Can Android Emulators for Windows Solve App Testing?

When it comes to testing Android apps, the question arises: Are Android Emulators for Windows sufficient to ensure app readiness for production?

The short answer is no.

While Android emulators play a crucial role in the software testing pipeline, they lack the reliability needed to deliver results that confirm an app’s readiness for real-world usage.

This guide explores how to set up an Android emulator on a Windows workstation, highlights the limitations of emulators in software testing, and introduces an alternative for achieving accurate, real-world results without the expense of acquiring physical Android devices.

What is an Android Emulator?

An Android Emulator for Windows is a tool that simulates the hardware and software configuration of Android devices on a Windows workstation. It enables testing of Android apps across various devices and API levels without requiring physical hardware.
While this article focuses on the Android Emulator provided by Android Studio, the official Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Android development, it is worth noting that other emulators exist. However, these alternatives often share similar limitations, making them insufficient as the sole option for app testing.

How do Android Emulators work?

Android emulators rely on platform virtualization to mimic the hardware and software of Android devices. This is achieved through tools like QEMU (Quick Emulator), which powers most emulators, including the one provided by Android Studio. The process involves complex translations to simulate device functionality, making it resource-intensive.

Platform Virtualization with QEMU:

• QEMU is an open-source tool enabling hardware and software emulation.
• It supports a wide range of host CPUs/OSs and emulates various guest CPUs/OSs.

Functionality of QEMU:

• Translates the Application Binary Interface (ABI) of the emulated device to match the host device.
• Allows the installation of an Android OS to run like any program on the host machine.

Performance and Optimization:

• The translation of CPU architectures can slow down emulation significantly.
• Hypervisors optimize performance by bypassing translation when the guest and host CPUs share the same architecture.

What’s a hypervisor?

In the event that the guest and the host devices have the same instruction architecture (eg., x86 Android system images and x86 Intel processor), QEMU can skip the ‘binary translation’ part and run the guest device directly on the host CPU. This is called hardware-assisted virtualization and requires a hypervisor to work.

Popular hypervisor components are Intel’s HAXM (Hardware Acceleration Execution Manager) for Windows and macOS and KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) for Linux.

x86 Android ABIs (Application Binary Interface, or system images) can support hardware acceleration on most computers. If your CPU supports it, the Android emulator will prompt you to enable or install the hypervisor to accelerate virtual device performance.

If you do get to use hardware acceleration, the Android emulator can run at speeds similar to that of your workstation CPU. But again, that’s a big IF. 

System Requirements for Android Emulator for Windows

Since version 25.3.0’s, you get the Android Emulator separately from Android SDK tools.

Hardware Prerequisites to use Android Emulators for Windows

• SDK version 26.1.1 or above and a PC/laptop with a 64 or 86-bit processor. 
• To work with Android 8.1 or above, you’ll need a webcam that can capture 720p frames.
• If the emulator prompts you to enable hardware acceleration, you’ll need HAXM version 7.2.0-the Intel hypervisor.
• Windows and Linux users may require more components, specific to their processor family:
  
  • Intel: Intel VT-x and Intel EM64T (Intel 64) support; Execute Disable (XD) Bit capability.
  • AMD (Linux): AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) support; SIMD Extensions set 3.
  • AMD (Windows): Android Studio v3.2 or above; Windows Hypervisor Platform API.

How to install the Android emulator for Windows

• Go to you Android Developer Studio console. 
• Next, go to Configure -> SDK Manager -> Android SDK. 
• Within this screen, under the ‘SDK Tools’ tab,  you’ll find the Android Emulator. 
• Check the box and click OK to install it.

Once you’re done with the installation, you’ll arrive at the Android Virtual Device (AVD) Manager. It helps you set up and configure your virtual Android devices. But, it’s important to be aware of the following pointers before you start using it.

• Device Type: This contains pre-configured, manufacturer-specific device profiles for TV, Phone, Tablet, and Wear OS. You can customize screen size and certain external capabilities or import your own profile.
  
  Note that the Google Play Store and the Compatibility Test Suite are available for a very limited number of devices, only the ones that meet the Android Compatibility Program criteria. It is not possible to add this capability to a cloned or custom device profile.
• System Image: This feature allows you to populate the virtual device with a system image/ABI and an Android OS version. ABIs come in ARM, x86 and x86-64 variants for different Android OS versions/APIs. Each ABI has a file size of about 900 MB.
  
  The emulator will recommend ABIs that match and/or are similar to the architecture of your workstation processor. You can pick other ABIs, but you’ll have to deal with lowered emulator performance. Again, only certain system images have Google APIs, which is what will give you access to Google apps like Maps, Gmail, etc.
• Verify Configuration: This lets you change previously assigned hardware/software profiles and configure startup settings for the virtual device (name, orientation, etc.)

Adjust the above variables, click ‘Finish’, and the emulator will launch a virtual device instance with your  specifications. It will be equipped with extended controls to adjust device rotation, geolocation, camera, fingerprint sensor, network latency, battery state, and more.

Now, you’re ready to test your web app, a project from Android Studio or upload an APK file from your device.

Alternatives to Android Studio Emulator

Android emulators like Bluestacks, Nox, and MeMu are widely used, particularly by gamers. However, these emulators are often unsuitable for comprehensive app testing due to limited functionality and potential risks.

Key Challenges with Emulator Alternatives:

• Limited Testing Capabilities: Most third-party emulators lack advanced controls for simulating real user conditions, such as incoming calls, language changes, and network variances.
• Security Concerns:
  • In July 2018, a cryptocurrency miner was discovered in the Andy Android emulator.
  • Some emulators force users to rate random apps or run ads that slow down performance.
• Performance Issues: Heavy ad creatives and bloated software can lag your system and disrupt testing workflows.

BrowserStack offers a powerful alternative to traditional Android emulators by enabling real device testing on the cloud. Skip the hassle of installing or troubleshooting emulators and seamlessly test your apps on real devices with unparalleled accuracy.

Disadvantages of using Android Emulator for Windows

Below are some key disadvantages of using android emulators:

• Incompatible CPU Architectures: Most Android smartphones use ARM v7a chipset, while PCs often use Intel (x86), leading to slow and inefficient emulation.
• High Disk Space Consumption: Virtual devices created by the AVD Manager can occupy significant storage, burdening the workstation and causing frequent crashes.
• Complex Hardware Acceleration Setup: Configuring hardware acceleration to improve performance is often complicated and prone to system failures during setup.
• Limited Real-World Testing: Emulators cannot accurately simulate real-world conditions like background processes, varying brightness levels, or full touch-gesture responses.

Use Real Device Cloud Instead of Android Emulator for Windows

Testing Android apps on emulators cannot provide reliable, real-world results. Emulators can’t replicate native performance, and testing at scale strains your system’s storage and resources. For accurate testing, real devices are essential.

Talk to an Expert

Why Choose BrowserStack?

BrowserStack offers access to thousands of real Android devices in the cloud. No need to purchase devices—just sign up and start testing across multiple devices and OS versions.

BrowserStack comes with a plethora of integrations for easy, hassle-free testing. Some of these integrations include:

• App Live (for manual app testing): Gradle plugin, Fastlane plugin, Jira, Trello, GitHub, AppCenter, TestFlight
• App Automate (for automated app testing): Appium, Espresso, XCUITest, EarlGrey

Key Features of BrowserStack

• A wide range of debugging tools, including Screenshots, Video Recording, Video-Log Sync, Text Logs, Network Logs, Appium Logs, Device Logs, and App Profiling.
• Support for responsive testing, network throttling, geolocation testing, and natural gestures, all on real devices.
• In-built ability to run accessibility testing to ensure app access for differently abled users.
• Easy, immediate parallel testing that can speed up tests by 10X and empower faster time-to-market without any compromise on app quality.

Conclusion

Don’t risk your app’s success by releasing them on Play Store without comprehensive testing on real devices. Every experiment and real-world QA experience has indubitably proved that you’ll miss out on bugs often major ones, if you do not run your apps through a gamut of real Android devices in different user conditions. 

Given the specificity and high standards of present-day app users, you can’t really get away with releasing faulty, bug-ridden apps. Your competitors are waiting for a slip-up on your part, as it gives your users a reason to switch to a different app. Ensure that they never have such reasons, and capture bugs before your users do by testing your apps in real user conditions.