Re: Android emulator
On Fri, 26 Feb 2016 23:03:47 -0600
"Peter Easthope" <peter@easthope.ca> wrote:
> https://wiki.debian.org/AndroidTools indiates
> that Android SDK is a rather complex beast.
>
> Suppose a user needs one or a few Android apps
> but is not particularly interested in owning an
> Android device. Is installation of Android SDK
> to a small laptop and app usage there feasible?
Not unless you can avoid it, IMO.
Said Android SDK is basically a rebranded Eclipse IDE plus heavily
patched QEMU (for ARM architecture emulation).
To describe it in one word - it's a memory and CPU hog, completely
redundant for actual *running* Android apps.
Luckily alternatives are exist. More important is that it's free
software alternatives.
First one is http://android-x86.org. It's somewhat outdated Android
build for x86-64, ready to be placed in any virtual machine of your
choice. The installation and running needed apps comes usual Android
way.
Second one is ARChon - http://archon-runtime.github.io/, which allows
to run *some* Android apk's as Chromium extensions.
> Or not worth the distraction and better to buy
> a tablet or smartphone?
Depends on your needs IMO. I'd go for an extra device (that I don't
control) only if aforementioned methods fail.
Reco
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