Android Apps in Windows

[Zangetsu]

This is good for all windows users as well as Android users.

now you can run android apps on windows..yes its possible now

Source: Run Android apps on Windows - Tech2.in.com

"BlueStacks is an app player for Windows, which can play Android apps faster than it can run on a phone and that too, on a full-screen. The app includes 10 pre-loaded apps and one can add up to 26 more apps of their choice. Favorite apps can be pushed directly from the phone onto the PC using an Android app via internet route

[MyGeekTips]

Nice Share!!!!!!

[fz8975]

+1 for that..nice share

[chetnan]

Very good application. Eros application also come.

[abhidev]

nice one Zangetsu...downloading now

[Sam]

what does "via internet route mean"? we need to give app link? or can we try predownloaded apps too?

[fz8975]

i think its just for preloaded apps

[sameer.pur]

You can sync your device's downloaded apps with the BlueStacks player, although I haven't tried that. I would be interested to know how the syncing is done. I believe it's asking for a facebook login.

Although I have been able to install the app I was developing on the BlueStacks player locally.

From what I have gathered this is same as Emulator available with Android SDK with tweaks. It does have better response time and perfroms smoothly.

I was looking into this because of my current project requirements

[Zangetsu]

Thanx guys...

Originally Posted by abhidev

nice one Zangetsu...downloading now

yes..do post the feedback after testing it...


I will jot down the main points here:
- BlueStacks is an app player for Windows, which can play Android apps faster than it can run on a phone and that too, on a full-screen.

- Favorite apps can be pushed directly from the phone onto the PC using an Android app via internet route

- The software is nothing, but a simple virtual Android operating system, which simulates an Android phone or UI.

- The BlueStacks Android (Gingerbread) virtual machine creates a hardware environment with a limited amount of storage (around 363 MB) for installing apps and 262 MB of SD card storage space.

Note: There are a few (or many) apps that will not function on BlueStacks, due to reasons such as incompatible hardware (for example there is no wireless network available here and apps that need the wireless network will not function). Also a few apps cannot be installed under the free license of BlueStacks.

Pro version will be launched soon

[sameer.pur]

Originally Posted by Zangetsu

- BlueStacks is an app player for Windows, which can play Android apps faster than it can run on a phone and that too, on a full-screen.

I will partially agree on that. I feel Galaxy SII is faster.

Originally Posted by Zangetsu

- The software is nothing, but a simple virtual Android operating system, which simulates an Android phone or UI.

I will have to say incorrect because it's just a APP player. You can only select the Apps from the sidebar gadget. It doesn't simulate more than DVM (Dalvik Virtual Machine) functionality. There isn't an app drawer or Homescreen.
You won't be able to play (use/emulate) widgets/live wallpapers etc. It also doesn't have the top notification/status bar.

[onlytanmoy]

thanks for sharing.

[Vyom]

Nice! Cant' wait to try some Android apps, before my Android phone is shipped tomorrow? -

[Kola2842]

Great , i was waiting for this kind of app for long.

[abhidev]

hey can't i download apps separately and then install???

[Vyom]

Ok. So after facing a couple of problems installing Blue Stacks, I have came up with some recommendations, that I would like to share.

First Windows Installer 4.5 is required by Blue Stacks. If you get an error, "This installation requires Windows Installer 4.5", then download it from here->
Windows Installer (Windows XP/2003) - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com (for Windows XP and 2003). Rest can google it.

Second, .Net framework 2.0 SP2 is also required. Now, it happened to me that even after installing the framework, I was getting the error. So, I figured that the version I installed was actually Compact framework 2.0 SP2. So get the one required from here,
Download: .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

After having both of them, now you are ready to install Blue Stack.

Now, I must tell you, that the actual application runs really slow. The apps lags BIG time to experience it to its true potential. Or it could be just my system.

[sameer.pur]

Originally Posted by abhidev

hey can't i download apps separately and then install???

No I believe you can't without having knowledge of ADB (Android Debug Bridge) which is part of Android SDK. If you want to learn more about it, search for adb commands or PM me.

Originally Posted by vineet369

Now, I must tell you, that the actual application runs really slow. The apps lags BIG time to experience it to its true potential. Or it could be just my system.

It may be your system, the pre-installed apps works smoothly. It is in no way faster than 1GHz proccy phones, but I feel it is better in app running than some low-end phones (sub-10k ones). Android Emulator that comes with SDK is powerful enough if you can tweak it.

[simransingh]

but it take about 1gb space after installation

[noob]

Originally Posted by simransingh

but it take about 1gb space after installation

so what? don't you have 1 GB space ?

[simransingh]

sometime i even not have 200 mb apace and saying about 1024mb.

[d6bmg]

Looks good, but very few of us know that installing android sdk is another way to 'test' any app in PC. Obviously, you can create any app in that sdk. HDD space might be a constraint, as total sdk takes ~10GB space.

[sameer.pur]

Originally Posted by d6bmg

Looks good, but very few of us know that installing android sdk is another way to 'test' any app in PC. Obviously, you can create any app in that sdk. HDD space might be a constraint, as total sdk takes ~10GB space.

Not entirely true. My total development environment is only ~4GB. And I haven't skipped a single package for installation. That includes my Eclipse installation as well. A non-developer may choose to go with just a single api. The basic installation setup would be 40MB to download. After installing it you need to select the packages and the Android OS 4.0 (API 14) would be ~200MB to download (SDK Platform + ARM EABI v7 System Image). After extraction (automatically managed by SDK Manager) it would all come to maximum 400MB IMO. Then you need to create an AVD (Android Virtual Device) which will take 250MB + size of SDCard you choose to create.