Emulate Android on Your PC With Genymotion

Do you love Android? Do you love it so much that you’d like to use it all the time, even when you’re sitting at your PC? This might be taking the idea of being an geeky savvy Android lover a little too far.

Just as you may emulate a second copy of Windows in a virtual environment for testing purposes, so you can do the same with Google’s mobile operating system. Not all that long ago I looked at how this can be achieved with VirtualBox and a freely downloadable ROM, but now here is another more impressive and stable option to share — Genymotion.

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The method I’m about to run through with Genymotion still uses VirtualBox as its basis. This time however, there are a couple of key differences.

Firstly, there is no need to have VirtualBox installed in advance as the installer includes it.
Secondly, it is possible to emulate specific devices — so you could run a Nexus 7 within Windows 8.

So, let’s jump in and get started.

Download Genymotion

The first thing you’ll need to do is sign up for an account with Genymotion. Pay a visit to the website, click the Sign Up button and run through the process of creating an account — this is completely free.

If you want to download a copy of Genymotion, you’ll have to create an account first.

An email will be sent out to you. Click the link it contains to activate your account and then you’ll be able to download the software by clicking the grey button to the upper right hand corner of the page — if you’re prompted to login, just do so using the credentials you have just set up.

You can then go ahead and download the software itself by clicking the Windows 32/64 bits (with VirtualBox) link — there are also versions available for Linux and OS X, but I’m going to concentrate on the Windows version.

This is also a great way to try out Android for anyone who wants to see how the operating system works before they get their hands on a tablet. Whatever you use Genymotion for, it can be put to various uses, and it is probably the easiest and most comprehensive method of Android emulation available.