To run Android applications, we can use an Emulator or a real device. In this tutorial, I will show you how to install the Emulator first!
By default, maybe when creating a new Android project, Android Studio will set up an Emulator for us, our example is as follows:
But if you don’t want to use this Emulator, you can install a new Emulator.
Please select Device Manager in the application menu above to get started! The Device Manager window will display on the right as follows:
Click Create device, and you will see the following window appear:
Similar to when creating a new Android project, we can also install Emulator for different devices such as phone, tablet, wearOS, TV or Automotive. In my example, I will use phone only.
After selecting the device, you need to select the specific device on which you want to run your Android application. Depending on your needs, please choose accordingly. There are devices that will support Play Store and you should choose these devices like me:
Click Next guys!
You need to download the System Image for the Android operating system on which you will run the application. Depending on your needs, please choose the right one! Here I will select the Android 10 operating system and then click the Download button next to the word “Q” of the Release Name column. The download process will take place as follows:
Please click the Finish button after the download is complete!
Another tool that you should also install is Intel Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager (HAXM). In a nutshell, HAXM is virtualization support software that uses Intel’s Virtualization Technology to help us run Android applications on Emulators smoother.
In the above window, you will see Android Studio saying “HAXM is not installed”. Please install HAXM by clicking “Install Haxm” guys!
Depending on the RAM your device has, please adjust the amount of RAM to suit your Emulator! I will use 2G RAM for the Emulator, then click Next:
HAXM has been installed. Click Finish guys!
If you have problems installing HAXM with Android Studio, please install it directly. I have instructions here.
In the Emulator installation window, please click Next to continue.
This window allows us to set the name of the Emulator. You can name it as you like.
I’m using Pixel 4, Android API 29 with orientation as Portrait. Orientation is the type of emulator that display vertically (Portrait) or horizontally (Landscape) guys!
Here, Android Studio also allows us to install some Advanced features in the Show Advanced Settings section:
For simplicity, I will not change anything in this Advanced Settings section, guys!
Click Finish, you will see a new Emulator appear in the Device Manager window as follows:
And you also see it appear in the Run Configuration menu.
From now on, you can use this Emulator to run your Android application!