How to run Android apps on Mac M1

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The iOS ecosystem is already well-established, but many mobile apps lack Mac support. Currently, Windows 11 has integrated an Android emulator, allowing direct installation of Android apps. However, it seems that Mac has no such plans. After some searching, I found a virtual machine that works well, allowing you to use Android apps on Mac with relatively smooth performance.

Indeed, Bluestacks is convenient, but the ads can be quite annoying. I prefer some open-source, free, or one-time purchase software. It gives me a greater sense of control when using them.

Known issues

  • Webview doesn’t work in the AOSP version but works in the Google APIs version preview v3. However, Chrome doesn’t work.
  • No device skins
  • Video codecs not working
  • 32-bit ARM apps won’t work
  • Graphical glitches in some Vulkan apps
  • Popup on startup about not being able to find the ADB path (ADB will still notice the emulator if you have it installed though)
  • When building, it may be faster to start then cancel the Python-triggered build, and then reissue ninja -C objs install/strip versus letting the Python-triggered build finish.

How to use

The software only works on M1 Apple Silicon Macs. M1 (or equivalently capable) SoCs are required;

Go to the Github releases page, download a .dmg, drag it to the Applications folder, and run. You’ll first need to right-click the app icon select Open and then skip past the developer identity verification step.

How to configure

Edit /Applications/Android\ Emulator.app/Contents/MacOS/aosp-master-arm64-v8a/config.ini. Some notable options:

  • disk.dataPartition.size: the size of userdata. When reconfiguring, you’ll also need to delete all userdata*.img files in that directory.
  • fastboot.forceColdBoot , fastboot.forceFastBoot: whether to enable snapshots. The current default is snapshots disabled. Set fastboot.forceColdBoot=no,fastboot.forceFastBoot=yes to enable snapshots.
  • hw.lcd.density: Virtual display DPI.
  • hw.lcd.width , hw.lcd.height: Virtual display dimensions.
  • hw.ramSize: RAM limit for the guest. (2GB minimum)

How to wipe data

Remove all userdata*.img files in /Applications/Android\ Emulator.app/Contents/MacOS/aosp-master-arm64-v8a/.

How to install Android apps on Mac M1

Download APK Editor Studio and click the “Install APK” button. You can find the emulator in the list. If not, try refreshing or reopening the emulator. Then, select the APK and wait for a few minutes. You will find that the app is already in the emulator. Now, enjoy it!

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