Google Play is a place for the privileged that own an Android powered device. There are quite a lot of applications that everyone would enjoy having on their laptops or desktop computers. Unfortunately there is no official way to get them to run on Windows or MacOS machines. On the other hand there is an ace up the sleeve that can make this possible. The idea is quite simple and it consists of emulation of an Android system on a personal computer.
Emulating Android On PC
The software that does this is called BlueStacks. It is quite easy to setup and does not require advanced technical skills. It can take about 5 to 10 minutes to have it running.
Here are the required steps to install it on Windows machines:
1. Go to www.bluestacks.com and hit the download button.
2. A download window will prompt. The file is about 13 MB and can be saved anywhere on the hard drive.
3. Open the file and install the software. It will take a couple of minutes as the installer needs to download a few files. Once done the installation window can be closed.
4. Press the start button and search for BlueStacks. The program should appear. Click and open it.
5. A window will open and BlueStacks will start loading. The first time the software will take a bit longer to load as it needs to perform some system configurations. The first screen that will be shown when it opens is a screen filled with popular apps.
BlueStacks will have a different Google Play Store in terms of visuals. It just looks different but all the popular apps are there. A search button can be found in the top right corner to make navigation easier. Once an app is selected it can be installed. The first time an application is installed the system will require the user to login with his Google account. This is a onetime activity and it is required as BlueStacks is seen by the Play Store as a new device that has not been configured yet.
Performance On PC And Compatibility
Not all Play Store apps work on PC. There are quite a few problems with games and 3D ones seem to have the biggest compatibility issues due to the hardware setup. BlueStacks needs to work with the resources provided by a desktop which means completely different hardware and architecture when compared with mobile devices.
In terms of performance Blue Stacks does have some issues as at times it feels slow, unresponsive or the applications seem to have bugs. These events do not occur often and most of the time the problems are identified at the application level. Needless to say it is a bit unrealistic to expect 3D games to run just as smooth on a PC. They are noticeable slower and have frame rates that go below 20 FPS while smartphones can run them much smoother. Again, this is a compatibility issue but the ones that can overlook the bugged applications and use only the ones that work properly will surely enjoy BlueStacks.
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