Macos Android Simulator

OS X Yosemite Simulator remix by ellistomas. Mac OS X Sierra (10.12.0) by -Apple-Inc. Mac OS X 10.7 by PigVenomPV. OS X Yosemite X Kirby Simulator by honnybean. Mac OS Simulator by ownh. OS X Yosemite Simulator remix by ZAWSZEANONIM. OS X El Capitan Simulator 2 by Jethrochannz. OS X Yosemite Simulator. Jun 18, 2018 Mac compatibility: Sounds obvious, but not all emulators run on macOS. If you'd like a little more information about using these emulators, take a look at How to run Android apps on Mac. Mac compatibility: Sounds obvious, but not all emulators run on macOS. If you'd like a little more information about using these emulators, take a look at How to run Android apps on Mac.

While working on a bug in one of my projects recently, I found an issue that I could only recreate on an Android device. However, due to some cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) issues on my server, I had to serve my development environment from a changed hostfile that had a specific subdomain of my project.

With the ability to use a remote Chrome debugger from your desktop to a mobile device, you can use an emulator and still have your full Chrome debugging capabilities. The only problem then, is how to get the host file to match your desktop environment. Following these steps will allow you to do just that!

By accepting this deal you are reborn and start a new life in a new house living with a group of people (they are all girls) similar to you. Your job as a guide to the after life is very simple: You guide stray souls to the afterlife. Feb 12, 2021 Here are some of the best Android emulators for Mac. Bluestacks is one of the most popular Android emulators for Windows and is probably the best Android emulator for macOS, as well. This emulator is built primarily for mobile gamers and claims to provide a “PC-like” gaming experience for your mobile apps.

Pre-Requisites

In order to do this, you’ll need to install a few things first:

During installation, it will ask you if you want to setup an emulator. You’ll want to install all of the related Intel Virtualization packages, as it will greatly increase your speed of the emulator.

Download and install the android-platform-tools. This will include adb command directly on your path for you to utilize
- For macOS, I suggest using the Homebrew package manager and running brew cask install android-platform-tools
- For Windows, I suggest using the Chocolatey package manager and running choco install adb
- For Linux, you’ll want to check with your package manager for one of the two above-mentioned package names

Setup Steps

Once you have Android Studio installed, we’ll need to setup an emulator. To do so, open the application:

Then, press “Configure” in the bottom right corner. Then press the “AVD Manager” in the sub-menu.

You’ll see a popup window that will show you the list of virtual devices. These are devices that will be used in order to run an emulator. You may already have a virtual device setup from the initial setup of Android Studio. They include the version of the operating system you use when you boot up the device. While the virtual device that was setup out-of-the-box is fine for most operations, we’ll want to setup an older version of the emulator. This will allow us to change the host file in Android, which requires root (something the default images won’t allow).

Select Create Virtual Device, then select a device type. In my example, I selected Nexus 5, but any device definition of a relatively modern phone should work.

As mentioned before, the default images that are provided will not allow us to replace the host files. In order to do so, we have to download an older Android image (and one that does not include Google Play Store). To do this, I selected the x86_64 Android 7.1.1 (non Google API version) image to download and then selected Next.

It’s worth noting that we specifically must select a non-Google version, otherwise our future commands will not work (per Google’s restrictions on Google API images).

After this step, proceed to name the Android Device. I’d suggest you name it something without any spaces in order to run a command later that you’ll need to run. In this case, I called the image Nexus5.

Handling the Emulator

Once the AVD is initially setup, open your terminal, and find your installation path of Android Studio.

For MacOS, this should be under ~/Library/Android/sdk
For Windows, this should be C:Users<username>AppDataLocalAndroidsdk

Once in that path, you want to run a specific emulator command:

For example, given that I’m on macOS and my AVD name is Nexus5, I ran:

This will start the emulator under specific pretenses. These pretenses will allow you to write to any file on your OS, including the host file.

Once you’re done with running the emulator, open a new tab and run the following commands (in a folder you want to have the host file within):

adb root
adb remount
adb pull /system/etc/hosts

Upon running these commands, you’ll find a hosts file. This file is the file that tells your OS what path a given domain has. You can, for example, map example.com to go to a specific IP address, similar to how DNS works for most domains.

Inside the emulator, the IP address 10.0.2.2 refers to the host OS. For example, if you’re running a local server on your Windows/MacOS/Linux machine on localhost:3000, you can access it using 10.0.2.2:3000 from the Android emulator.

Knowing these two things, you can change the host file to make example.com refer to the host by adding the following to the host file:

Pushing the Changes

Once you’ve made the changes to the host file that you want to have changed, you’ll have to push the host file to the OS of the AVD:

adb push ./hosts /etc/hosts
adb push ./hosts /etc/system/hosts
adb push ./hosts /system/etc/hosts

While only one of these host file locations is needed to replaced, it’s easier to run all three than only run one to see if it worked

In order for the changes to the host file to take effect, you’ll have to restart the emulator. In order to do so, you’ll want to press and hold the power button off to the right of the emulator. Then, press “Restart”.

If you close the emulator and re-open it using the command above, it may work, but I’ve found instances where it seems to reset the host file, making you go through the whole process again

Seeing the Results

Finally, you’re able to sideload the Chrome APK’s x86 variant in order to load the example codebase.

So, for example, using the above hostfile as an example, we can visit example.com:8000 when running the development mode for the project’s GitHub code, you’re able to see a preview of the Unicorn Utterances website from a different domain.

And that’s it! You now know how to modify and update the host file for an emulated Android device. I hope this has helped with your development usage!

Corbin Crutchley

Corbin Crutchley is a fan of anything tech related. Always looking for new ways to learn and grow, he spends most days tinkering on a machine of some kind. He has experience with Python, Angular, React, and NativeScript. Corbin cares passionately about documentation and always wants to contribute back.

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Important:The information in this document is deprecated in Xcode 9. For Xcode 9 and later, see Simulator Help by choosing Help > Simulator Help in Simulator.

Simulator app, available within Xcode, presents the iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch user interface in a window on your Mac computer. You interact with Simulator by using the keyboard and the mouse to emulate taps, device rotation, and other user actions.

The chapter presents the basics of using Simulator. You can perform these steps using your own iOS app or, if you do not have an app to use, with the HelloWorld sample code. For more detailed information on interacting with Simulator and using it to test and debug your apps, refer to the later chapters in this guide.

Access Simulator from Xcode

There are two different ways to access Simulator through Xcode. The first way is to run your app in Simulator, and the second way is to launch Simulator without running an app.

Running Your iOS App

When testing an app in Simulator, it is easiest to launch and run your app in Simulator directly from your Xcode project. To run your app in Simulator, choose an iOS simulator—for example, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, or iPhone 6 + Apple Watch - 38mm—from the Xcode scheme pop-up menu, and click Run. Xcode builds your project and then launches the most recent version of your app running in Simulator on your Mac screen, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Note: If you are testing an app with a deployment target of iPad, you can test only on a simulated iPad. If you are testing an app with a deployment target of iPhone or universal, you can test on either a simulated iPhone or a simulated iPad.

Running Your watchOS App

To run your WatckKit app, choose a combination of an iOS device and watchOS device from the Xcode scheme pop-up menu. For example, to run the watch app in a 38mm watch paired with an iPhone 6, choose 'iPhone 6 + Apple Watch - 38mm' from the scheme pop-up menu.

Running the WatchKit target launches two simulators, one for the iOS device and one for the watchOS device. Figure 1-2 shows an iPhone 6 and a 42mm watch running in two different simulators.

Running Your tvOS App

To run your tvOS App, choose a tvOS device from the Xcode scheme pop-up menu. Running the tvOS target launches the most recent version of your app in a simulated new Apple TV device, as shown in Figure 1-3.

Launching Simulator Without Running an App

At times, you may want to launch Simulator without running an app. This approach is helpful if you want to test how your app launches from the Home screen of a device or if you want to test a web app in Safari on a simulated iOS device.

To launch a Simulator without running an app

Launch Xcode.
Do one of the following:
- Choose Xcode > Open Developer Tool > Simulator.
- Control-click the Xcode icon in the Dock, and from the shortcut menu, choose Open Developer Tool > Simulator.

To launch a watchOS Simulator without running an app

Launch Xcode.
Do one of the following:
- Choose Xcode > Open Developer Tool > Simulator (watchOS).
- Control-click the Xcode icon in the Dock, and from the shortcut menu, choose Open Developer Tool > Simulator (watchOS).

Simulator opens and displays the Home screen of whichever simulated device was last used.

View the Installed Apps

From the Home screen, you have access to all of the apps that are installed in the simulation environment. There are two ways to access the Home screen in Simulator from your app:

Press Command-Shift-H.
Choose Hardware > Home.

Use the installed apps to test your app’s interaction with them. For example, if you are testing a game, you can use Simulator to ensure that the game is using Game Center correctly.

iOS Device Home Screen

Much like the Home screen on an iOS device, the simulator’s iOS Home screen has multiple pages. After clicking the Home button (or accessing the Home screen through the Hardware menu), you arrive at the second page of the Home screen. To get to the first page, where all of the preinstalled apps are found, swipe to the first Home screen by dragging to the right on the simulator screen.

On the Home screen, you see that all of the apps that have been preloaded into Simulator. See iOS Device Home Screen.

The apps that you see on the Home screen are specific to the iOS device simulation environment. Because Passbook and the Health app are available only for the iPhone, these apps don’t appear if you are simulating a legacy device or an unsupported device type.

watchOS Device Home Screen

The Home screen for a simulated watchOS device behaves the same as it would on an actual device. You can click and drag to simulate the finger dragging around the screen and launch an app by clicking on it. Figure 1-4 shows the home screen of a 42mm watch with a developer app, the Lister sample code.

Use Safari to Test Web Apps

From the Home screen, you can access Safari within Simulator. Use Safari to test your iOS web apps directly on your Mac.

From the Home screen, click Safari.
In the address field in Safari, type the URL of your web app and press the Return key.

If your Mac is connected to the Internet, it displays the mobile version of the URL you specified. For example, type apple.com into the address field and press Return. Safari displays the Apple website. See Figure 1-6.

Use Maps to Simulate Location Awareness

Simulator provides tools to assist you in debugging your apps. One of the many features you can debug in Simulator is location awareness within your app. Set a location by choosing Debug > Location > location of choice. The menu has items to simulate a static location or following a route.

A simulated watchOS device with the location set to None checks the paired iPhone device for the location.

You can specify your own location, which can be seen in the Maps app.

From the Home screen, click Maps.
Choose Debug > Location > Custom Location.
In the window that appears, type the number 40.75 in the latitude field and the number -73.75 in the longitude field.
Click OK.
Click the Current Location button in the bottom-left corner of the simulated device screen.

After completing this task, notice that the blue dot representing your location is in New York, NY, near the Long Island Expressway, as shown in Figure 1-7.

Change the Simulated Device and OS Version

Simulator provides the ability to simulate many different combinations of device type and OS version. A device type is a model of iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. Some iPhone devices can also have a paired Apple Watch. Each device-OS combination has its own simulation environment with its own settings and apps. Simulator provides simulators for common device-iOS, device-watchOS-iOS device, and device-tvOS combinations. You can also add simulators for a specific combination you want to test. However, not all device type and OS version combinations are available.

Note: To test apps for the iPad mini, use a simulated iPad with the same pixel resolution as the iPad mini.

You can switch between different device-OS combinations. Switching closes the window for the existing device and then opens a new window with the selected device. The existing device goes through a normal OS shutdown sequence, though the timeout might be longer than the one on a real device. The new device goes through a normal OS startup sequence.

To change the simulated device

Choose a Hardware > Device > device of choice.
Simulator closes the active device window and opens a new window with the selected device.

If the device type and OS version combination you want to use is not in the Device submenu, create a simulator for it.

To add a simulator

Choose Hardware > Device > Manage Devices.
Xcode opens the Devices window.
At the bottom of the left column, click the Add button (+).
In the dialog that appears, enter a name in the Simulator Name text field and choose the device from the Device Type pop-up menu.
Choose the OS version from the iOS Version pop-up menu.
Alternatively, if the iOS version you want to use isn’t in the iOS Version pop-up menu, choose “Download more simulators” and follow the steps to download a simulator.
Click Create.

If the OS version you want to use is not installed, download it and follow the steps to add a simulator again.

To download a simulator

In Xcode, choose Xcode > Preferences.
In the Preferences window, click Downloads.
In Components, find the legacy simulator version you want to add, and click the Install button.

You can also delete and rename simulators in the Devices window.

To delete a simulator

In Simulator, choose Hardware > Device > Manage Devices, or in Xcode, choose Window > Devices.
Xcode opens the Devices window.
In the left column, select the simulator.
At the bottom of the left column, click the Action button (the gear next to the Add button).
Choose Delete from the Action menu.
In the dialog that appears, click Delete.

To rename a simulator, choose Rename from the Action menu and enter a new name.

For how to manage real devices that appear in the Devices window, read Devices Window Help.

Alter the Settings of the Simulated Device

You can alter the settings within Simulator to help test your app.

On a simulated device, use the Settings app. To open the Settings app, go to the Home screen and click or on tvOS, choose Settings. In Figure 1-8 you see the Settings app as it appears when launched in the iOS simulation environment.

The Simulator settings differ from the settings found on a hardware device. Simulator is designed for testing your apps, whereas a hardware device is designed for use. Because Simulator is designed for testing apps, its settings are naturally focused on testing, too. For example, in a simulated iOS device the Accessibility menu provides the ability to turn on the Accessibility Inspector, and the Accessibility menu on a device allows you to turn on and off different accessibility features.

Through the settings, you can test both accessibility and localization of your app. See Testing and Debugging in iOS Simulator for information on how to manipulate your settings for the various types of testing you are interested in.

Remember: Changes made in the Settings app of simulated device affect only the simulation environment that is currently running.

Rotate iOS Devices

You can use Simulator to manipulate the simulated device much as you do a physical device.

To rotate your simulated device, choose Hardware > Rotate Left. When you rotate your simulated device, Settings rotates (see Figure 1-9), just as it would on a hardware device.

Android For Mac

Test in Simulator and on a Device

Simulator is designed to assist you in designing, rapidly prototyping, and testing your app, but it should never serve as your sole platform for testing. One reason is that not all apps are available in the simulator. For example, the Camera app is available only on hardware devices and cannot be replicated in the simulator.

Operating System Android

In addition, not all bugs and performance problems can be caught through testing in Simulator alone. You’ll learn more about performance differences in Testing and Debugging in iOS Simulator. You can also find more information on testing your app on a device in Launching Your App on Devices in App Distribution Guide.