On Mon, 19 Nov 2018 09:43:04 +0000, Bill wrote:

Yes, they appear to go up to Android 8, and possibly 9.0. I haven't
actually tried to check they work, though.

Thanks Bill for confirming that the Google emulators are modern.

For those on Windows/Android interested in emulation,
so as to give back to the team (as always), here is a
summary of what I've (accidentally) learned about
Android emulation on Windows using only free solutions.

C:\app\editor\android\emu\{...}
o Andyroid (Android 7.1.2, and very simple to set up)
o Arm (probably upo to Android 9, but too slow to be usable)
o Bluestacks (unknown Android version, but simple to set up)
o Genymotion (up to Android 9, but complex as heck to set up)
o Google (up to Android 9, but fails on older AMD)
o Microsoft (stops dead at Android 6, but works great on older AMD)

*Google Emulators* (Android 9)
o Google Emulators are the cat's meow, all the way to Android 9
o But they don't work on older AMD CPUs (on Windows only, apparently)
o One great thing about the Google emulators, is some have Google Play
o That allows people to run other software, e.g., NewPipe as one example
o Comes pre-integrated with Android Studio

*Arm Emulators* (Android 9?)
o They are too slow on my machine to be worth the trouble
o Most people suggest ARM eabi-v7a for older AMD CPUs it's slow
o Does not appear to come with Google Play (which is important)
o Comes pre-integrated with Android Studio

*Microsoft Emulators* (Last version, forever, is Android 6)
o The Microsoft Emulators are fantastic - but they stop at Android 6
o The Microsoft emulators don't appear to have Google Play installed
o They're the only emulators that work with Windows 10 Pro Hyper-V enabled!
o Very easy to integrate into Android Studio (as an external tool)
o https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/msft-android-emulator/
o https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/aW64zYeBtF0%5B1-25%5D

*Genymotion Emulator* (Android 9)
o Generally considered superior to all other emulators on Windows!
o Most complex to set up (if things fail) due to Win10 & VMWare needs
o Very well integrated into Android Studio (even has its own plugin)
o https://www.genymotion.com/fun-zone/
o https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/ix9empN-mxg/07ZmH2AWAQAJ

*Andyroid Emulator* (Android 7.1.2)
o This is very simple to set up (turn off Windows 10 Hyper-V!)
o This installs Bonjour and VMWare bundled "services"
o Comes with Google Play & F-Droid NewPipe came up, ran, but failed
o Android Studio recognized it instantly so it's nicely integrated
o https://www.andyroid.net/
o https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/FkZu5vAswYo/wISRtpUUAQAJ

*Bluestacks4 Emulator* (Android 7.1.1)
o This is very simple to set up (turn off Windows 10 Hyper-V!)
o They seem to be very focused on running Android games on Windows
o Comes with Google Play & successfully ran F-Droid NewPipe tests
o I need to learn how to integrate it into Android Studio
o https://www.bluestacks.com/bluestacks-4.html
o https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/JBRjZ39w4Ok