Software & Apps Apps The 5 Best Android Emulators for Mac in 2021 Play Android games on your Apple computer by Joana Simoes Writer Joana Simoes is a freelance technology writer who specializes in Microsoft Office, iOS, Windows, and Mac technologies. our editorial process Twitter LinkedIn Joana Simoes Updated on January 04, 2021 Apps Best Apps Payment Services Tweet Share Email There are some Android apps on the market today that even Mac users would like to get their hands on. Whether it's a game, productivity app, or something else, if you're using a Mac computer, you can still get access to Android apps. All you have to do is use an Android emulator. But not all emulators are the same, so we've reviewed emulators to bring you this list of the best Mac Android Emulators on the market. 01 of 05 Best Overall: Nox Player What We Like Easy to install. Able to connect a controller. Free to use. What We Don't Like Sometimes lagged on startup. Nox Player has quite a few amazing attributes, one of which is that it is completely free. One major feature that stands out for Nox Player is that if you're able to connect a controller to your Mac then you can also use it with Nox Player, making playing video games much easier. It is really easy to install so even if you're a rookie to emulators you should be able to get Nox Player up and running with no problem. Download Nox Player 02 of 05 Most Popular: Bluestacks 3 What We Like Easy to use. Stable. What We Don't Like Not great for developers. With Bluestacks 3 you are getting an emulator that's been around long enough to get any issues ironed out, but it also means there are a lot more people using it. Unfortunately, more users mean there could be more lag happening while you're playing. Bluestacks 3 is one of the emulators that can handle most of the games with heavy graphics. Download Bluestacks 3 03 of 05 More Than Just Games: KO Player What We Like Can use it with all Android apps. Completely free. Supports OpenGL & hardware acceleration. What We Don't Like Focus isn't strictly on gaming. If you want an emulator for more than just gaming purposes then KO Player is the emulator for you. It is going to allow you to use basically any Android App on your Mac. KO Player is also another emulator that's completely free. Even so, this may not be the right emulator for you if you're strictly looking for an Android emulator for Mac just for gaming purposes because while you can use KO Player for gaming, it's not optimized strictly for that purpose. Download KO Player 04 of 05 No Installation Required: AR Chon What We Like Easy to use. No installation required. What We Don't Like Not as stable as the others. This might be the black sheep of the bunch because unlike all the other emulators on this list it doesn't require any kind of installation. AR Chon is actually a Google Chrome extension so you don't have to install any extra software onto your Mac. Because it's Google chrome extension and not an actual software installation, it doesn't run as smoothly as the other emulators for Mac. Access AR Chon 05 of 05 Best for Developers: Android Studio What We Like Extremely clean and stable. Great for developers. What We Don't Like Too complicated for beginners. This is emulator by Google is available to everyone. It doesn't have as many bells and whistles as the other mass marketed emulators but its definitely more stable. This is a more complicated software to use and more directed towards developers as it has all the things needed to create and design your own apps. But beware: this emulator isn't for the rookie emulator for Mac user. Download Android Studio Call out your sus friends on both Intel and M1 Macs Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit