We have posted some best Android Emulators for Windows earlier. Now, here we have listed some of the best ones for Linux operating system too. Take a look:
Android-x86
If you are looking for something which will act as an interface between your UI and Linux machine, then you can use Android-x86 where it provides virtual machine that runs on your Linux OS. The operating system is designed for x86 machines. It is an open source that means the code of its Android base is available for everyone to use/modify. It has a stable release and runs on latest android version i.e. Oreo.
You can use the Android-x86 by just download its iso image from the official website and then creating a virtual machine on the Linux system. Push the image on the virtual machine that you have booted. You can face some issue if you use it for playing games because the emulator might turn irresponsive
Anbox
It’s another emulator known for its responsiveness. It is not specially an android emulator but a sandboxed Android Run Time (ART) that works on GNU/Linux systems. The emulator is fabulous in terms of its responsive nature and support Android 7.1. Like most of the emulators, you will not face any lagging issue in this case. But everything comes with some pros and some cons. The emulator doesn’t come with apps installed in it. When I tried to install one of my game’s app, the emulator didn’t have play store in it. If you are using it in developer mode, then you cannot just drag and drop your application. Rather to have to have ADB to install APK using the command ‘adb install <path_to_apk.apk> ‘.
You have to first download the kernel module and then install the ‘Anbox Snap’ before the final run. The Anbox official website has a complete documentation of the installation. You can visit the site and refer the documents.
Genymotion
One of the very popular Linux emulators and easy of use. Genymotion comes with a handy kit. The emulator has in-built Virtual Machine, and which comes with barebones. Genymotion let you easily download the apps as it consists of play store already in it. You have to just search for the app and can install the application. It is very good for all the apps including the ones that you randomly found and want to use. It is great tool to use app in developer mode because it supported by Android Studio.
From android version 4.1 to version 9.0 Pie, it supports all the platform and hence is a great emulator to use on Linux machine. If you are using it for playing games, then wait a second. This emulator is not for you. I am saying this because when I tried installing PUBG on the emulator, it shows that the app is not supported on this device. I have installed some other application also which worked when but then there were some input delays. So, I must say that the emulator is not helpful if you use it for playing games. Genymotion provides the customize screen sizes which makes it more interesting.
Android SDK
If you are looking for something that runs on various multiple virtual devices and which is supported by Google, then I am sure you are searching for Android SDK. Which runs on various machine such as Android Lollipop to Android Pie, WearOS, and even Android TV. Then you should use Android Virtual Device Manager.
You have to download the Android SDK on your Linux machine. Then go to ‘Tools’ and then ‘AVD Manager’. Now you can create more virtual machine and can start your development. It is noteworthy that a lot of developer use third party emulator because the Android SDK is very slow when it comes to loading. By it is one of the ones emulators for developers as it provides various feature such as running multiple instances and also support WearOS and Android TV. There is various other in-built setting which can also be set as per the need of the developer. If you are a developer, then must try it at least once.
ARChon
ARChon are for those who doesn’t want to install the emulator on the machine. They want to just to run the app. ARChon runs as chrome and you don’t require any Virtual Machine or emulator to download. Archon install just like chrome extension where you can search for various applications There are various website providing the articles on ‘how to convert normal apps to ARChon apps?’ After converting the app, you just have to run it directly in the chrome. I have done for app 2048 and that worked fine, and I hope you will also face positive results.
These are all the emulators we could possible find for development and for testing some random apps. But if you are looking them for gaming. Then don’t do that because you might face various issue such as lagging, support issue etc.
I would rather suggest using the emulators stated above for the testing and development purpose. If you face any issue while using these emulators, then let us know by posting to us in the comment section. These emulators will surely meet your expectations and requirements.
