Android app and software

5 Free Ways to Run Android Apps on Your PC

Want to use Android apps on a PC? These are the apps, services, and OSes that can make it happen.

Ever wish you could run an Android app or game on your PC so you weren’t relegated to a tiny phone screen? Maybe you need to test a feature on Android, but don’t have an Android device handy. Your options will depend on what mobile device you own or what version of Windows you’re running, but here are a few ways to run Android (and its apps) on your computer.

Mirror Your Phone With Windows

For apps installed on your phone, you don’t need anything fancy to get Android on your PC. Microsoft’s Your Phone app allows you to connect your Android mobile device to Windows in order to access apps, view notifications and photos, and send messages. You can even add Android apps to Favorites or pin them directly to the Windows taskbar.

If you want to mirror your phone screen directly, just click the phone screen image in the Your Phone desktop app. Grant permission to the app on your phone, and your phone screen will be displayed in Windows. You can then navigate the phone screen with the click of the mouse.

This isn’t always the ideal solution. While the feature will work with many Android phone manufacturers, it works best with Samsung phones. Some features require a Windows 10 PC running the May 2020 Update or later with at least 8GB of RAM and Android 11. If you’re looking to play games, this may come with some delay and graphical blurriness, and you won’t be able to easily share files from your PC directly to an app in Android. But for quick access to Android apps you already have installed, it definitely works in a pinch.

Run Your Favorite Apps With BlueStacks

If you’re just looking to run a couple apps and don’t need the emulator to look like Android, you should try BlueStacks. Over the years, it’s become the best Android app emulator around, and it’s packed with features that ensure your apps and games run smoothly. Since it uses virtualization to emulate Android, you’ll want to jump into your computer’s BIOS and enable Intel VT-x or AMD-V, if your computer supports it, for best performance.

Install BlueStacks as you would any other Windows or Mac app. BlueStacks 5, the latest version of the software, takes up 5GB of space on your computer (plus any apps you download). Open the app, and you’ll be greeted with a customized home screen and access to the Play Store. Download any apps you want, and they will appear on the BlueStacks home screen and your Windows desktop as their own shortcuts. Just double-click an icon to run the app in question.

BlueStacks is great for apps that don’t have corresponding desktop apps, but the emulator really shines when it comes to games. The emulator features built-in mappings for your mouse and keyboard, which you can customize to the touch controls you find on different Android games.

You can also adjust the resolution, DPI, FPS, and amount of CPU or RAM allocated to the emulator, ensuring you get the best balance between speed and graphical fidelity. (This is useful given that BlueStacks is fairly resource-intensive, as many virtual machines are.)

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 you can download for personal use; you just need to first create an account on the website.

Genymotion uses VirtualBox to emulate Android, so you’ll either need to have VirtualBox installed on your PC or download the version with VirtualBox bundled. Install it like you would any other program, ensuring you select the Personal Use version during the wizard. (And, like BlueStacks, you’ll want to enable Intel VT-x or AMD-V from your computer’s BIOS if you have it.)

When you start Genymotion, it’ll present you with a list of device templates you can install—this determines the screen resolution, Android version, and resources allotted to the emulator. Install the template you want and double-click it to enter Android. You’ll be able to navigate around the home screen, launch apps, and emulate certain events like GPS location.

Note that you’ll start with a very barebones version of Android that doesn’t even come with many of Google’s apps or modern features, though you can add the Play Store by clicking the Open Gapps icon in the sidebar to install it.

Also, no matter which template you choose, you won’t get any custom versions of Android—picking the Samsung Galaxy S10 template, for example, won’t get you Samsung’s One UI. It just determines the resolution and specs of the virtual machine. (Genymotion does support Android versions from 4.4 all the way up to 10.0, though.)

Genymotion works well for exploring Android’s settings and other built-in features, though I wouldn’t necessarily use it to run individual apps, as it doesn’t integrate as well with your PC as something like BlueStacks. If Genymotion doesn’t suit your needs, Google’s official Android software development kit also comes with an Android emulator, though setup is more complex.

Run Android Directly on Your PC With Android-x86

If you’re looking for something a bit more full-featured, the Android-x86 project gets you as close as you can get to true Android on your PC. Android-x86 is an open-source project that ports Android to the x86 platform, allowing you to run it on your computer instead of an ARM-based phone or tablet.

To run Android-x86, you have a couple of options. If you want to run Android on its own, as a desktop operating system for your PC, you can download it as an ISO disc image and burn it to a USB drive with a program like Rufus. Then, insert that USB drive into the PC in question, reboot, and enter the boot menu (usually by pressing a key like F12 during the boot process).

By booting from your Android-x86 USB drive, you’ll either be able to run Android in a live environment—without having any effect on your PC—or install it to your PC’s hard drive for permanent usage (and better performance).

Alternatively, if you want to run Android-x86 on top of your existing operating system, you can download the disc image and run it inside VirtualBox. This is, again, a bit more advanced if you aren’t familiar with VirtualBox, but our guide to running Windows on a Mac can get you acquainted with the process.

The official site has some tips for getting Android-x86 up and running in a virtual machine as well. It’s more work than using something like BlueStacks, but it’s also closer to pure Android, which is a nice perk.

Install Android Apps From the Amazon Appstore

With Windows 11, Microsoft adds built-in support for Android apps, but for now it’s limited to those enrolled in the Windows Insider beta program, who can currently play around with 50 apps from the Amazon Appstore. You’ll also need a PC that can run Windows 11.

Windows 11 taps into a feature called Windows Subsystem for Android, which makes Android apps compatible with Microsoft’s own OS. You’ll need to install the Amazon Appstore from the Microsoft Store, which will prompt you to install Windows Subsystem. Here’s a full rundown.

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[Top 10] Best App Development Software Platforms of 2021

The Comparison of the Best Free Android and iOS Mobile App Development Software Tools and Platforms to create stunning high-quality Mobile Apps for your Business:

App development software is an application that helps with the app development process by providing functionalities like IDE, code-free developments, templates, API, Data synchronization, and Analytics.

It helps in faster development of the application. These tools provide APIs to ease the process of integration with backend services. It provides a visual development environment and makes the process of developing the software much easier.

It also provides features like hardware compatibility and assistance in workflow design. Many app development software can develop apps for desktops, mobile devices, and web browsers.

The below image will show you the Mobile App Development Process.

The app development platform is a complete suite of all required and interrelated tools. These tools allow the development of application, deployment, and thereby update them. It has functionalities for all the phases of development like designing, coding, deployment, integration, testing, etc.

These tools provide the facility for upgrades, advertising, and marketing.

The below graph will show us the statistics about the worldwide App Store downloads.

What You Will Learn:

List of Top App Development Software

1. Quixy
2. Zoho Creator
3. AppyPie
4. AppSheet
5. Bizness Apps
6. Appery.io
7. iBuildApp
8. Shoutem
9. Rollbar
10. JIRA
11. AppInstitute
12. GoodBarber
13. Caspio

Comparison of Best App Development Platforms

Software	Our Ratings	Best for	Platform	Deployment	Free trial	Price
Quixy

5 Stars Small to large enterprises Windows, Mac, Android, & iOS. Cloud-based Available Platform: $10/user/month, billed annually.
Solution: Starts from $500/month billed annually. Zoho Creator 5 Stars Small, Medium, and Large Businesses. Cloud-based, iOS, Android and PWA. Cloud, On-premises & Azure. 15 days Professional: $25/user/month billed annually,
Ultimate: $400/month billed annually. AppyPie 5 Stars Small, Medium & Large businesses. Android, iOS, & PWA. Cloud and On-Premises 14 days Basic: C$18/ app/month,
Gold: C$36 /app/month, Premium: C$60/app/month. Enterprise: Get a quote. AppSheet 5 Stars Small, Medium, and Large Businesses. Windows, Mac, Linux. On-Premises & SaaS Start for free Premium: $5/user/month
Pro: $10/user/month
Business: Get a quote. Bizness Apps 4.7 Stars Small & Medium Businesses. Android, iPhone, & Web-based On-Premises & SaaS 30 days Small businesses: $99 per month,
Standard: $300/month,
Gold: $360/month,
Platinum: $400/month. Appery.io 4.8 Stars Medium and Large businesses Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, & Web-based. Cloud-hosted & Open API. 14 days for Pro Plan Pro: $99 per month.
Team: $200 per month.
Enterprise: Get a quote. iBuildApp 4.5 stars Small & Medium businesses, & Agencies. Windows, iPhone, Android, Web App. — 15 days money-back guarantee. Company: $250/month, Business: $59.40/month,
Enterprise: Starts at $20000/year.

Let’s start with a detailed review of each platform.

Compare and Select The Best Mobile App Development Provider and Save Time

Fill out this short form to get the specific FREE recommendation for your needs:

#1) Quixy

Best for Small to Large Enterprises.

Solution: Starts from $500/month billed annually.
Platform: $10/user/month billed annually and starts with 10 users.
Enterprise: Contact the Company

Enterprises use Quixy’s cloud-based no-code platform to empower their business users (citizen developers) to automate workflows and build simple to complex enterprise-grade applications for their custom needs up to ten times faster. All without writing any code.

Quixy helps eliminate manual processes and quickly turn ideas into applications making business more innovative, productive, and transparent. Users can start from scratch or customize pre-built apps from the Quixy app store in minutes.

Features:

• Build the app interface the way you want it by dragging and dropping 40+ form fields including a rich text editor, e-signature, QR-Code scanner, Facial Recognition widget, and much more.
• Model any process and build simple complex workflows be it sequential, parallel and conditional with an easy-to-use visual builder. Configure notifications, reminders, and escalations for each step in the workflow.
• Seamlessly integrate with 3rd party applications through ready-to-use connectors, Webhooks, and API Integrations.
• Deploy apps with a single click and make changes on the fly with no downtime. Ability to use on any browser, any device even in offline mode.
• Live actionable Reports and Dashboards with an option to export data in multiple formats and schedule automated delivery of reports through multiple channels.
• Enterprise-ready with ISO 27001 and SOC2 Type2 Certification and all enterprise features including Custom Themes, SSO, IP filtering, On-Premise deployment, White-Labelling, etc.

Deployment: Cloud-based.
Platform: Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.

Verdict: Quixy is a completely visual and easy-to-use No-Code Application Development platform. Businesses can automate processes across departments using Quixy. It will help you to build simple to complex custom enterprise application faster and with lower costs without writing any code.

#2) Zoho Creator

Best for Developing apps 10x faster. Build web, iOS, and Android apps for your business.

Zoho Creator is a low-code platform that enables the rapid development and delivery of web and mobile applications. You no longer have to write endless lines of code to build an application.

It also provides key features like Artificial Intelligence, JavaScript, Cloud functions, third-party integrations, multi-language support, offline mobile access, integration with a payment gateway and more.

With over 7 million users worldwide and 6 million apps, our platform is powerful and flexible to adapt to your business needs. Zoho Creator has been featured in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms (LCAP), 2020.

Features:

• Create more applications with less effort.
• Connect your business data and collaborate across teams.
• Create insightful reports.
• Gain instant access to mobile apps.
• Uncompromising security.

Verdict: Build native mobile apps faster with Zoho Creator’s cross-platform app builder. Create apps on the web, publish and use them on your iOS and Android devices. No extra effort.

#3) AppyPie

Best for Small, Medium & Large businesses.

Price: AppyPie offers a free trial for 14 days on all the plans. For SMBs, it has three monthly subscription plans i.e. Basic (C$18 per app per month), Gold (C$36 per app per month), and Premium (C$60 per app per month). Yearly subscription plans are also available. You can contact the company for details about the Enterprise plans.

AppyPie will help you to build apps for multiple purposes. It has a wide range of app builder, right from Payment app builder to Worship app maker. There will be no need to resubmit the app after making the changes. It has app builder for small businesses, a restaurant app builder, real estate app maker, radio app builder, and much more.

Features:

• It has a radio app builder.
• It has a Prototyping tool for Android and iPhone.
• It will provide app analytics.
• It has multiple features like IAP, push messages, GPS, etc.
• The platinum plan will allow you to remove AppyPie branding.

Deployment: Cloud and On-Premises
Platform: Windows, Mac, & Linux.
Max Disk Space: 600 MB
Monthly bandwidth: 12 GB
Uptime: 99.9%
Customer support: Email, Chat, & Phone.

Verdict: Each app builder will come with certain features as per the specific needs of that app. With Enterprise plan there will be an unlimited bandwidth and disk space. It is easy to use as no programming skills are required. There is no development mode and it doesn’t support web development.

Website: AppyPie

#4) AppSheet

Best for Small, Medium, and Large Businesses.

Price: AppSheet is free for the apps made for personal use or for a single user. It has three pricing plans i.e. Premium ($5 per user per month), Pro ($10 per user per month), and Business (Get a quote). The Business plan is for mission-critical enterprise apps. AppSheet will allow you to start for free with Premium and Pro plans.

With AppSheet you will be able to deliver an app which is rich in the feature set. It is a no-code development platform and will allow you to develop and deploy multi-platform supported apps.

For the Enterprise solutions, it has features for Shared Innovation, Team Collaboration, Security & Governance, and Lifecycle Management.

Features:

• Background data syncing and offline mode.
• It provides functionalities for optimizing the performance and controlling the app life cycle.
• AppSheet will give you centralized management and increased productivity.
• With all the plans, it provides the features of custom branding and format rules.

Deployment: Cloud & On-Premises
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux.

Verdict: AppSheet provides you the functionalities for customizing the apps with features like GPS & maps, Image Capture, Barcode Scanner, Signature Capture, etc. It can provide customized platform training and priority support.

Website: AppSheet

#5) Bizness Apps

Best for small & medium businesses and freelancers.

Price: Bizness Apps has an individual plan for small businesses for $99 per month. There are three other reseller plans i.e. Standard ($300 per month), Gold ($360 per month), and Platinum ($400 per month).

It will allow you to build native iOS and Android apps. No need to have programming knowledge with Bizness Apps as it provides Drag-and-drop app builder.

It provides premium add-ons like Private App Store, Signature, Multiple Language Support, and for group management. It has simple and easy to understand design engine.

Features:

• You can access a google fonts library to select a font from over 800 fonts.
• It has ready templates for different industries and a set of 1000 icons.
• It has features for marketing, technology, and design.
• It provides 20 App Credits, App Integrations, Unlimited PWAs,
• For building, it provides features like Messages, Menu, Info-1-Tire, Info-2-Tire, Info-3-Tire, Mailing list, etc.

Deployment: Cloud & On-premises
Platform: Windows, Mac, & Linux.
Customer support: email (24*7) and Phone.

Verdict: Bizness Apps provides features like App analytics, Signature, and location-based push Notifications. With the Platinum plan, you will get features like App Design Services, Digital Marketing Assessments, and App Promotional Materials. As per the reviews, it doesn’t support Web app development.

Website: Bizness Apps

#6) Appery.io

Best for medium and large businesses.

Price: Appery.io has three pricing plans i.e. Pro ($99 per month), Team ($200 per month), and Enterprise (Get a quote). Yearly plans are also available. It provides a free trial of 14 days for the Pro plan.

This low-code development platform is for developing hybrid mobile apps, web apps, PWAs. Apps built are compatible with all popular devices and platforms. Appery.io will allow you to integrate your existing backend with your app. It provides the facility to import and use backend services in the app builder instantly.

Features:

• It provides features for team management.
• It allows 50K to 200K platform API calls per month.
• It provides the facility of App backup with all the pricing plans.
• With the Enterprise plan, it provides facilities like Enterprise-grade-SLAs, Private deployment, Account Management, etc.
• It supports customization and advanced development through custom UI components, writing custom JS or CSS, advanced storage layer, source code editing, model-based data structure, etc.

Platform: Cross-platform development.
Max Storage: 15 GB

Verdict: It has collaboration features for teams that will allow you to share apps in the browser and devices. It is suitable for programmers as well as non-programmers. It provides support to multiple frameworks like Ionic and Angular.

Website: Appery.io

#7) iBuildApp

Best for small & medium businesses, and Agencies.

Price: iBuildApp offers a 15 days money-back guarantee for all the plans. It has three pricing plans i.e. Company ($250 per month), Business ($59.40 per month), and Enterprise (Starts at $20000 per year).

With iBuildApp, there will be no limitation on the number of customers to use your developed app. 25 app features will help you to engage customers. It allows you to edit and update the app any time.

Features:

• Coupons and loyalty cards will help you to get repeated customers.
• It provides a promotional toolkit.
• Push Notifications.
• It allows you to create a custom feature.
• It supports App development for multiple industries like Healthcare, Radio Station, Event Planning, School & College, Restaurant Management, etc.
• It provides more than 1000 design templates.

Customer support: 24*5 full support.
Platform: It can develop an app for iPhone, Android, and Tablet devices.

Verdict: It provides features like integration with Zapier, content management, Google Maps Apps, Audio player, etc. It also has features like lead tracking, Menu App, and Event App Management Software, etc.

Website: iBuildApp

#8) Shoutem

Best for small to large businesses.

Price: Shoutem provides a free trial. It has three pricing plans i.e. Basic ($22.90 per month), Advanced ($58.90 per month), and Unlimited ($139.90 per month).

Shoutem is a Mobile App creator. It provides a drag-and-drop app designer. It can provide you a preview in the native preview app. It provides Re-Publish facility at a free of charge.

Features:

• It provides various Monetization features like E-commerce, Mobile Advertising, Promoting Local Business, and many more.
• Multiple content sources are supported.
• Automated publishing facility to iTunes and Google Play.
• It provides analytics to analyze your user behavior and helps you to optimize your app.
• It can be integrated with WordPress, Drupal, Ning, Facebook, and Twitter.

Platform: iOS and Android

Verdict: Shoutem will take efforts to update the app binary and thereby it will remain updated with the OS versions. Shoutem API will help you to sync your database. It also provides a facility for custom content modules.

Website: Shoutem

#9) Rollbar

Best for small & medium businesses.

Price: Rollbar provides a free trial for 14 days. There are four pricing plans i.e. Free, Essentials (Starts at $41 per month), Advanced (Starts at $83 per month), and Enterprise (Get a quote). The free plan is for hobbies and side projects. You will get all the features of the ‘Essentials plan’ except for the on-demand events.

Rollbar supports all popular languages and frameworks. The tool will help in root cause analysis by tracing the stack. It can trace all the data that you have to debug including request params, local var values, browsers, IPs, etc.

Features:

• You will get real-time visibility of errors.
• It has a feature of proactive triaging. This feature will allow you to assign owners to errors or you will be able to create a ticket in your issue tracking tool and this ticket will get resolved once the error gets resolved.
• It provides strong security by protecting your data with encryption at rest.

Deployment: Cloud and On-Premise.
Platform: Mac, Win, Linux.

Verdict: Rollbar provides seamless integration with the tools that you are using. It supports all programming languages and frameworks.

Website: Rollbar

#10) JIRA

Best for small, medium, and large businesses.

Price: JIRA offers a free trial of 7 days for a Cloud solution. For the cloud-based solution, it will cost you $10 per month (10 users). The on-premises solution, you can try it for 30 days. For the on-premises solution, you will have to pay $10 for the server (10 users) as a one-time payment. For Data Centers, the price will be $12000 per year for 500 users.

JIRA is a tool for agile teams that will help them in project management. It can be integrated with other developer tools. The tool will allow you to customize the workflow. Custom filters can also be created using JIRA Query Language.

Features:

• It has customizable scrum boards.
• It has flexible Kanban boards.
• Roadmap feature will allow you to draw big pictures and communicate plans.
• Agile reporting with real-time insights.

Verdict: JIRA provides mobile apps. It can be used for creating user stories, sprint planning, distributing tasks across teams, prioritizing and discussing the team’s work, and releasing the software. It provides real-time visual reports that will help to improve team performance.

Website: JIRA

#11) AppInstitute

Best for small businesses.

Price: A free trial is available for the product. It offers four pricing plans i.e. AppBuilder ($60 per month), AppBuilder Pro ($95 per month), AppBuilder Pro+ ($120 per month), and Reseller (Starts at $400 per month).

AppInstitute will allow you to create apps for various industries like Beauty salons, Radio stations, Sports & Fitness, coffee shops, etc. It has a drag-and-drop app builder. It provides guidance for launching, promoting, and marketing your apps.

Features:

• You will get full brand control.
• You will be able to provide calendar and booking system for adding events.
• You will be able to provide rich media on a regular basis.
• It also has features like Push notifications & Messages, Social Media Integrations, Geo Listings, Loyalty Program, Online Payments, etc.

Customer Support: It provides Online Chat Support.

Verdict: For App Marketing, it provides resources like an app promo website or social sharing tools. It will help you with hassle-free app publishing.

Website: AppInstitute

#12) GoodBarber

Best for small, medium, and large businesses.

Price: GoodBarber has four pricing plans i.e. Android Standard ($40 per month), Android Full ($60 per month), iOS Premium ($115 per month), and Native reseller ($240 per month). It offers a free trial for 30 days.

GoodBarber is a tool for developing news app, business app, and community app. It has monetization features. It will allow Developers to integrate the required features to the app. It also has features for user authentication.

Features:

• Manual or scheduled push notifications.
• It has features like beacons, couponing, loyalty cards, chat, CMS, and Notifications.
• It has 8 separate sections for Articles, Videos, Photos, Sound, Map, Forum, and Calendar.
• For advertising, it will allow you to connect with an external platform or create your own.
• It can be broadcasted everywhere regardless of the screen size.
• It supports loyalty cards, coupons, and club cards.

Platform: iOS, Android, and PWA.
Unlimited traffic and Unlimited downloads.

Verdict: GoodBarber supports the live broadcasting of audio and video content. It supports Push notifications for the web as well. For push notifications, it supports Chrome desktop & Android, Firefox desktop & Android, and Safari Desktop.

Website: GoodBarber

#13) Caspio

Best for small, medium, and large businesses.

Price: Caspio offers four basic plans and three business plans. Both basic and business plans include unlimited users. Four basic plans are Free, Explore ($36.25 per month), Build ($198.75), and Grow ($498.75 per month). Business plans are Silver ($1875 per month), Gold ($3125 per month), and Platinum ($4375 per month). A free trial is available for all the plans.

Caspio is a low code app development platform. It is for building database applications.

It is an all in one platform for creating database applications with features of visual application builder and powerful cloud database. It is a powerful, secure, and compliant platform. The tool provides interactive web-based reports.

Features:

• The application can be created in any language (Global Localization).
• It runs on AWS Infrastructure.
• Built-in integration is provided for various services like Microsoft Office Plugin and Google app Authentication.
• It supports Microsoft SQL Server as a backend.
• No need to have coding or development skills.

Deployment: Cloud & On-Premises.
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux.

Verdict: The solution is provided for industries like Healthcare, Media, Government, Education, Non-Profit, and Consulting. It gives you the freedom to deploy anywhere. Developed applications can be deployed on any websites.

Website: Caspio

Conclusion

AppyPie provides a wide range of solutions for building apps. AppSheet is a no-code development platform that will help you to develop and deploy multi-platform supported apps. Bizness Apps is for building native iOS and Android apps.

Shoutem is a mobile app creator. Rollbar supports all popular languages and frameworks and has features for root cause analysis. JIRA is a popular project management tool for agile teams. AppInstitute will provide you a full brand control.

GoodBarber provides various features and functionalities for developing news app, business apps, and community apps. Caspio is an all in one platform for building database applications.

AppSheet, Shoutem, JIRA, Caspio, GoodBarber, and Rollbar have affordable pricing rates. Rollbar provides a free plan and iBuildApp provides a money back guarantee.

Hope this article will help you in selecting the right App Development Software.

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