But if you want to properly emulate Android on Windows, call on Andy OS.

If you just want to play popular casual games or run simple apps, BlueStacks is a more hassle-free solution. The best way to get Android on your desktopĪndy OS is pretty simple to set up, highly customizable, and gives you a complete Android experience. If you want to install custom ROMs or change to a different launcher, you can. But you can also root the Android operating system through Andy OS, allowing you more customization within the OS itself. For starters, you can change the way it runs in the virtual machine, allocating more RAM, for example, to make it run faster. I experienced the occasional glitch when running the application, although in general, it works pretty smoothly.Īndy OS is great for 'power users' because it can be customized in a number of ways. Once you've downloaded and installed the software, you simply run the application and go through the Android configuration options as you would on a first-run of a regular mobile device. In order to run such applications, macOS users must now install emulator software that runs old versions of the Mac OS in a window on the macOS desktop. Andy OS runs through VirtualBox virtual machine, which comes bundled with the installer.

Is it easy to use?Īndy OS isn't quite as simple to use as BlueStacks, in the sense that it requires a little bit more setup.

While it's a shame it isn't pre-installed with the latest OS (KitKat 4.4), it's up to date enough that it should run most apps. This is handy for playing certain types of action games, or racing games, for example.Īt the time of writing, Andy OS runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2. But there's much more to Andy OS than just running apps: the software also supports notifications, widgets, file browsing (including access to the local file system), application data syncing, and full multi-touch gestures.Īndy OS is great for mobile gaming, since it lets you use your phone or tablet as a remote control for the desktop emulator.

Mac emulator 10.9.5