How can I run Android apps in Windows 10?
Q
Can you recommend a free emulator program for Windows 10, so that I can download and use Android apps on my PC? A
The best free Android emulator for Windows is Bluestacks, which you can download from www. bluestacks.com. Although it’s designed for playing mobile games on your PC, it also lets you install other Android apps, so you can use them on the large screen of your monitor rather than your phone or tablet’s smaller display.
Once you’ve installed Bluestacks (this can take a while as it’s a hefty 400MB), you’ll see the Home screen, which includes links to the Game Center and ‘System apps’ (see 1 in our screenshot) such as Settings, Chrome and Camera (this uses your PC’S default webcam). To ‘install’ further apps, which actually means ‘emulate’ them, click the Play Store button 2 and sign into your Google account.
The Play Store will now load in Bluestacks, and let you browse and search for apps and games as you would on your Android phone or tablet. Once you’ve found an app you want to emulate, click the Install button in the topright corner of its page to ‘download’ it. You can then either click Open to start using the app or return to the Bluestacks Home screen – just click the house icon 3 in the top-left corner – and launch the newly added app from there. Bluestacks also creates desktop shortcuts for apps.
Apps that are optimised for tablets open horizontally to fill the main emulator window, while others are shown in a phone-shaped vertical window that you can resize using your mouse. To remove an app from Bluestacks, go back to its Play Store page and click Uninstall.