Petroff Jan 09 '17 at 14:43
Now it's fixed @Petroff – Vito Valov Jan 15 '17 at 11:20

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 19 '22 at 20:37

0

Alternatively You can use 'adb install' command as follows. "adbinstall/filename.apk" ex. adb install /Users/manojclinberg/Downloads/ad3e0e46-d716-4fa9-b603-b8db3accf260.apk

answered Sep 19 '22 at 20:37

Manoj Clinberg

21
1

Installing an apk on android emulator on Mac OS

9 Answers9