For apps already installed on your phone, there’s no need for anything fancy. Microsoft’s Phone Link app can connect your Android device (and iPhone) to Windows in order to access apps, view photos, check notifications, send messages, change device settings, and more. You can set this up by installing the Phone Link app on a Windows PC and the Link to Windows app on your Android phone, then connect the two by scanning a QR code. Note that basic features will work with any Android device, but the app works best with Samsung phones. Keep in mind that games will suffer some delay and graphical blurriness, and you won’t be able to easily share files from the PC directly to an app in Android. But it works in a pinch for quick access to apps you already have installed, and reading and sending texts from a computer. Intel’s Unison app is an alternative app that works similarly.
Run Your Favorite Apps With BlueStacks
If you’re just looking to run a couple of apps and don’t need the emulator to look like Android, try BlueStacks. Over the years, it’s become the best Android app emulator around, making it a great solution for games and apps that don’t have a corresponding desktop version. BlueStacks 5 takes up 5GB of space on your computer (plus any apps you download). Open the app to be greeted with a customized home screen and access to the Play Store. Download any apps, and they will appear on the BlueStacks home screen and your Windows desktop as their own shortcuts. Double-click an icon to run the app in question.
If you specifically want to play Android games, consider installing BlueStacks X, a cloud-based solution that allows you to stream games without the need to download them first. For this reason, there are no storage requirements with BlueStacks X.
The emulator features built-in mappings for mouse and keyboard, which can be customized to the touch controls found on different Android games. You can also adjust the resolution, DPI, FPS, and amount of CPU or RAM allocated to the emulator, ensuring the best balance between speed and graphical fidelity. Since BlueStacks uses virtualization to emulate Android, you may want to jump into the BIOS and enable Intel VT-x or AMD-V, if your computer supports it, for best performance. You may also be able to search for “Turn Windows features on or off” in Windows and check the Virtual Machine Platform option. BlueStacks does, unfortunately, come with some ads and clutter, but it’s not as intrusive as it once was, and it’s a small price to pay for the functionality you get—especially considering the Android version options it offers.
Emulate Full Android Experience With Genymotion
If you’re looking to explore the Android operating system itself—rather than individual apps—Genymotion is a decent emulator. Its main product is designed for developers and costs money to use, but there is a free version of the software that can be downloaded for personal use; you just need to first create an account on the website. Genymotion uses VirtualBox to emulate Android, so either download the version with VirtualBox bundled or install VirtualBox separately. During the download process, make sure to select the Personal Use version during the wizard. (And enable Intel VT-x or AMD-V from the computer’s BIOS, if you have it.) When you start Genymotion, it will present a list of device templates to install—this determines the screen resolution, Android version (Android versions 5 through 14.0), and resources allotted to the emulator. Install the desired template, but note that this won’t give you any custom versions of Android. Picking the Samsung Galaxy template, for example, won’t include Samsung’s One UI. Double-click the template to enter Android. You can then navigate around the home screen, launch apps.
