YouWave emulator for Android environment

System requirements

Previously, when emulators were just becoming fashionable, they were considered almost a luxury, because the requirements were sometimes great, and not everyone could install them on their PC. But that time has passed, and now you can find an application that will work even on the weakest computer. In this regard, YouWave is quite modest, even by today's standards.

So, the minimum system requirements of the YouWave emulator are:

• OS - Windows XP, Vista, 7,8,10
• Random access memory (RAM) - at least 1 GB of free space.
• Intel or AMD virtualization-enabled processor
• Video card supporting OpenGL version 2.0 minimum

As you can see, this program does not require much from the computer hardware.

YouWave emulator

YouWave is an application that fully reproduces the Android 4 OS shell in the free version and 5.1 Lollipop in the premium (paid) version. Due to its functions it is considered one of the most successful. In any case, it differs for the better in terms of the degree of similarity with the popular operating system, from the interface to the touch keyboard. The program is easy to install, easy to use, and even supports screen rotation and SD card for game recording. But before describing its qualities, it’s worth understanding what an Android emulator is and why a PC user might need it.

Why an Android emulator on PC

An emulator is a software product that creates an exact software image of Android OS on other platforms, including Windows. In other words, the emulator “translates” Android into languages ​​that other operating systems understand, using input/output devices, the processor and RAM.

The program converts sound, graphic and other formats into codes that the computer can understand and creates an environment in which applications created for gadgets can be launched.

This is used by developers testing new applications on PCs without the risk of harming Android devices. Ordinary users need an emulator when the gadget does not have enough power to run “heavy” games, videos or applications that simply do not exist for their PC OS. You can learn more about the program by reading the article “Android Emulator on PC”.

System requirements

This emulator is very friendly to other operating systems and the user, without requiring any special skills. YouWave system requirements can even be described as very modest. The PC must have:

• operating system Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10;
• RAM with 1GB of free space;
• processor with support for hardware virtualization;
• video card supporting Open GL 2.0 minimum.

In principle, other emulators have approximately the same requirements.

Short review

The program is designed to completely replicate the Android OS both at the hardware and software levels. The emulator works with wi-fi, virtual SD cards, just like a real Android, and it works quite quickly. You can download applications and games, both simple and more powerful. At the same time, you can not only play, but also communicate on social networks and even pay through payment systems.

You can download the program on the official YouWave website. By default, the application version is Android 4.4, but by purchasing a Premium account, you can install Android 5.1. The installation is quite simple, the program starts quickly. When you turn it on, you will have two screens. A list of available applications will be displayed on the left, and the Android screen itself, with standard icons and controls, will be displayed on the right.

The emulator is launched by double clicking on the icon. Android programs run the same as in the original. The text is entered using a computer keyboard or the keyboard of the emulator itself. The emulator also has up and down scroll buttons. You can add applications both from the Play Market and manually. The settings here are basically the same as on regular Android. In general, it feels like you are not using Windows, but a full-fledged Android platform.

Nox App Player

Studying materials and reviews on this topic, we can conclude that Nox App Player is the best Android emulator for Windows. After my experience with it, I decided to put this product first in the review because it is really good. The developers claim compatibility with Windows 10 (How to check your computer for compatibility with Windows 10), Windows 8.1 and 7.

We install the emulator and launch it - we see the usual Android screen (version 4.4.2, Cyanogen Mod, 30 GB of internal memory) with the Nova Launcher shell, with a file manager and browser already installed. Despite the fact that the emulator itself does not have a Russian interface, “inside” Android you can enable the Russian language in the settings.

By default, the emulator opens in a tablet resolution of 1280x720 (if necessary, it can be changed in the settings tab (called by the gear icon at the top right) Advanced). Also, the default is set to low performance (Performance Setting), but even on a weak PC (How to speed up booting and shutting down your computer) it works fine.

The controls inside the emulator are very similar to any Android device. There is a Play Market ( ), from where you can download applications and games and run them on Windows. Sound, as well as the camera (if you have one on your PC or laptop) work in the emulator, the computer keyboard also works inside the emulator, as well as its on-screen version.

Additionally, on the right side of the emulator window (which, by the way, can be opened in full screen without a noticeable loss in performance) there are action icons, among which are:

• Installing applications from APK files from your computer.
• Location substitution (you can manually set the location, which will be perceived by the emulator as received from the GPS receiver).
• Uploading and exporting files (you can simply drag and drop files onto the emulator window). This feature did not work as expected in my testing (the files seemed to be imported, but could not be found in the Android file system after that).
• Taking screenshots.
• For some purposes, Nox App Player also creates a Multi-Drive icon to launch several emulator windows at once. However, I haven’t figured out how it can be used or what it can be used for.

To summarize this brief description, if you need to run Android games and applications on Windows, use Instagram from a computer and do similar things, and you want the emulator to work without any lags - Nox App Player will be an ideal option for these purposes, better optimization I haven’t seen it yet (but I can’t promise that heavy 3D games will work, I haven’t personally tested it).

You can download the Android Nox App Player emulator for free from the official website https://en.bignox.com

YouWave features

This emulator is really functional and has many features, including:

• Flexible customization of the emulator to suit your needs
• Very good recreation of the Android platform
• Installing applications in two ways
• Saving files on virtual media
• Support for online games, which is not available in all programs of this kind
• Share files with Windows
• Console control
• Working with older versions of Windows

Other advantages include:

• Very high and good performance
• Light weight (about 150 MB)
• Low system requirements
• Built-in root
• Ability to change screen orientation as you work

Features of YouWave

The components of the YouWave emulator menu are the same as in a mobile phone: navigator, gallery, settings, and so on. The product supports movable rotation of the device and, thanks to this, its use becomes more comfortable. We are talking about changing the screen orientation.

Due to the special properties of the emulator, you can download all the applications you need directly from the Play Market or download them in the format of archived add-on files (ARC). The ARC format is very convenient to use and easy to launch. However, you will need a Google account to access the Play Market. It will help you download the applications that interest you most through the official store, and the system will save them before release to make them easier to access in future work.

Key Features of YouWave

The paid version uses Android version 5.1, the free version uses Android 4.0. The emulator requires Windows XP and older versions of the operating system to run. The bit size doesn't matter. It provides excellent performance and is capable of running multiple applications simultaneously. YouWave system requirements are quite low. This means that the program can be run even on weak computers.

YouWave Android emulator is one of the most effective emulators. The developers used Android 4.0 ICS version. The program most accurately displays the identical interface of your device with Android OS. Apart from this, the emulator will be useful in other functions, for example, it can record games using an SD card emulator or it can be used as an online module for a large number of users.

How to download and install YouWave

The program itself and the process of downloading and installing it are simple and will not take you much time. You can download the application from different sources, but it is better to do it from the official website. To do this, you need to find the Download section on the YouWave.com website. Download the free version of the utility and pfgencbnt installation from there. During the process, you will need to confirm all requests and wait for the process to complete. After successful installation, an application icon will appear on the desktop of your PC. By clicking on it, you can launch the application and enjoy using it.

Genymotion is a high-quality Android emulator with extensive features

The Genymotion emulator is quite easy to install, allows you to emulate a wide range of real devices with different versions of the Android OS and, most importantly, it works quickly and supports hardware graphics acceleration.

You can download Genymotion for Windows or Mac OS from the official website https://www.genymotion.com/. This emulator is available for download in both free and paid versions. For personal use, the free version is quite enough, there are no restrictions.

To download the Genymotion Android emulator you will need to register on the site, then use one of the download links. I recommend using the first one, which includes VirtualBox and automatically makes the necessary settings. When installing, do not launch VirtualBox; you will not need to launch it separately.

And after Genymotion has been installed and launched, in response to the message that no virtual devices were found, select creating a new one, then click the Connect button at the bottom right and enter the data that you specified when registering to access the list of devices . Having selected a new virtual Android device, wait for the necessary components to load, after which it will appear in the list and you can launch it by double-clicking or using the Play button. In general, nothing complicated.

Upon completion, you receive a full-fledged Android system with extensive additional emulator capabilities, which can be found in more detail in the program help (in English).

Android game running on Windows using Genymotion

Note: when I created my first device, after downloading the files, the program reported an error in mounting the virtual disk. Restarting Genymotion as an administrator helped.

Program features

If you doubt the capabilities and quality of this program, then you should not cloud your understanding, since modern software technologies make it possible to create sufficiently high-quality and stable software without any problems. Thanks to the well-developed shell structure and great attention from the developers, the Youwave program makes it possible to run almost any gaming application in this area. In addition, do not forget that it is now possible to use Google Play and even create your own personal account on the Google network. You just need to download Youwave for windows 7, 8, 10 and take advantage of its functionality.

Stable operation and high-quality execution ensure a high level of program performance.