Android Emulator

References

• https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element#ApiLevels
• https://apilevels.com/

Setup

One time setup. In the examples, "Pixel4_api30_android11_x64" is the name of the emulator being created. In the examples, android api level 30 is used, which is android 11 (see references above).

All commands are in Powershell syntax.

Install tools, platform, system image

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sdkmanager platform-tools
sdkmanager "build-tools;30.0.3"
sdkmanager "platforms;android-30"
sdkmanager "system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64"

Create emulator

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# avdmanager create avd -n <name> -k "system-images;android-<api level>;google_apis;x86_64"
avdmanager create avd -n Pixel4_api30_android11_x64 -k "system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64"

# check if all is well
emulator -list-avds

config.ini useful settings

Add the following settings to the emulator's configuration file, located at:

<$env:USERPROFILE>\.android\avd\<emulator name>\config.ini

So, in the example:

C:\Users\username\.android\avd\Pixel4_api30_android11_x64.avd\config.ini

• nhw.lcd.width = 720 and nhw.lcd.height = 1280 set the resolution to 720p
• nhw.lcd.density = 240 sets DPI to an acceptable level
• nhw.keyboard = yes is needed for full functioning of the computer keyboard (eg. copy-pasting)

Run the emulator

Just run this command every time you have to start the emulator.

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# emulator -avd <emulator name>
emulator -avd Pixel4_api30_android11_x64