The copycat provides about all of the capabilities of a substantial Android device. You can simulate incoming earphone calls and textbook messages, specify the placement of the device, simulate different network speeds, simulate rotation and other hardware sensors, access the Google Play Store, and much more .
Testing your app on the copycat is in some ways faster and easier than doing indeed on a physical device. For model, you can transfer data faster to the copycat than to a device connected over USB .
The copycat comes with predefined configurations for versatile Android earphone, pill, Wear OS, and Android TV devices.
Watch the surveil television for an overview of some copycat features .
You can use the copycat manually through its graphic exploiter interface and programmatically through the control occupation and the copycat cabinet. For a comparison of the features available through each interface, see Comparison of Android Emulator tools .
Contents
- 1 Requirements and recommendations
- 2 Install the emulator
- 3 Android virtual devices
- 4 Run an app on the Android Emulator
- 5 Launch the Android Emulator without first running an app
- 6 Run the Android Emulator directly in Android Studio
- 7 Install and add files
- 8 Snapshots
- 9 Navigate the emulator screen
- 10 Perform common actions in the emulator
- 11 Screen recording
- 12 Screenshots
- 13 Camera support
- 14 Extended controls, settings, and help
- 15 Wi-Fi
- 16 Limitations
Requirements and recommendations
The Android Emulator has extra requirements beyond the basic system requirements for Android Studio, which are described below :
- SDK Tools 26.1.1 or higher
- 64-bit processor
- Windows: CPU with UG (unrestricted guest) support
- HAXM 6.2.1 or later (HAXM 7.2.0 or later recommended)
The use of hardware acceleration has extra requirements on Windows and Linux :
- Intel processor on Windows or Linux: Intel processor with support for Intel
VT-x, Intel EM64T (Intel 64), and Execute Disable (XD) Bit functionality - AMD processor on Linux: AMD processor with support for AMD Virtualization
(AMD-V) and Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3 (SSSE3) - AMD processor on Windows: Android Studio 3.2 or higher and Windows 10 April
2018 release or higher for
Windows Hypervisor Platform (WHPX)
functionality
To work with Android 8.1 ( API level 27 ) and higher system images, an attached webcam must have the capability to capture 720p frames .
Deprecation for 32-bit Windows systems
The Android Emulator was deprecated in June 2019 for 32-bit Windows systems. support for the 32-bit Windows copycat continues until June 2020, including critical bug fixes, but no new features will be added. If you are using the copycat on a 32-bit Windows system, you should plan to migrate to a 64-bit Windows system .
If you are using the copycat on a 32-bit Windows system, you can use the SDK Manager to install the latest translation of the copycat for 32-bit Windows .
Install the emulator
To install the Android Emulator, select the Android Emulator component in the SDK Tools tab key of the SDK Manager. For instructions, see Update your tools using the SDK Manager .
Android virtual devices
Each example of the Android Emulator uses an Android virtual device
(AVD) to specify the Android translation and hardware characteristics of the model device. To effectively test your app, you should create an AVD that models each device on which your app is designed to run. To create and manage AVDs, use the AVD Manager .
Each AVD functions as an independent device, with its own individual storage for drug user data, SD wag, and so on. By nonpayment, the copycat stores the drug user data, SD card data, and cache in a directory specific to that AVD. When you launch the copycat, it loads the exploiter data and SD circuit board data from the AVD directory .
Run an app on the Android Emulator
You can run an app from an Android Studio project, or you can run an app that ‘s been installed on the Android Emulator as you would run any app on a device .
To start the Android Emulator and run an app in your project :
- In Android Studio, create an Android Virtual Device (AVD)
that the emulator can use to install and run your app. - In the toolbar, select the AVD that you want to run your app on from the target device drop-down menu .
- Click Run
.
If you receive an error or warning message at the top of the dialogue, click the connection to correct the trouble or to get more information .
Some errors you must fix before you can continue, such as certain Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager ( Intel HAXM ) errors .
For macOS, if you see aWarning: No DNS servers found
mistake when starting the copycat, check to see whether you have an/etc/resolv.conf
charge. If you do n’t have this file, enter the following command in a terminal windowpane :ln -s /private/var/run/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf
Launch the Android Emulator without first running an app
To start the copycat :
- Open the AVD Manager .
- Double-click an AVD, or suction stop Run
.
The Android Emulator loads .
While the copycat is running, you can run Android Studio projects and choose the copycat as the prey device. You can besides drag one or more APKs onto the copycat to install them, and then run them .
Run the Android Emulator directly in Android Studio
Run the Android Emulator immediately in Android Studio to conserve riddle veridical estate of the realm, to navigate cursorily between the copycat and the editor program window using hotkeys, and to organize your IDE and copycat work flow in a unmarried application window .
To run the copycat in Android Studio, make indisputable you ‘re using Android Studio 4.1 or higher with version 30.0.10 or higher of the Android Emulator, then follow these steps :
- Click File > Settings > Tools > Emulator (or Android Studio >
Preferences > Tools > Emulator on macOS), then select Launch in a tool
window and click OK. - If the Emulator window didn’t automatically appear, open it by clicking
View > Tool Windows > Emulator. - Start your virtual device using the AVD Manager or by targeting it when
running your app.
Limitations
presently, you ca n’t use the copycat ‘s extended controls when it ‘s running in a tool window. If your development workflow depends heavily on the cover controls, continue to use the Android Emulator as a standalone lotion. In addition, sealed virtual devices—such as Android television and foldable devices—can’t be run in Android Studio because they have specialized UI requirements or authoritative functions in the unfold controls .
Install and add files
To install an APK file on the emulate device, drag an APK file onto the copycat screen. An APK Installer dialogue appears. When the facility completes, you can view the app in your apps list .
To add a file to the emulate device, drag the file onto the copycat sieve. The file is placed in the /sdcard/Download/
directory. You can view the file from Android Studio using the Device File Explorer, or find it from the device using the Downloads or Files app, depending on the device version .
Snapshots
A snapshot is a store image of an AVD ( Android Virtual Device ) that preserves the entire express of the device at the time that it was saved – including OS settings, application country, and drug user data. You can return to a write system state of matter by loading a snapshot whenever you choose, saving you the time of waiting for the operate system and applications on the virtual device to restart, a well as saving you the feat of bringing your app second to the state of matter at which you want to resume your testing. Starting a virtual device by loading a snapshot is much like waking a physical device from a sleep state, as opposed to booting it from a powered-off state .
For each AVD, you can have one Quick Boot snapshot and any count of general snapshots .
The simplest manner to take advantage of snapshots is to use Quick Boot snapshots : By default, each AVD is set to automatically save a Quick Boot snapshot on exit and load from a Quick Boot snapshot on start .
The first time that an AVD starts, it must perform a cold boot, fair like powering on a device. If quick Boot is enabled, all subsequent starts lode from the specified snapshot, and the system is restored to the state of matter saved in that snapshot .
Snapshots are valid for the system picture, AVD shape, and copycat features with which they are saved. When you make a change in any of these areas, all snapshots of the affected AVD become invalid. Any update to the Android Emulator, system effigy, or AVD settings resets the AVD ‘s saved state, so the next time you start the AVD, it must perform a cold kick .
Most controls for saving, load, and managing snapshots are in the Snapshots and Settings tab key in the Snapshots acid in the copycat ‘s Extended controls window .
You can besides control the Quick Boot options when starting the copycat from the dominate line .
Save Quick Boot snapshots
When you close an AVD, you can specify whether the copycat automatically saves a snapshot when you close. To control this demeanor, go as follows :
- Open the emulator’s Extended controls window.
- In the Snapshots category of controls, navigate to the Settings tab.
- Use the Auto-save current state to Quickboot drop-down menu to select one of the following options :
- Yes : Always save an AVD snapshot when you close the copycat. This is the default .
Note: When automatic pistol Quick Boot snapshots are enabled, you can skip saving a Quick Boot snapshot by holding theShift
key down when you close the copycat . - No : Do n’t save an AVD snapshot when you close the copycat .
- Yes : Always save an AVD snapshot when you close the copycat. This is the default .
Your choice applies entirely to the AVD that is presently open. You can not save snapshots while ADB is offline ( such as while the AVD is still booting ) .
Save general snapshots
Whereas you can merely have one Quick Boot snapshot for each AVD, you can have multiple general snapshots for each AVD .
To save a general snapshot, open the copycat ‘s Extended controls window, select the Snapshots category, and click the Take snapshot clitoris in the lower-right corner of the window .
To edit the name and description of the selected snapshot, click the edit button at the bottom of the window .
Delete a snapshot
To manually delete a snapshot, open the copycat ‘s Extended controls window, select the Snapshots category, select the snapshot, and click the delete button at the bottom of the window .
You can besides specify whether you would like the copycat to automatically delete snapshots when they become invalid, such as when the AVD settings or copycat version deepen. By nonpayment, the copycat will ask you if you ‘d like for it to delete invalid snapshots. You can change this rig with the Delete invalid snapshots menu in the Settings pill of the Snapshots acid .
Load a snapshot
To load a snapshot at any clock time, open the copycat ‘s Extended controls window, select the Snapshots class, choose a snapshot, and click the load push button at the bottom of the window .
In Android Studio 3.2 and higher, each device shape includes a Boot option dominance in the advance settings in the Virtual Device Configuration dialogue with which you can specify which snapshot to load when starting that AVD .
Disable Quick Boot
If you want to disable Quick Boot so your AVD always performs a cold boot, do the following :
- Select Tools > AVD Manager and click Edit this AVD
.
- Click Show Advanced Settings and scroll down to Emulated Performance.
- Select Cold boot.
Cold boot once
rather of disabling Quick Boot completely, you can cold boot just once by clicking Cold Boot Now from the AVD ‘s drop-down menu in the AVD Manager .
Snapshot requirements and troubleshooting
- Snapshots do not work with Android 4.0.4 (API level 15) or lower.
- Snapshots do not work with ARM system images for Android 8.0 (API level 26).
- If the emulator fails to boot from a snapshot, select Cold Boot Now for
the AVD in the AVD Manager and submit a bug report. - Snapshots are not reliable when software rendering is enabled. If snapshots
do not work, click Edit this AVD
in the AVD Manager and change Graphics to either Hardware or
Automatic. - Loading or saving a snapshot is a memory-intensive operation. If you do not
have enough RAM free when a load or save operation begins, the operating system
may swap the contents of RAM to the hard disk, which can greatly slow the
operation. If you experience very slow snapshot loads or saves, you may be able
to speed these operations by freeing RAM. Closing applications that are not
essential for your work is a good way to free RAM.
Use your calculator mouse pointer to mimic your finger on the touch screen ; choose menu items and input signal fields ; and click buttons and controls. Use your computer keyboard to type characters and embark copycat shortcuts .
Table 1. Gestures for navigating the copycat
Feature | Description |
---|---|
Swipe the screen | Point to the screen, press and hold the primary mouse button, swipe across the screen, and then release. |
Drag an item | Point to an item on the screen, press and hold the primary mouse button, move the item, and then release. |
Tap ( partake ) | Point to the screen, press the primary mouse button, and then release. For example, you could click a text field to start typing in it, select an app, or press a button. |
Double tap | Point to the screen, press the primary mouse button quickly twice, and then release. |
Touch and hold | Point to an item on the screen, press the primary mouse button, hold, and then release. For example, you could open options for an item. |
Type | You can type in the emulator by using your computer keyboard, or using a keyboard that pops up on the emulator screen. For example, you could type in a text field after you selected it. |
Pinch and spread | Pressing Control ( Command on Mac ) brings up a emergency gesture multi-touch interface. The shiner acts as the first finger, and across the anchor bespeak is the second finger. Drag the cursor to move the beginning sharpen . Clicking the leave mouse clitoris acts like touching down both points, and releasing acts like picking both improving . |
Vertical swipe | Open a vertical menu on the screen and use the scroll wheel (mouse wheel) to scroll through the menu items until you see the one you want. Click the menu item to select it. |
Perform common actions in the emulator
To perform coarse actions with the copycat, use the empanel on the mighty side, as described in board 2 .
You can use keyboard shortcuts to perform many common actions in the copycat. For a complete tilt of shortcuts in the copycat, compress F1 ( Command+/ on Mac ) to open the Help paneling in the Extended controls window .
Table 2. Common actions in the copycat
Feature | Description |
---|---|
Close![]() |
Close the emulator. |
Minimize![]() |
Minimize the emulator window. |
Resize | Resize the emulator as you would any other operating system window. The emulator maintains an aspect ratio appropriate for your device. |
Power![]() |
Click to turn the screen on or off. Click and hold to turn the device on or off. |
Volume up![]() |
Click to view a slider control and turn the volume up. Click again to turn it up more, or use the slider control to change the volume. |
Volume down![]() |
Click to view a slider control and turn the volume down. Click again to turn it down more, or use the slider control to change the volume. |
Rotate left![]() |
Rotate the device 90 degrees counterclockwise. |
Rotate right![]() |
Rotate the device 90 degrees clockwise. |
Take screenshot![]() |
Click to take a screenshot of the device. For details, see Screenshots. |
Enter zoom mode![]() |
Click so the cursor changes to the zoom icon. To exit soar mode, click the button again . rapid climb in and out in soar mode :
To pan in zoom mode, hold Control ( Command on Mac ) while pressing the arrow key on the keyboard . |
Back![]() |
Return to the previous screen, or close a dialog box, an options menu, the Notifications panel, or the onscreen keyboard. |
Home![]() |
Return to the Home screen. |
![]() |
Tap to open a list of thumbnail images of apps you’ve worked with recently. To open an app, tap it. To remove a thumbnail from the list, swipe it left or right. This button isn’t supported for Wear OS. |
Fold![]() |
For foldable devices, fold the device to display its smaller screen configuration. |
Unfold![]() |
For foldable devices, unfold the device to display its larger screen configuration. |
Menu | Press Control+M (Command+M on Mac) to simulate the Menu button. |
More![]() |
Click to access other features and settings, described in the next table. |
Screen recording
You can record video recording and sound recording from the Android Emulator and save the record to a WebM or animated GIF file.
The riddle record controls are in the Screen record tab of the Extended Controls window .
Tip: You can besides open the screen door recording controls by pressing Control + Shift + R ( Command + Shift + R on Mac ) .
To begin sieve recording, click the Start recording button in the Screen
record pill. To stop read, snap Stop recording .
Controls for play and saving the recorded video recording are at the bottom of the Screen record yellow journalism. To save the video, choose WebM or GIF from the menu at the bottom of the pill and chatter Save .
You can besides record and save a screen recording from the copycat using the follow command on the command line :
adb emu screenrecord start --time-limit 10 [path to save video]/sample_video.webm
Screenshots
To take a screenshot of the virtual device, click the Take screenshot button .
The copycat creates a PNG file with the diagnose Screenshot_yyyymmdd-hhmmss.png
using the year, calendar month, day, hour, moment, and moment of the capture. For model, Screenshot_20160219-145848.png
.
By default, the screenshot is saved on your calculator background. To change the localization to which screenshots are saved, use the Screenshot save location control in the Settings category in the copycat ‘s Extended controls window .
You can besides take screenshots from the command line with either of the follow commands :
screenrecord screenshot [destination-directory]
adb emu screenrecord screenshot [destination-directory]
Camera support
The copycat supports the use of basic camera functionality on your virtual device for earlier Android versions. Android 11 and higher supports the follow extra Android Emulator television camera capabilities :
- RAW capture
- YUV reprocessing
- Level 3 devices
- Logical camera support
- Emulating sensor orientation by using data from the sensor manager
- Applying video stabilization by reducing handshake frequency
- Applying edge enhancement by removing the upscaling usually done in the YUV pipeline
- Concurrent cameras
Virtual scene camera and ARCore
You can use the virtual scene television camera in a virtual environment to experiment with augment world ( AR ) apps made with ARCore .
For information on using the virtual scene television camera in the copycat, see Run AR apps in Android Emulator .
When using the copycat with a television camera app, you can import an double in PNG or JPEG format to be used within a virtual scene. To choose an effigy for consumption in a virtual picture, snap Add image in the Camera > Virtual scene images tab key in the Extended controls window. This feature of speech can be used to import custom-made images such as QR codes for use with any camera-based app. For more information, see Add Augmented Images to the fit .
Test common AR actions with macros
You can greatly reduce the time it takes to test common AR actions by using the preset macro in the copycat. For model, you can use a macro to reset all the device ‘s sensors to their default department of state .
Before using macro, follow the steps in Run AR apps in Android Emulator to set up the virtual picture camera for your app, run your app on the copycat, and update ARCore. then, follow these steps to use copycat macros :
- With the emulator running and your app connected to ARCore, click More
in the emulator panel. - Select Record and Playback > Macro Playback.
- Choose a macro that you want to use, then click Play .
During playback, you can interrupt a macro by clicking Stop .
Extended controls, settings, and help
Use the carry controls to send data, change device properties, command apps, and more. To open the Extended controls window, click More in the copycat panel .
You can use keyboard shortcuts to perform many of these tasks. For a complete list of shortcuts in the copycat, press F1 ( Command+/ on Mac ) to open the Help acid .
Table 3. Extended controls details
Feature | Description |
---|---|
Location |
The copycat lets you simulate “ my placement ” information : the placement where the emulate device is presently located. For case, if you click My placement ![]() Controls for the device ‘s placement information are organized under two tabs : Single points and Routes . Single points In the Single points yellow journalism, you can use the Google Maps webview to search for points of interest, barely as you would when using Google Maps on a earphone or in a browser. When you search for ( or click on ) a localization in the map, you can save the placement by selecting Save point near the bottom of the map. All of your save locations are listed on the right side of the Extended controls window . To set the emulators location to the location you have selected on the map, click the Set location button near the bed right of the Extended controls window . Routes like to the Single points pill, the Routes tab provides a Google Maps webview that you can use to create a route between two or more locations. To create and save a road, do the follow :
To simulate the copycat following the path you saved, select the road from the tilt of Saved routes and click Play route near the bottom right of the Extended controls window. To stop the simulation, snap Stop route .
The speed defaults to the Delay rate ( Speed 1X ). You can increase the rush by double ( Speed 2X ), treble ( Speed 3X ), and so on . |
Displays |
The copycat allows you to deploy your app to multiple displays, which support customizable dimensions and can help you test apps that accompaniment multi- window and multi- display. While a virtual device is running, you can add up to two extra displays as follows :
|
Cellular | The copycat lets you simulate respective network conditions. You can approximate the network rush for different network protocols, or you can specify Full, which transfers data american samoa quickly as your computer allows. Specifying a net protocol is constantly slower than Full. You can besides specify the articulation and datum net condition, such as roaming. The defaults are set in the AVD . Select a Network type :
Select a Signal strength :
Select a Voice status, Data status, or both :
|
Battery | You can simulate the battery properties of a device to see how your app performs under different conditions. To select a Charge level, use the skidder control . Select a Charger connection measure :
Select a Battery health value :
Select a Battery status value :
|
Phone | The copycat lets you simulate incoming call calls and textbook messages . To initiate a call to the copycat :
To send a textbook message to the copycat :
|
Directional Pad | If the AVD has the directional pad enabled in the hardware profile, you can use the directional pad controls with the copycat. however, not all devices can support the directing launching pad ; for case, an Android watch. The buttons simulate the following actions :![]() |
Fingerprint | This control can simulate 10 unlike fingermark scans. You can use it to test fingerprint integration in your app. This feature is disabled for Android 5.1 ( API horizontal surface 22 ) and lower, and for Wear OS . To simulate a fingerprint read on the virtual device :
|
Virtual sensors > Accelerometer |
This see lets you test your app against changes in device situation, orientation, or both. For model, you can simulate gestures such as tilt and rotation. The accelerometer does n’t track the absolute put of the device : it merely detects when a change is occurring. The see simulates the means accelerometer and magnetometer sensors would respond when you move or rotate a real device . You must enable the accelerometer detector in your AVD to use this manipulate . The restraint reports TYPE_ACCELEROMETER events on the adam, yttrium, and omega axis. These values include gravity. For exercise, if the device is suspended in out space, it would experience zero acceleration ( all of x, y, and omega will be 0 ). When the device is on earth and laying screen-up on top of a postpone, the acceleration is 0, 0, and 9.8 because of gravity .The manipulate besides reports TYPE_MAGNETIC_FIELD events, which measure the ambient magnetic field on the ten, y and z axis in microteslas ( μT ) .To rotate the device around the x, yttrium, and z axes, blue-ribbon Rotate and do one of the follow :
See Computing the device ‘s orientation course for more information about how yaw, pitch, and roll are calculated .
To side the device at 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees :
As you adjust the device, the Resulting values fields change accordingly. These are the values that an app can access . |
Virtual sensors > Additional sensors | The copycat can simulate respective position and environment sensors. It lets you adjust the pursuit sensors so you can test them with your app :
For more data about these sensors, see Sensors overview, Position sensors, and Environment sensors . |
Snapshots | See Snapshots. |
Screen record | See Screen recording. |
Settings > General |
|
Settings > Proxy | By default option, the copycat uses the Android Studio HTTP proxy settings, but this screen allows you to manually define an HTTP proxy shape for the copycat. For more information, see Using the copycat with a proxy . |
Settings > Advanced |
|
Help > Keyboard Shortcuts | This paneling provides a complete number of keyboard shortcuts for the copycat. To open this acid while working in the copycat, weigh F1 ( Command+/ on Mac ). For the shortcuts to work, the Send keyboard shortcuts option in the General settings pane must be set to Emulator controls (default) . |
Help > Emulator Help | To go to the on-line documentation for the copycat, suction stop Documentation . To file a wiretap against the copycat, chink Send feedback. For more information, see how to report copycat bugs . |
Help > About | See which adb port the copycat uses, equally well as the Android and copycat translation numbers. Compare the latest available copycat translation with your version to determine if you have the latest software installed . The copycat serial number is emulator- adb_port, which you can specify as an adb command line option, for example . |
Wi-Fi
When using an AVD with API level 25 or higher, the copycat provides a imitate Wi-Fi access point ( “ AndroidWifi ” ), and Android mechanically connects to it.
Read more: Game Gear
You can disable Wi-Fi in the copycat by running the copycat with the command-line parameter -feature -Wifi
.
Limitations
The Android Emulator does n’t include virtual hardware for the pursue :
- Bluetooth
- NFC
- SD card insert/eject
- Device-attached headphones
- USB
The watch copycat for Wear OS does n’t provide the Overview ( Recent Apps ) clitoris, D-pad, and fingermark detector .