On Mon, 19 Nov 2018 20:43:05 -0000 (UTC), arlen michael holder wrote:

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.

Hi Bill,

Bad news (for me).

Since I needed Android 8 emulation to run the YouTube app (my phone is at
Android 7.0), I turned off Hyper-V to test Bluestacks4 (which turns out to
be stuck on Android 7.1.1) and Andryroid emulators (which turns out to be
stuck on Android 7.1.2).
o Phone is at 7.0
o Bluestacks4 is at 7.1.1
o Andyroid is at 7.1.2

So the _only_ tested emulators that _can_ emulate Android 8.0 a
o Arm (which is slow as a dog and didn't work for me on AMD)
o Google (which won't ever work on my AMD CPU)
o Genymotion (which has a very complex setup which didn't work for me)

So I decided to give up on Android 8 emulation (for now), and go back to
the Microsoft emulator (which at least worked up to Android 6, where my
phone covers Anroid 7).

Now I can't get the Microsoft Visual Studio Emulator to work no matter what
I try, even though I turned the Hyper-V Windows settings back on.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=2132797hyper-v01.jpg

So I'm stuck not being able to emulate because the Microsoft Emulator,
which ran before I turned off Hyper-V, won't run now that it's turned back
on - but I'll get past it - but just wanted to report back why no progress
today (plus this is just done, as with Bill, in fits and starts).
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=6622132hyper-v02.jpg

In hindsight, once you have *any* emulator working, I'd stick with it if
you can, or, get Genymotion to work, which is the one emulator everyone
likes best (but I can't get it to work yet as it's also the most complex
setup).

Dunno yet which I will use as I may give up on Microsoft's emulator (even
though it _was_ working before I turned off Hyper-V and then turned it back
on), and put my time to getting Genymotion emulation to work instead (since
Microsoft's emulator stops at Android 6 while Genymotion goes to the
latest).

Seems to me, I certainly should be able to get Microsoft's emulator to work
again, but I'd _still_ be stuck at Android 6.0, with the phone only
bringing me to Android 7.0, so, the time to spend, in hindsight, is to get
Genymotion working on Windows.

In summary, for people reading this:
a. If you're on Windows on Intel, then the Android emulators should work,
b. But if you're on Windows on AMD, then the only good answer is Genymotion
(If you can get it to work.)