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I am using Android Studio's device manager to run an emulated android tablet device on my Mac (M1). Specifically, the device targets API 30 and uses the arm64 architecture. By default, this device comes with the Chrome browser, version 91.

My goal is to update Chrome to the latest version possible (as of this post, version 108). Unfortunately, what I've tried either doesn't actually update Chrome or results in Chrome crashing immediately upon start up.

1. Clicking Chrome's Update Button - does nothing

The Chrome browser prompts me to update it, but clicking on this does nothing. The menu just closes.

Update Chrome; Newer version is available

2. Updating Chrome from the Play Store - can't select my device

I tried going through the Play Store instead. However, when I do this, it prompts me to select a valid device via a dropdown menu, and the emulator is not selectable in this dropdown.

3. Installing the APK via Android Debug Bridge - Chrome crashes

Finally, various places suggest using adb to install a Chrome APK file. This gist summarizes the process (remove old chrome, download the desired APK, and install it via command line).

I believe I'm supposed to download the "arm64-v8a + armeabi-v7a" version, because the architecture must match and my device manager is telling me my architecture is arm64:

Android 11 Google APIs arm64

When I install via adb, I get the "Success" message, and I can see in the app info on the emulator that Chrome is now version 108. However, when I attempt to turn it on, it crashes immediately.

For what it's worth, I tried every available APK architecture in the list just in case arm64 was wrong, and they all result in the same thing: "Success", but crashing upon startup.

Is it possible to update Chrome on an android emulator? Is there something I may be missing when installing the APK?

Let me know if more info is needed!

Auroratide
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1 Answers1

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So, posting this question was apparently enough info for Stack Overflow to give me a good "Related Questions" list, and I found an answer on Is Google Play Store supported in avd emulators?.

Essentially, only some images support the Google Play Store; I hadn't realized this. That was why my attempts 1 and 2 (update via Chrome or Play Store respectively) didn't work. Once I used an image that supported the Play Store, I was able to update Chrome just fine!

Inconveniently, none of the tablet images support the play store, but there's a workaround.

Getting a Tablet Emulator with Google Play Store

  1. Select an image that supports the Play Store (indicated by the icon in the Play Store column). I was only able to find these in the Phone section. Nexus 5X supports google play store
  2. Download one of the provided system images. We only care that this image is downloaded, and we don't actually need to create this device.
  3. Go back to the Device Manager and find your tablet image. Use its dropdown menu to Wipe Data and then Show on Disk. You may duplicate the image first, but wiping the data is important for the emulator to start on a clean slate. Menu showing options, notably including Wipe Data and Show on Disk
  4. Clicking Show on Disk should have brought up the files for that image. Locate config.ini and open it.
  5. Change PlayStore.enabled from false to true.
  6. Change image.sysdir.1, replacing where it says google_apis with google_apis_playstore instead. We downloaded this image on Step 2.
  7. Save and start up the emulator. You now have a tablet emulator with the play store enabled!
Auroratide
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