Utilize the procedure ahead to install Android P on your PC. Google has unveiled the first developer preview for Android P and with that announcement, it has also released an emulator system image that can be installed to run on computers. With the instructions ahead, you would be able to try out Android P for yourself without actually having to own a compatible Pixel device. In recent years, the growth of Google’s IDE — Android Studio — has been substantial. Users would remember days when previous IDEs demanded extremely good computers to run. Well, thanks to optimizations and the brand’s focus, Android Studio is quite light and runs extremely fast even on slower hardware. The Emulator section of Android Studio has improved so greatly that you can easily boot new Android images without having to deal with lags and slow downs.
Android P, as a version, is an initial look at what’s coming in this year’s major Android upgrade. The OS is currently in preview stages but still, you can give it a run on your system and test out all the new changes. This newer revision drops support for older Nexus devices and will now only run on Pixel smartphones / tablets.
If you are a developer, this guide would help you setup an environment where you can test your app and adapt it to Android P. The only pre-requisite we have for you is that you should’ve gone through the installation and setup process of Android Studio before hand. If you haven’t done that, read: How to Install and Setup Android Studio 3.0.1.
It is essential you have a working installation of Android Studio. You should also update your Java install to the latest to avoid any issues. Also, if you haven’t yet installed Android Studio or set it up, please read the following tutorial.
Run Android Apps On Mac or Windows:
The Emulator is for developers who want to test out their apps on the latest APIs without a physical device. However, if you just want to play Android games or run full Android apps on your computer, we have complete guides for that. The process is much simpler than installing the full Android emulator and also, quite less on space required. If you have a Mac, you can use Andy or if you have a Windows machine, you can use Blue Stacks or install Nox Player.
- Run Android Apps on Mac OS: How to Install Andy on Mac
- Run Androiod Apps on Windows:
How to Set Up and Install Android P Emulator
As mentioned earlier, this post implies that you have already installed and set up Android Studio on your computer. If you haven’t please read the following guide:
Step 1 – Open your Android Studio installation. You can execute the emulator by creating a new Android Development project and entering the Development Environment itself. Otherwise, open any project you are currently working on. From the main view go to Tools > Android > AVD Manager.
Step 2 – The next step is creating a new Virtual Device for Android P specifically. In AVD manager, you will be able to see all your Virtual installations. Just click the “Create Virtual Device” button below.
Step 3 – Next, you will need to decide what device you want to emulate. As we want the latest Android P running on our PC, we will choose Pixel 2. You can also choose any other supported device — Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.. Once selected, click Next.
Step 4 – The following screen will be showed once you click next from above step. This is where you decide what version of Android you want to run on your selected device. Choose “P” and make sure the API Level category shows that it is 27 then click on Download right against the name.
Step 5 – Now your Android Studio will ask you to agree to its license policy and then begin downloading as well as extracting the selected image. Select “Accept” and then click “Next“. Wait till the download and extraction process finishes before proceeding to the next step.
Step 6 – Once the extraction and download process finishes, click on “Finish“.
Next, let’s set up the Android emulator to actually run Android P on your computer.
Next – How to Set Up Android Emulator for Android P
Once everything is installed, now lets set up the Android Emulator so that you can play with Android P on your computer.
Step 7 – Coming from the previous step, Android Studio will land you onto the following screen. Select the downloaded “P“ image, again make sure it has API Level listed as P, and click next.
Step 8 – The next screen is quite simple. Contrary to previous iterations where you had to choose and test multiple settings, the new Android Emulator does that all for you automatically. You can set a few preferences otherwise everything else is largely optimized. Just name your AVD and click finish as we did.
Step 9 – Once finished, you will see your newly made Android Virtual Device pop up on Android Virtual Device Manager. Hit the green play button in the column of your newly created AVD.
Step 10 – The emulator will start within few seconds and you will see the following layout screen with the Android boot-up animation.
Step 11 – Once your device is on, you would probably greeted by this screen which indicates you have successfully completed the Emulator install.
Happy exploring!
If you get stuck anywhere or have any question related to the post, please do ask. We are here to reply and help you out!
