Alternatives to the android avd emulator [closed]

Question

So for me the emulator never works. And I don't want to USB debug. So my development cycle involves packaging a new apk for edits I make in Eclipse, and sending it to my phone through dropbox and installing and running the apk from there, noting the errors, and repeating the cycle.

I want to know if there are any other emulators or easier ways for testing an apk. Thanks.

Greenback

Answer 1

http://androvm.org/ is promising, it seems to work as well as the emulator does if not better but you have to do a little bit more configuration.

Androvm has now turned into http://www.genymotion.com/ which is even easier to use than every other alternative. I expect that this is what you will want to use.

The other option is adb over wifi, which will let you use your phone without doing the dropbox step http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1685736. For this to work you will need root though.

Medius

Answer 2

I followed Cyril Mottier's advice

http://cyrilmottier.com/2013/06/27/a-productive-android-development-environment/

and downloaded Genymotion wich works with VirtualBox.

There is no comparison between AVD and GenyMotion. Genymotion uses virtualization instead of emulation, giving us incredible performances.

You can download it here :

http://www.genymotion.com/

The only downside is that all available virtual machines run on API 16+ for now.

Otiliaotina

other downside is that it's a commercial software (not open source). I wonder if it could add some line of code inside your app, I guess not since it's an emulator, but that would be useful to know. – Ectogenous

other downside is that, it does not have tv/watch emulator – Galvanoscope

and not free even now :/ – Acrobatic

Answer 3

Visual Studio Emulator for Android, you can use them without installing Visual Studio http://www.techtimes.com/articles/72646/20150729/microsoft-outs-android-emulator-heres-how-to-use-it.htm

Has many features like the ones Google releasing with Emulator 2.0 (Not released currently)

Peddle

Answer 4

this link contains all Genymotion possible alternatives, these alternatives like:

• BlueStack.
• Android-x86.
• Windroy.
• YouWave.

Kathernkatheryn

Answer 5

Research posted on Nodeclipse Share.

All options are:

• Android SDK
• Android-x86
• BlueStacks (free while in beta)
• AndroVM and Genymotion are related (free and paid version)
• Windroy
• YouWave, read on the site (not free, 15-20$)

Rundgren