0

I am developing an android app and want to test on the latest version of android, also I need to check some apps from google store, so Is there a way to run full android OS from my PC, I searched and found some telling to use virtualbox, but I tried the installation steps and it didn't work, are there any other suggestions?

Amr Elgarhy
  • 66,568
  • 69
  • 184
  • 301
  • 2
    As already suggested below: I can recommend using GenyMotion. It's basically a wrapper around VirtualBox and installing it and setting things up is really a breeze. Do note that eventually you'll want to test on a physical device too. GenyMotion is blazing fast when it comes to operations that involve db operations, storage etc. As such, its performance can be a little misleading, especially when it comes to expensive operations on the UI thread. – MH. Nov 28 '13 at 23:04
  • 1
    You can edit settings (RAM, processor resources) in VirtualBox to make them match a phone. Cause yes, Genymotion allocates more performances than a usual phone if you have a good computer, but it's also why it's so fast. –  Nov 28 '13 at 23:14

2 Answers2

2

You can use GenyMotion for that. It provides Android VM that are really better than the one of SDK (chosse images of Android machines that are provided with google apps for retrieving apps from Play Store).

  • I downloaded it and it is working great, but i can't find the google play icon on home screen http://screencast.com/t/48SN2iUeR , is there something I am missing, I am new to android world – Amr Elgarhy Nov 28 '13 at 23:41
  • 1
    Problem is that GenyMotion previously provided images with Google Maps but does not anymore. You can follow the steps in this anwer to add Google Apps to your image : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17831990/how-do-you-install-google-frameworks-play-accounts-etc-on-a-genymotion-virtu –  Nov 28 '13 at 23:46
1

Assuming the normal android sdk is already installed, using the Android SDK manager:

  • Install the Intel x86 Atom System Image of the latest api level.

  • Install Intel x86 Emulator Accelerator HAXM which can be found in the folder called "tools" inside the list provided by the Android SDK Manager (for those of you on Linux, you'll have to hunt around and install kvm instead).

  • Create an AVD using the AVD Manager

  • Make sure you select the x86 version when creating the AVD, the select box defaults to ARM.

  • And tick the checkbox Snapshot, to make sure your image keeps anything you install on it between restarts.

  • Fill out the rest of the parameters, create your AVD, and start it (the first time it runs will take the longest, the second time will be faster). That being said, it's still a good idea not to shutdown the emulator between tests because of the reboot time.

  • AVDs based on parameters alone and not actual device names will also be faster than the ones that have specific model names, but bear in mind that those with parameters will include less stuff. So it sounds like you'll want to make sure you select one with a specific phone model name.

Genymotion should work just fine as well. Just note that for the non-AOSP phones, you may have to install some of the system apks separately (because of licensing reasons, but those system apks should be very easy to find if you just google around for them)

Stephan Branczyk
  • 9,363
  • 2
  • 33
  • 49
  • Problem is that Emulators from SDK does not include Google Play Store. As @Amr ElGarhy said in his question : "also I need to check some apps from google store". That's why I recommanded first GenyMotion which provides Play Store in their images with Google Apps. –  Nov 28 '13 at 23:33
  • I believe they may have removed the images containing the Play Store pre-loaded apks two weeks ago because of licensing reasons. I know they removed the Samsung system images at least. I'm not sure if they removed the AOSP ones. I would hope not, but I don't know. In either case, finding apks of the play store on the internet and installing them on an image is super easy. With Genymotion, it's a drag and drop operation from your PC's Windows explorer. With Intel's emulator, it's an operation that must be carried out using the phone interface of the emulated device. – Stephan Branczyk Nov 28 '13 at 23:50
  • Here is the confirmation of that change. The previous accepted answer to that question has just been changed as well: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17831990/how-do-you-install-google-frameworks-play-accounts-etc-on-a-genymotion-virtu?lq=1 – Stephan Branczyk Nov 29 '13 at 00:39