Android Desktop Software
Android is one of the most popular mobile computing operating systems and powers a diverse range of phones, including the low-end ones and the high-end flagship. The good thing about Android is that other than running it on mobile devices, it can also run on the desktop with a suitable emulator. Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world, but just because it’s meant for mobile doesn’t mean it can’t be installed on the desktop. There are many ways to get Android.
Looking to have the best and top free Android apps on your smart phone? Wondering which app will work the best for you? Here is a list of the top 50 free Android apps that you will love to know about and which are a must have for any Android smart phone owner.
Free Android Manager For Windows
Android Apps Manager
One Stop Solution to Install, Uninstall and Backup Android Apps
- Backup your music, photos, videos, contacts, SMS, Apps etc. to computer and restore them easily.
- Manage, export/import your music, photos, videos, contacts, SMS, Apps etc.
- Phone to Phone Transfer - Transfer everything between two mobiles.
- Highlighted features such as 1-click root, gif maker, ringtone maker.
- Fully compatible with 3000+ Android devices (Android 2.2 - Android 8.0) from Samsung, LG, HTC, Huawei, Motorola, Sony etc.
You can simply download the 50 free Android apps to computer, and then install the apk to your Android devices via TunesGo.
The android phones have created a revolution in the world. Whatever we need is accessible from our smartphones. But sometimes it becomes difficult when we want to access the apps on our phone through our desktop. The solution to this problem is a host of free Android apps that let's you run your apps on your Mac or Windows pc. Below are listed some of the such most popular free Android apps. We have also included some apps that have pc versions available.
1. BlueStacks
BlueStacks is free to download and lets you run your apps and games on your pc without draining your phone's battery. You can transfer files between your mobile and pc. BlueStacks also enables you to download apps directly on your computer.
You can get it here: http://www.bluestacks.com/
2. Andy
Andy lets you synchronize your mobile and desktop easily. It keeps your android OS updated all the time. You can use your phone as a remote control while playing games on your pc. Download it here: http://www.andyroid.net/
3. AMIDuOS
AMIDuOS is the perfect computer app for android versions Lollipop and Jellybean. It runs your smartphone apps on Windows 7,8 or 10 pc and tablets. 3D acceleration and Open GL makes the graphic heavy games run smoothly without any glitch. The link to download: http://www.amiduos.com/
4. GenyMotion
One of the free Android apps, this one is a gem. Many android developers prefer to do their device testing using GenyMotion. It supports Google Play services and is a much reliable app free of bugs. You need to install Virtualbox before you can run this. Visit https://www.genymotion.com/ to download it.
5. Jar of Beans
This emulator runs the android Jelly bean version. It can be run as an executable file without the need of installing. It presents you with a number of configuration options.
Get it here: https://www.wondershare.com/mirror-emulator/download-best-android-emulator-for-pc-mac-windows.html
6. Droid4X
Droid features enhanced performance of graphics rendering and Android kernel. It has a compatibility rate of 99% running all apps on the pc. It is the first multi touch supported simulator. The website url is: http://www.droid4x.com/
7. Windroy
This emulator preserves all the originality of android from UI to Dalvik virtual machine. It provides full porting of Android on Windows devices. you can get it here: http://windroy.software.informer.com/4.0/
8. MoboRobo
Moborobo is an easy way to arrange all the data on your phone. It analyzes the data on the phone and separates it in different categories like data, images, videos, music and apps. You can download apps from the Mobo Market, which is an app store like Google Play. Download MoboRobo here: http://www.moborobo.com/
9. Xamarin Android player
Being developed by a programming based company, it is best for developers. It is almost bug free. It requires Virtualbox to work. You can download it here : https://xamarin-android-player.s3.amazonaws.com/installer/Windows/XamarinAndroidPlayerx32.exe (32 bit)
https://xamarin-android-player.s3.amazonaws.com/installer/Windows/XamarinAndroidPlayerx64.exe (64 bit)
10. Whatsapp for PC
Instant messengers are the in thing today and whatsapp is the most popular of all. You can send messages, photos files and even call without having to pay anything. You can run this on your pc by going to https://web.whatsapp.com/ and following the instructions.
11. SHAREit
Share it has been a very popular phone to phone file transfer free Android app. It can now be used to transfer files between any smartphone and your pc wirelessly using bluetooth or NFC connectivity. The website is: http://www.shareitforpc.com/p/lenovo-shareit-for-windows-8.html
12. AirDroid
AirDroid gives full access to your phone from PC or Mac. You can handle calls, sms and notifications on your computer screen at ease.
Get it here: https://www.airdroid.com/
Google Android Desktop Software
13. Gmote Server
Gmote Server helps you use your phone as a remote control by connecting with your phone via Gmote. You can control various functions related with music and movie playback like play, pause, stop, increase or decrease volume. Download it at: http://gmote-server.en.lo4d.com/
14. Mobogenie
Apart from being an Android manager, Mobogenie lets you download varied content for free using your pc's bandwidth. You can uninstall stock apps and backup your phone's data with just one click. It is available at: http://www.mobogenie.com/in/product/mobogenie-pc.html
15. Android Studio
It is the official app from Android which you can use to run your apps on pc. But this software is mostly for developers who engage in creating apps or testing them. The link for downloading is: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
16. Wondershare MobileGo
It is one of the most powerful android files manager fro your pc. You can download, install. import and export files using one click. You can create backups and restore your device too. Try it for free http://mobilego.wondershare.com/
17. ShowBox for pc
Showbox is an android app for watching, downloading and streaming movies and TV series. The free android app now can be installed on your pc by going to https://showboxa.com/showbox-apk/. You need to have an android emulator installed to run this.
18. Vibosoft Android Mobile Manager
Vibosoft gives you unlimited control of the data and apps of your home. It can organize your apps, contacts and messages and export them to your Pc. The link is: http://www.vibosoft.com/android-mobile-manager.html
19. Manymo
Quick to start, this lightweight Android emulator is used for developing, testing and automation. It can be tried for free: https://www.manymo.com/
20. Syncios iOS & Android Manager
Apart from having all the features of an emulator, it also offers audio and video converter and ringtone maker. It is totally free: http://www.sync-droid.com/
21. QTADB
It gives access to files, data and can be used to manage and synchronize the Android device with Mac, Linux as well as Windows PC. The download link is: https://qtadb.wordpress.com/download/
22. 91 PC Suite
You can access all the settings of your smartphone including backup and import, installing and uninstalling of apps, etc.
Get it here: http://91-pc-suite-android.en.lo4d.com/
23. MOBILedit
It is a central toolbox which provides quick access and easy modification of your phone's content. It also creates auto backup of your data while you are browsing it. You can try it at: http://www.mobiledit.com/mobiledit
24. Android SDK
This emulator created by Android itself lets you explore all the software and hardware features of the phone. It cannot be used to make calls.
Link: http://developer.android.com/tools/devices/emulator.html
25. YouWave
Youwave plays out your games and apps on the pc. You can check out how an app performs on your pc before installing it on your phone.
Link: http://youwave.en.softonic.com/
26. AndRock
Androck is an computer software that runs all your messaging services like whatsapp, Snapchat and Tango on your pc. Link: http://www.androck.co/
27. Nox App Player
It gives the best performance and maximun compatibility to play your android games on the pc. Download: http://en.bignox.com/#p1
28. Androcontroller
You can control your phone with ease via your pc using free android app. Get it at: https://androcontroller.jaleco.com/
29. Wondershare Dr. Fone for Android
The best pc software for recovering lost data of your phone such as contact,audio,video,sms, documents. Try for free: http://www.wondershare.net/ad/dr-fone/dr-fone-android.html
30. Kingo Android Root
Root your phone and get access to admin level permission with Kingo. Link: https://www.kingoapp.com/android-root.htm
31. Apowersoft Phone Manager
One step phone management software for viewing, transferring, backing up and restoring of your pone data. Download: http://www.apowersoft.com/phone-manager
32. SnapPea
Simple and easy to use, SnapPea allows you easy management of pone data through a pc. The link is: http://snappea.en.softonic.com/
33. APK Installer and Launcher
View, install and launch APK files using this free software. Link: http://download.cnet.com/APK-Installer-and-Launcher/3000-20432_4-75915554.html
34. Pushbullet
It connects your Android or iOS with pc and enables you to chat, send links and texts, receive notifications. Download: https://www.pushbullet.com/apps
35. MyPhoneExplorer
You can pair your phone and pc using WiFi, USB cable or Bluetooth and access and edit phone content. Try for free: http://www.fjsoft.at/en/downloads.php
36. Pushline
A nice pc app for managing notifications, calls and messages via your pc. It is free: http://www.getpushline.com/
37. SRS-Root
An one click rooting solution for your phone to get rid of tethering problems. Download: http://download.cnet.com/SRS-Root/3000-20432_4-75862706.html
38. Tenorshare Android Data Recovery
Phone data recovery with the most professional and powerful tool available at: http://www.tenorshare.com/products/android-data-recovery.html
39. Mobikin Doctor for Android
A powerful program to recover lost data like contacts, sms and pics from your phone. Try for free: http://www.mobikin.com/download.html
40. Mobisynapse
An Android pc manager and Outlook Sync which supports USB or WiFi connection. Download: http://mobisynapse.software.informer.com/2.2/
41. Droid Explorer
With simplicity of windows interface, Droid Explorer lets you install/uninstall and explore apps from the pc. Link: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Mobile-Phone-Tools/Droid-Explorer.shtml#download
42. Mobikin Assistant for Android
One of the earliest data retrieving programs for backup of phone data. Get it here: http://www.mobikin.com/download.html
43. One Click Root
A fast, simple and safe one click rooting solution for your smartphone. Link: https://www.oneclickroot.com/download/
44. Mobikin Transfer for Mobile
One of the widely used transfer software for Android and iOS devices. Try for free: http://www.mobikin.com/download.html
45. Android Multi-Install Tool
Lets you install multiple APK files on your Android device using the debugging mode via pc. Download: http://www.freewarefiles.com/Android-Multi-Install-Tool_program_98937.html
46. Android Manager WiFi
It is a free software that syncs phone and pc and enables edit and backup of phone data. It can be found at: http://download.cnet.com/Android-Manager-WiFi/3000-10440_4-75322116.html
47. Odin3
You can update your phone OS, firmware and overwrite system files using this pc app.It is free: http://odin3.en.lo4d.com/
48. Android Commander
Featuring a dual panel interface, this is a fast and small size Android phone manager. Link: http://android-commander.en.lo4d.com/
49. Bluetooth Phone Transfer Software
A Bluetooth file transferring program for Android and iOS devices and pc. Download for free: http://bluetooth-phone-transfer-software.en.lo4d.com/
50. CyanogenMod Installer
This lets you install the best Android OS Cyanogen in your phone through your pc. Get it here: http://cyanogenmod-installer.en.softonic.com/
These are some of the free Android apps that you need to check out. Which one did you list the most? Let us know. If this guide helps, don't forget to share it with your friends.
Android is one of the most popular operating systems for small handheld devices (smartphones, tablets, smart watches etc) and other electronic gadgets such as streaming TV boxes, smart TVs etc.
Being developed by Google, Android is a stable and mature Operating System which can be easily extended and enhanced by downloading and installing apps (there are millions of Android apps available) to offer an enhanced user experience.
Did you know however that Android can also be installed on a regular PC computer?
There are some excellent Android OS flavors available if you want to bring the android culture in your PC as well.
In this article we have carefully screened out the best android OS software for PCs so that you can run your favorite Android applications (games etc) smoothly on your Personal Computer.
Let’s see the list below:
Table of Contents
BlueStacks
BlueStacks is nothing but an Android emulator for your PC. It’s like having an Android phone but having it on your computer. Basically, you can download any Android application through BlueStacks on your PC or laptop.
BlueStacks is great to play Android games on PCs and is also one of the fastest mobile gaming platforms available with lower CPU and memory usage.
It helps you to get faster gameplay and better graphics, and at the same time saves your phone’s battery and storage space.
Currently, there are more than 370 million people using BlueStacks and 212 countries have access over it. It is also free which makes it an excellent choice for using Android OS on a PC computer.
There are 3 steps involved to start enjoying Android games and apps with Bluestacks:
- Download and install Bluestacks on your Windows computer.
- Download the game or app of your choice from the Google play store (within BlueStacks).
- Customize your controls or use the built-in controls and start playing.
Although there are many other alternative emulators online, Bluestack is considered one of the best and is certainly one of the most popular options.
PrimeOS
PrimeOS is basically a desktop optimized version of Android for laptops and desktops. Their mission is to liberate the power of Android and empower everyone with its productivity.
This software is using Android x86 based OS for PCs to give a complete desktop experience similar to Windows or MacOS with access to millions of Android applications.
You can play any Android games with a keyboard and mouse to get full comfort. The software is designed to give you the best of both worlds (Android flexibility with million of apps and power of a PC or laptop computer).
With the key mapping functionality, you can assign keyboard keys to Android game controls.
What I like about PrimeOS is that you can install it on your computer in dual-boot mode together with your Windows OS. This means that you will create a separate disk partition for PrimeOS so that every time you power up your computer you will have the option of booting into either Windows or PrimeOS.
Chrome OS
Chrome OS is for people who spend most of their time on the web. It’s a Desktop Operating System from Google that provides a fast, simple and more secure computing experience. You can download a copy of Chrome OS and install it on Chromebook computers.
To run Android apps on Chrome OS, you need to use the Google Play Store app on supported Chromebook models, sign in to Play Store and then under settings you need to enable “Install apps and games from Google Play on your Chromebook,”.
From there on, you can download and install Android apps on your Chromebook laptop device.
Bliss OS-x86
Bliss OS-x86 is an open source Android-based operating system for PC computers and tablets. Hardware wise, this Android OS flavor can be installed and run on any Windows/Linux PC, Chromebook, Macbook or Tablet released in the last 4 years (i.e 2016 and later).
The current version of Bliss uses the Android 9.0 Pie codebase and is designed to work with both the mobile systems as well as with desktop and laptops. The new Bliss OS 12 will be based on Android 10.
Their main focus of Bliss OS is to provide quality ROMs that can be installed on as many hardware platforms as possible. This can run on most of your devices, preserving customizations and options. The x86 variant is of course for Desktop PC computers that are equipped with x86/x86_64 compatible CPUs.
The User Interface can be configured as either Desktop UI or Tablet UI based on the launcher being used.
Phoenix OS
Phoenix OS supports both 32-bit and 64-bit computers and is one of the best options in this list (currently supported and maintained by the developers).
The current version development is based on Android 7.1 which is a fairly new and stable version. It comes in two versions, the default one which is for PCs and another version for ARM hardware processors.
You’ll need at least 2GB internal hard disk storage to install the Phoenix OS on your computer and the beauty of it is that when installed it does not affect the original document system.
Moreover, you can even install it on a USB which should be more than 6GB capacity and high-performance.
With this software, you’ll get to have the PC browsing experience along with the fun of the android operating system. It enables you to have multiple fully resizable windows open at a time. The Phoenix OS is an excellent choice for those who want to have a full-fledged android experience on their windows PC.
OpenThos
OpenThos is a relatively new Android operating system for PCs that lets you enjoy both Android and Linux applications side by side. The apps can be run on a windowed mode enabling you to multitask and manage several apps at a time.
It uses the Android Lollipop kernel and runs only on computers with 64-bit technology. You also don’t need to install any driver as it will detect your PC or laptop automatically. However, OpenThos doesn’t include Playstore so you need to get that from a third-party site.
Since this is a Chinese app, you will have some difficulty to download and install the OS. Also, there are not that many English instructions online.
Remix OS for PC
Remix OS started out as a very promising Android OS for computers but the developers (jide) stopped maintaining it. However you can still download the software and check it out, although it uses the codebase of the old Android Marshmallow 6.0 version (based on Android-x86).
The taskbar of the system and right-click function is similar to Windows 10. Remix OS has a super easy installation process and you can utilize the system on an older PC as it’s easier to operate compared to Linux or Windows.
The hardware requirements are pretty low, with 2 GHz dual-core processor, 2 GB RAM and minimum 8 GB of hard disk space. It also works on both 32 and 64 bit systems.
Android-x86
This OS option has the goal of being a “complete solution for Android on common x86 platforms.” according to the developers. As they say on the official website, “You may think Android-x86 as an Android BSP (Board Support Package) of generic x86 platforms.”
There are tons of software that lets you use Android on PC but not all work the same. Android-x86 is one of the finest open-source systems for your x86 or x64 computer.
It provides a wide range of supports such as a multi-touch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, camera, and many more features.
The Android-x86 uses the Linux kernel 4.19.15 which enables it to support a wide variety of hardware. Overall, it is one of the most resourceful Android OS systems out there. Currently, the developers are working to support Android 10 as well (the current version is 9).
LineageOS
The original name of LineageOS was “Cyanogen” which was a very popular custom ROM used for flashing smartphones with an enhanced OS.
Lineage is of course based on the Android OS and is free and open-source. It offers customization for your personalization and preference as everyone is unique and your device should be too.
Although LineageOS is mostly installed on smartphones and tablets by users, it can also be installed and run on Windows or Linux PCs. Here is a video showing how to install it on a PC and dual-boot with Windows 10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGB_OV0yCUo
Because this software has a very big community, it is actively developed and supports even the latest Android versions.
Moreover, with its enhanced tools and exclusive APIs, it will turn any device into the perfect device for apps development.
Koplayer
Koplayer is an Android emulator that allows you to run any Android apps or games on your computer. It has several other features, but particularly designed for Android gamers and content creators.
One of the most popular features of this emulator is the video capture feature. You can record directly from the emulated device’s screen. So, you’ll be able to share the gameplay you recorded. Moreover, the emulator has its own marketplace for you to download the apps.
Genymotion
Genymotion is an Android emulator with pure simplicity and performance. All you have to do is three clicks and Genymotion is up and running. It integrates perfectly into your developer’s environment. Simply just pick from the list any mobile device that interests you. Then select the Android version to start testing.
There are various versions of Genymotion. The Desktop version is the one which can be installed on PC computers and thus emulate many Android versions, apps etc. It is free for personal use, therefore you can run Android on your Windows/Mac/Linux computer with no cost.
Final Words
There are tons of Android OS systems out there. However, you need to choose the right one that will let you have a smooth user experience and a trustworthy interface.
Keep in mind that you might need to install and test different options from the list above until you find something that can work flawlessly on your specific computer hardware.