How Can You Run Android APK Files on Windows 10 Computer

There are numerous numbers of users who want to test the Android apps without installing them in their smartphones. You can also install and run Android apps on the Windows by using emulators which will help you in this task. The official Android SDK from Google is one of them. You can give reviews on the particular app without installing them on your PC or Smartphone.

Run Android APK Files on PC

There are some other methods too which you can use as well. BlueStacks App Player and ARC Welder for Chrome are two of them. BlueStacks app is one of the magnificent apps which will help you to accomplish this task whereas ARC Welder for chrome is an extension that will also does the same sort of work for you guys. These will definitely help you to run Android APK files on Windows 10/8/7 computer. These two Android emulator apps have many different functions which are quite useful for the users and we recommend you to use these for this purpose. You can install them whatever meets your requirements and suitability. If you want to know more Android emulator apps for Windows, you can find them here.

What are APK Files?

The Android APKs are the files which help you to install Android Apps on PC or on the phone without downloading from the Play store. These files can be downloaded from any external website, but you always remember to avoid installing any adware on Android. The syntax of APK files are “Filename.apk” in the Android phones and “Filename.exe” in the Windows. These files contain the all the files for the app including app installer as well. There is a need for Android SDK because both “.apk” and “.exe” files are made of different syntax which can be read by an emulator for the installation. The APK files are not seen on the phone or Windows if you install the app from Play store. You can find them if you want to.

If you want to become an App developer, then you can use these APK files for some sort of algorithm study. There are some websites which will offer you to download the APK files of the apps you want. There are also some applications for Android phones which are also very helpful and convenient for making APK files of the downloaded apps. You can use APK Installer in your phone to make the APK files. But those apps which are not available on the Play store for the users can be accessed or installed by using there APK files by downloading them from any third-party website. But precautions have to be made during downloading that file because harmful malware and spyware are present inside those files. Only download the files from the websites which are fully secured and safe.

Tip: If you lost any important data on your Android phone due to virus attack caused by malware/spyware, then you must need this Jihosoft Android Data Recovery tool to recover the deleted data from Android without backup.

Method 1. How to Setup Android SDK to Run Android APK Files on PC

This Android SDK really works as an APK file opener for PC. The setting up of Android SDK will require the latest version of the JAVA on your PC. So, you can download the latest version of JAVA and Android SDK from here for the use. After this done, you have to scroll down to the bottom of the Android studio page to select the Command line tools. But if you are not planning to create an Android app, then you won’t need the full studio package.

Now, just follow the following steps mentioned below:

  1. First of all, download the package to your computer and extract it to the C Drive of your PC.
  2. After that, just navigate to the Control Panel, System and Advanced system settings.
  3. Now, just hit on the Environment Variables and Highlight path.
  4. Select the edit option and paste this in the variable value:
    ‘C:\Android\sdk\tools;C:\Android\sdk\platform-tools’.

You can open the Virtual Android device by double clicking on the executable option. After you launch the app for the first time, it will take a while to launch fully but after that you can be able to use other apps with an ease.

Tip: How to Download Minimal ADB and Fastboot Tool (v.1.4.3) 2019

Method 2. Setting Up of BlueStacks to Run Android Apps on Windows 10

The BlueStacks app is the best option in the Android App emulator segment which can help you accomplish the task. This is the modified version of Android SDK which will exactly do the same task as done by Android SDK.

Setting Up of BlueStacks to Run Android Apps on Windows 10

  1. You can Download and install BlueStacks on your PC.
  2. After that, just login by using your Google account for the setup of your profile.
  3. You can load apps and play games and whatever the type of sort you want to do through the use of Play Store.

The BlueStacks app is having the usual Android front end and more. It is a very good Android emulator as stated earlier, which can even be used to help you play Android games on laptop. You can take the control very easily by the use of Mouse. The rest of the feature are like as Android. You will definitely find this very good to accomplish your task.

Method 3. How to Setup ARC Welder to Run APK files on Windows 10

As mentioned above, ARC Welder is a Chrome extension which will let you run Android apps on Chrome browser directly. It is probably the best method which can be employed in this task. But this process is a bit buggy because it involves a lot of bugs in this process.

How to Setup ARC Welder to Run APK files on Windows 10.

  1. You can download ARC Welder extension followed by the installation process.
  2. Now you can download APK files and point ARC Welder to them.

Apart from the fact that ARC Welder extension doesn’t require any downloading process, but you will find it limiting. ARC Welder do not have access to the Google Play Store unlike the BlueStacks have. Also, you can run only one application at a time. But overall it is a good choice if you not want to install any extra application. This extension will definitely help you for sure.

Conclusion:

These methods found a large application and usage for the aspiring young people who are quite interested in developing app or want to lookout the features of different apps without installing them on the phone. If you are also passionate about digging out the information about the emerging technologies in the technical and application development segment, then please use these stuffs to run Android apps on PC, because they are developed only for accomplishing this task. If you are using some other sort of applications or something else like using chrome extension; then please let us know in the comments section.

By Jihosoft
Last updated on

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