Android Emulator stuck loading screen on M1 mac/ Apple Silicon

Question

I had downloaded Android Studio on my M1 MacBook air but I can't run the emulator and it just gives me an error. I search Android Studio requirements for mac and it says that it requires mac os 10.10 or higher and a minimum of 2 GB disk space and 4GB of ram. Anyone have this issue and how do I solve it?

I try download the arm image android studio it is stuck on the loading screen for the emulator.

Nope, I still cannot run the emulator on android studio, I only can code but cannot run — Shadowwalker, Nov 19 '20 at 06:25
even if it ran, performance would be terrible with just 8gb, despite the claim that macbookair is "faster than 98%" (calculators?) — rupps, Nov 19 '20 at 10:27
Actually it is faster than my bro macbook pro 8GB of ram, his suffer alot — Shadowwalker, Nov 20 '20 at 03:20
I couldn't find any issues in Google's issue tracker regarding adding support for this, so I filed one. Please star it, I would love to see this support too. https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/173766929 — carloshwa, Nov 21 '20 at 11:33
Hi! Would u recommend to buy m1 air to develop androd app? Or it's better to wait some time? — Ya Si, Nov 27 '20 at 13:35
@YaSi Hi! I would recommend u to wait for a while cause right now android emulator cannot run on m1 mac, but if u have an android phone and the emulator is not an issue for you then go ahead cause the m1 Mac is really fast, faster than the previous-gen MacBook and IMac and some of the intel and AMD pc/desktop — Shadowwalker, Nov 28 '20 at 16:02
Have u faced any problem with running Android Studio on m1? Have u tried Visual Studio? The emulator issue is clear. — Ya Si, Nov 29 '20 at 07:20
@YaSi Did not face any issue running Android Studio on m1 Mac, I am able to download and run android studio, no forced stop of app face till now but sadly I only can code cannot run emulator :( The same goes for visual studio, it downloads and runs very smoothly — Shadowwalker, Nov 30 '20 at 08:27
@YaSi Opening the app was very fast too, only the first time usage it takes a longer time to open cause the app need to use Rosetta 2 to convert — Shadowwalker, Nov 30 '20 at 08:30
I'm excited. If I launch android studio it will get warmer after some time. Compiling time is twice less than on my previous intel i7 mac book — Ya Si, Feb 13 '21 at 10:58
@YaSi cause android studio is not build to run on m1 mac, it is still currently in beta — Shadowwalker, Feb 13 '21 at 13:00

score 46 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 19 '20 at 09:22

46

As for now (19/11/2020) any of the Virtualization tools do not work with the new Apple M1 macs. So things like docker, emulators etc. We might have to wait a bit until this is fully supported unfortunately.

answered Nov 19 '20 at 09:22

qaGuy

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IDK why this got downvoted this is the correct answer... – Benjamin Gruenbaum Nov 24 '20 at 19:35
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Docker has recently released its M1 version. https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-mac/apple-m1/ – ShHolmes Jan 29 '21 at 13:31
This is the wrong answer, Emulator is working since 7th December 2020 https://stackoverflow.com/a/65176907/1079990 – hannes ach Feb 09 '21 at 09:43

hannes ach · Answer 2 · 2022-07-15T04:01:48.760

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Good news !

Edit on 28th July 2021

Apple Silicon Support

There is an arm64 release version available for Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1) You can download it here https://developer.android.com/studio/archive

When NDK runs into Unknown host CPU architecture: arm64 you can solve it here

End of beta ! Thank you

Edit on March 2021

I can confirm, this preview of Emulator works properly https://androidstudio.googleblog.com/2020/12/android-emulator-apple-silicon-preview.html

In the blog there is a link to a private repo (2021-Jan-04). They moved repo to google and there you find V3 https://github.com/google/android-emulator-m1-preview/releases

Since v3 even audio-out works (no audio-in)

Edit on 4th Feb 2021

Now audio in and out works properly https://github.com/741g/android-emulator-m1-preview/issues/10#issuecomment-773532762

Edit March 2021

You can simply use one of them and it's working out of the box

edited Jul 15 '22 at 04:01

answered Dec 07 '20 at 06:14

hannes ach

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Are you running this on M1 also? – Fauzan Dec 30 '20 at 19:06
When I understand the question right: of course, it's from my M1 – hannes ach Dec 30 '20 at 22:22
Keep attention: the repo was moved, I updated my post – hannes ach Jan 04 '21 at 09:06
@hannesach, try the beta version but it is still very laggy, takes ages to turn on the emulator, hopefully, they fix that issue. – Shadowwalker Feb 11 '21 at 14:03
My emulator on M1 starts very fast. At least faster then on my x86 old mac @ryantay – hannes ach Feb 11 '21 at 14:08
IC, not sure why mine is slow tho – Shadowwalker Feb 11 '21 at 14:25
In case if it's not working for someone. Try using "Profiler" and add your app in that. "Profiler" of android studio. – iEngineer Nov 11 '21 at 11:29
how about at now ? maret 2022 its consume 4GB memory/ram , its very lagging on mbpm1 can use emulator. – Yogi Arif Widodo Mar 24 '22 at 04:07
@YogiArifWidodo hwat do you mean ? Your question is too much unspecific – hannes ach Mar 24 '22 at 05:18
i mean can you update your answer just for FYI about the emulator just for more description/test/feel after using the emulator on m 1. if you can. – Yogi Arif Widodo Mar 24 '22 at 23:15

score 8 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 17 '20 at 04:43

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On August release notes you can see on the emulator for Arm host section an entry where they said the support for M1 is in progress. Check the link below: https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/emulator#emulator_for_arm64_hosts

edited Dec 17 '20 at 04:43

Mahesh Jamdade

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answered Nov 22 '20 at 19:57

Pablo Fernandez

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Mahesh Jamdade · Answer 4 · 2020-12-17T04:47:07.733

As of today the android emulator is up and working on the Apple Silicon here's a working demo from a googler

source: https://twitter.com/GoogleLfy/status/1332474914398322689 And the known issues here: https://androidstudio.googleblog.com/2020/12/android-emulator-apple-silicon-preview.html

we can expect the stable release by the end of 2020 here's a conversation about the same https://www.reddit.com/user/lfy_google/

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 14 '21 at 14:20

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Android studio has still not released a modified version for M1 macs, the version you are running, was originally made for intel chips, and is running via rosetta2. And rosetta does not support virtualisation, so you cant run emulator, but you could do all else coding stuff with minor bugs, for testing your code you may use a physical android device and it works just fine...please let me know if further problem exists...

answered Jan 14 '21 at 14:20

prasoonraj

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There is a beta preview of android studio tho – Shadowwalker Feb 11 '21 at 14:30

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 18 '21 at 19:39

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This is the working emulator done by Android developers https://github.com/google/android-emulator-m1-preview it works like a charm

answered Jan 18 '21 at 19:39

kirara

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zhangxaochen · Answer 7 · 2020-11-23T01:10:36.687

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For other ARM devices, it should be involved as an Instruction Set problem, in that case you can go to the AVD Manager of your AS and when create new virtual device, make sure to download the system image with arm64-v8a ABI, which is shown as bellow.

For Mac M1 chip, these arm64 images can not solve the problem and for now the best way is to wait Google release the compatible images.

edited Nov 23 '20 at 01:10

answered Nov 18 '20 at 02:26

zhangxaochen

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Any idea why these don't show up in Android Studio. This page is blank when I go to it? – justdan0227 Nov 18 '20 at 15:23
How about under the Recommended tag? – zhangxaochen Nov 19 '20 at 01:19
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I run the emulator that you ask me to download, the emulator appears, but it keeps on saying asking target devices to come online and can't bring me to the home page – Shadowwalker Nov 19 '20 at 06:55
You can try wiping data of the virtual device by right click it in AVD Manager, then rerun the project. Also check the Android Emulator box in SDK Manager -> SDK Tools – zhangxaochen Nov 19 '20 at 07:17
@PatrickGeng Are you actually able to run the emulator on an M1 machine with this image, or are you speculating? – carloshwa Nov 21 '20 at 11:29
No error - it's just stuck like on the screenshot in the question. Guess we'll just have to wait a bit until they support the m1. – de. Nov 21 '20 at 23:57
yup, arm images don't work, i download arm image and it just stuck on the loading screen as shown from my screenshot above – Shadowwalker Nov 22 '20 at 13:05

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Nov 18 '20 at 22:58

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I heard that the emulator won't work due to arm architecture of the apple silicon. Using a phone for debugging might be the only option. I also heard that android studio were working on an update for the M1.

answered Nov 18 '20 at 22:58

Dike

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Hmm, I search android developers website they never talk about supporting for m1 MacBook, I email google but none of them reply me, such bad customer support, really wish there is the documentation for how to solve or support for m1 macbook – Shadowwalker Nov 19 '20 at 06:27
Given the Arm64 Mac machine is just released, it may take quite a while for google to make its softwares fully compatible to the new platform – zhangxaochen Nov 19 '20 at 07:19
Ic, but there should be an announcement make on the website for developers to see – Shadowwalker Nov 19 '20 at 07:27
Where to find any news for android studio on arm mac? – Shadowwalker Nov 19 '20 at 09:30
@ryantay On Reddit, one of the developers replied to a post that they know the issue and they are working on an update. – Waheed Akhtar Nov 22 '20 at 11:45
@WaheedAkhtar Do you have the link? i went to android developers website and no news about support for m1 and I also went to android studio website and the same thing happen, no news about m1 support – Shadowwalker Nov 22 '20 at 13:06
@ryantay check the first comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/jrt7ph/armbased_macs_for_android_development/ – Waheed Akhtar Nov 24 '20 at 10:52

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 04 '20 at 22:30

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There is a rudenmentary beta of the emulator for Mac M1 here github link

answered Dec 04 '20 at 22:30

moster67

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score 1 · Answer 10 · edited May 22 '21 at 06:25

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android studio have made a rough initial preview of the emulator running on Apple Silicon.More details are available in this link below

https://androidstudio.googleblog.com/2020/12/android-emulator-apple-silicon-preview.html

Also you can download DMG file from GitHub: https://github.com/741g/android-emulator-m1-preview

edited May 22 '21 at 06:25

Altaf Razzaque

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answered Dec 08 '20 at 11:48

Sabiq Thottoly

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score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Dec 10 '20 at 20:12

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Android has released beta emulator for M1 chipset

Please check this think to beta release

https://androidstudio.googleblog.com/2020/12/android-emulator-apple-silicon-preview.html?m=1

answered Dec 10 '20 at 20:12

Altaf Razzaque

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score 1 · Answer 12 · edited Dec 16 '20 at 08:52

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Currently, Android Studio only supports the HAXM Intel version (which isn't compatible with ARM processors) of virtualization, to run the emulator. But maybe in the coming weeks they might release the compatible versions for apple silicon processors. Till then the only option is to use a physical device.

edited Dec 16 '20 at 08:52

Stephen Taylor

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answered Dec 15 '20 at 18:53

Ransike Randeni

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score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Jan 12 '21 at 23:56

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there is an Android Emulator Apple Silicon Preview in the next documentation https://androidstudio.googleblog.com/2020/12/android-emulator-apple-silicon-preview.html

answered Jan 12 '21 at 23:56

Axel López

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score 1 · Answer 14 · answered May 03 '22 at 14:16

On my M1 machine, the emulator would get stuck ( not open ) and the dock icon would say 'qemu-system-aarch64' and then that was it.

I managed to get the emulator to start by running it via the terminal and adding the gpu host flag

emulator -gpu host -avd Pixel_5_API_32

P.S. I couldn't find the right stack issue, so I'm leaving this here.

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Nov 21 '20 at 11:51

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It's because the new M1 chips run on arm Architecture and not x86. You have to download the arm compatible virtual devices those are available in the other images tab inorder to run those emulators.

Also try this:

Wipe data of the virtual device by right clicking it in AVD Manager, then rerun the project.
Check the Android Emulator box in SDK Manager -> SDK Tools

answered Nov 21 '20 at 11:51

Mithun Kartick

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yes, i downloaded arm image, but it just stuck on the loading screen as seen from my screenshot above – Shadowwalker Nov 22 '20 at 13:04

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Dec 12 '20 at 08:26

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Download the android-emulator-m1-preview.dmg from https://github.com/741g/android-emulator-m1-preview/releases

answered Dec 12 '20 at 08:26

Matthias

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Android Emulator stuck loading screen on M1 mac/ Apple Silicon

16 Answers16