Android Apps on a PC

[Genghis the Engineer]

I'm sure I'm far from alone in having an Android phone nowadays, and in running various Apps to do various jobs - some of them dedicated aviation apps.

However, also far from uniquely, I have a laptop with Windows 7. This has the advantage of a proper keyboard, a much bigger screen, and connects more easily to my home printer.

So, is there an emulator/program anywhere that I can use to run these Android Apps on my laptop? Looking around the net, I can see products designed for App developers - which I'm not and have no intention of being. I just want something that basically does what my phone, or an Android tablet would do, in a Windows-7 window.

Does this exist?

G

[mixture]

Looking around the net, I can see products designed for App developers

You don't have to write code. Just use the emulator.

(Have not had much hands-on experience of android myself, but can't think why you couldn't)

[aerobelly]

Yes. Start here: Android SDK | Android Developers (http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html)

Download the installer for your computer. Then you have to set up
emulators for the android device you have, and any others you fancy trying.
This can involve guessing the capabilities of the device in question, but it's not a huge problem.

At this point you can fire up your "device" on the PC, connect to the Android market (with your existing account details) and download whatever Apps you need. They will run just the way they do on the phone -- but a lot slower.

There was one "gotcha" in setting up the emulator, which i forget 'cos it was a while ago, but otherwise pretty painless. Oh, you'll be confined to a phone-sized display area, don't think you will be able to use full-screen on the PC...


'b