4 Ways To Use Android Apps On Your Mac Or PC – BGR

In the name of convenience, many apps these days are designed to be cross-platform. They can run on both mobile and desktop, so you can readily switch between devices without starting from scratch. It’s also easier to access your work from anywhere, whether you’re on the go, at home, or in the office.

But while a number of apps are compatible with both your phone and computer, others are exclusive to mobile devices. They don’t have desktop equivalents, essentially tying you to your phone whenever you need to use them. The good news, though, is that there are workarounds should you want to open Android-only apps on your desktop. From Android emulators to screen mirroring tools, here are some easy ways to run your favorite Android apps for fitness tracking, reading, and more, right on your PC or Mac. The best part: They won’t cost you a cent.

Windows 11 offers a native way to control your Android phone with your PC — using Phone Link. This desktop app wirelessly connects your smartphone to your computer, allowing you to check your texts, make calls, browse your photos, and even launch Android apps directly from your PC. You can also receive your phone notifications on your desktop. For viewing texts, calls, and photos, you’ll be using Phone Link’s own interface. But when it comes to Android apps, Phone Link essentially mirrors your smartphone’s screen to access these. Here’s how to set up Phone Link:

1. Connect your Android phone and PC to the same Wi-Fi network.
2. Install Link to Windows on your Android. Some Samsung and HONOR phones already have this pre-installed.
3. Launch Phone Link on your PC.
4. On the Phone Link welcome page, select Android.
5. When prompted, enter your computer PIN or password.
6. Using your Android phone, scan the QR code shown on your computer.
7. Hit Continue on your Android device.
8. Type the code shown on your PC.
9. Sign in to our Microsoft account.
10. Press Continue on both Phone Link and Link to Windows.
11. On Phone Link on your computer, go to the Apps tab at the top.
12. Click on the app you want to use.
13. Back on your Android phone, select Allow to allow screen mirroring from your phone to the PC.
14. Use the Android app as you normally would.

Do note that with this method, you might experience some delay when navigating the apps. It won’t also work when your Android phone is offline, locked, or connected to a different network than your PC.

If the only Android apps you want to use on your computer are games, then Google Play Games is your solution. Google Play Games is a desktop app built for Windows. What it does is sync the games from your Android device to your PC, so you can quickly switch from one to the other. It copies your Google Play Games profile, including your game library, progress, and even Google Play Points.

At the minimum, your PC needs to run on Windows 10 (v2004) and have 10GB of available SSD storage, 8GB of RAM, Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU (or equivalent), and four CPU cores. To use Google Play Games to run Android games on your computer, here’s what you need to do:

1. Visit the Google Play Games download page on your PC browser.
2. Click Download on PC.
3. Install the downloaded EXE file.
4. Click on Sign in with Google.
5. In the browser tab that opens, select the Google account you also use for Play Store on your Android device(s).
6. Back in the Google Play Games app, confirm your Play Games profile.
7. Read and accept the terms and conditions.
8. Hit Finish.

From here, you can now see all the different Android games. Pick one you’d like to install on your Windows computer and start playing. Keep in mind, though, that not all Google Play games are playable on your PC. You’d want to look for either a green checkmark or green laptop icon on the game’s download page. A green checkmark means the developers optimized the game specifically for Windows, while a green laptop means it was tested to be playable. You’ll also potentially see a yellow laptop icon (game is untested so it may or may not run well), or red cross icon (game is unavailable for installation), next to an individual listing.

Another easy way to use Android apps on your computer is via Android emulators. Android emulators essentially recreate the Android OS environment on your PC or Mac, so it feels like you’re using a real mobile device. Out of the dozens of emulators out there, though, many users swear by MuMuPlayer. It’s free (at least for Windows computers) and doesn’t bombard you with ads. Plus, it allows you to play games with your keyboard, mouse, and even gamepad.

To run MuMuPlayer on your PC, first check whether you have at least Windows 7, a quad-core i5-7500 CPU, a relatively recent graphics card (preferably not AMD), 4GB RAM, and 2GB free disk space. For macOS devices, the only condition is that you’re running on Apple Silicon. If your computer meets these hardware requirements, you’re ready for installation. Here’s how to proceed:

1. Download MuMuPlayer on your computer.
2. Install the file as you normally would.
3. Wait for the download and installation to finish.
4. On the MuMuPlayer home page, hit the play button next to Android Device.
5. When prompted, click Allow.
6. Go to the Android Device emulator window that pops up.
7. Open the Play Store.
8. Sign into your Google account.
9. Search for the Android apps you want to run on your PC or Mac.
10. Click Install.
11. Use the app as you would on your Android phone.
12. To close the app, simply close the tab from the top menu bar.
13. To go back to the Android home screen, select the Android Device tab at the top.

If you can’t find the app on Play Store, you can also download an APK of it and install it via MuMuPlayer. It’s important to note, though, that MuMuPlayer isn’t a 100% replacement for an Android device, as it might not support every Android app out there.

ScrCpy (pronounced screen copy) is an open-source phone screen mirroring tool that lets you see and control your Android screen from your computer. Yes, it’s somewhat similar to Microsoft’s Phone Link. But instead of working wirelessly, ScrCpy requires a wired connection — meaning it’s much less laggy. It runs on multiple platforms too, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. To use ScrCpy, you first need to configure your Android phone by turning on Developer options and USB debugging. Here’s how:

1. On your Android phone, launch Settings.
2. Search for Build number.
3. Tap on the Build number multiple times until you see the “You are 1 tap away from being a developer” message.
4. Tap the Build number again. When prompted, enter your phone password if necessary.
5. Hit OK to allow development settings.
6. Back on the main Settings page, find Developer options using the search bar.
7. Turn on USB debugging.
8. Press OK to allow USB debugging.

With your Android phone ready for screen mirroring, you can begin pairing it with ScrCpy. Follow these next steps: 

1. Plug your Android phone into your computer with a data cable.
2. When prompted, select Allow on your Android phone.
3. Download and install ScrCpy to your computer.
4. Extract the ZIP file.
5. Open the folder you extracted.
6. Double-click on the scrcpy.exe file to run it.

Your Android phone screen should now appear right on your computer. With the same Android gestures like swipe up and down, you can navigate the device and open and use the installed apps, including the essential Android apps built into the system. You can also download new ones from the Play Store, or install APKs if you’d like. To disconnect from your Android phone, simply close the window.