ARChon Android Emulator for Google Chrome OS/Linux/Windows and Mac|Install and Run Android Apps in Chrome
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ARChon is the first Android Emulator which is supported on Google Chrome OS! It works on Google Chrome browser too and thus can be used on Windows , Linux as well Mac OS too!! It uses the default Android Runtime Package for running the Android apps however, sooner we expect that Google will officially launch support for Android apps on Chrome! till then, we can use ARChon as it does the job pretty decently .Archon Android emulator will also Run Android Apk in Chrome OS / Chromebooks.
Pre-requisites :
- Google Chrome browser with an Internet Connection.
- ARChon Runtime Package/Extension installed on Google Chrome .
- A Modified .apk Android App package for testing Purpose (e.g we will be using 2048 Game Apk for this purpose , You can download 2048 from here).
Method :
- First of all , download the runtime which is appropriate for your system:
| Runtime | Download |
|---|---|
| ARChon 1.2 – Intel x86 Chrome 64-bit / Chrome OS 64-bit (OSX: Use this in Chrome Canary) | BitBucket :: MirrorMD5:d77b468339cc512e121c003cc97715db |
| ARChon 1.2 – Intel x86 Chrome 32-bit / Chrome OS 32-bit (OSX: Use this in Chrome Stable) (Win7 32-bit: Use something like Chrome Beta 38.0.2125.77 beta-m) | BitBucket :: MirrorMD5:9c9844e2591a27d952098581011a2bce |
| ARChon 1.2 – ARM (i.e ARM-based Chromebooks) | BitBucket :: MirrorMD5:3d6955c7702baf1e1d16a000d9f67b10 |
- Unzip it into a folder ,Now load it as an unpacked extension, as shown in the image below
- Once you have loaded the extension , please enable it by checking the Enable option besides the extension name .
- Now extract the android Apk package which is converted into Chrome OS compatible into another folder and Load that too as an extension in Google Chrome (You can try with the above linked 2048 Game link).
- Once you have loaded the game as an unpacked extension, it too will be shown with other extensions, now simply click on launch as shown in the image below-
- Now once you have clicked on Launch Your Desired Android App will be loaded! as shown below –
Amazing isn’t it ?
Drawbacks –
- The Default Android Apk files do not work directly they need to be converted first into Chrome Compatible Apk’s which you can be created by an app mentioned here.
- This is a proof of concept. You can run up to 4 Android applications right now with the regular runtime. Read the multiple apps manual to load more than one application at a time. To load unlimited number of apps read the ARChon runtime guide.
I personally found this very unique and interesting , do comment your views and problems which you face while installing / running the apps . I am always happy to help 🙂
after completing all steps when i launch the app e.g. 2048 or whatsapp then it opens a white screen with ‘android sign’ in middle
The white screen means that you’ve correctly installed the app 🙂 , Please wait for a couple of minutes until the app is loaded 🙂
okay let me try
I had same problem but the app never loaded
Can we use this as alernatives to bluestack or youwave? can we use applications which requires internet? like whatsapp facebook etc? what is minimum requirement of system like bluestack require 2gb ram and graphics card.. for this required chrome os? or we can directly use it in chrome browser?
Yes, you can use it as an alternative to bluestack/youwave 🙂 while testing, whatsapp didn’t work for me but twitter worked 🙂 , there is no any special hardware requirement or of chrome os , you can use it in chrome browser itself 🙂
Its not working . I waited for a long while
still only white screen with ‘android sign’
Is there any chrome version is preferred??
Okay, did you installed the ARChon runtime?
Chrome version 37 and later are preferred 🙂
Can I play Clash of Clans using this?lol
I waited for half an hour still it shows white screen with andriod sign my chrome Version 38.0.2125.111 is
Hi Parveen, it should have worked, 🙁 is your processor a 64-bit one or 32-bit ?
Hi i did some testing with the apps, it turned out that the application cannot use the internet from my wireless connection. Is there any trick to connect it to the android apps? all the offline apps is working perfectly
Hi citralee, actually the apps worked well with my wi-fi (laptop’s hardware) can you try re-installing the wireless drivers ?
Hi Chaitanya, could u try to install the game whether it work or not. This is the list that not working with me (Clash of clans, boom beach, brain wars). I change the wireless to preprietary version, still no hope. i tried to good how to reinstall the driver, none work. If you know how to fix this, here is my wireless
“03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe [14e4:1692] (rev 01)
06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4353] (rev 01)”
Hello citralee, Clash of Clans won’t work 🙁 personally tried, regarding the other two games – may i know the os you are using ? so that i can help you better 🙂
Hi Chaitanya, Im using ubuntu 14.04 and chrome version 40.0.2214.10 beta (64-bit). I think I’ll just wait until it stable, because the chrome itself can’t output a single sound from any website.
Yes, i too would recommend you to wait, why don’t you try genymotion until then 🙂
Great stuff, man. Works like a charm. Thank you!
Does it work on chromebooks because it wont even let me pack it
Hello bob, it let me pack in “chrome for windows 8 mode”, however according to reports from howtogeek, it does let you pack it 🙂
Ok … think please … Archon 1.2 has to match your OS Acrh 32 or 64 … So if it win7-64 load Archon 1.2×64 … it does not mater if 32 or 64bit chrome installed, either will work. the reason you have white screen is your on the stable channel … you need the dev channel of chrome, either 32 or 64 …
http://www.chromium.org/getting-involved/dev-channel
My problem is emulating an SDcard for the app?? Any takers?
Ok is matter of editing manifest.json file and enableextrrnaldirectory : ture and adding “directory” to this section ….
{
“fileSystem”: [
“write”,
“directory”
]
}
Can this be used as an alternative to Droid 4X in order to use apps like Periscope on my Google Chrome laptop?
Hi wilkenda , yes it can be used as an alternative 🙂 but I doubt whether using periscope on it would be really effective.
Ummm do I have to install the apps to the zip file because when I click lauch it downloads another zip??? If so where do I download the apps.
i tryed it in my cromebook but it wont let me enable the ARChon Custom Runtime in my extensions so what should i do?
I have a Asus Flip C100 with a Rockship ARM-processor 32-bit. I loaded the Unpacked packaged extension according to the instruction. First the ARChon Custom Runtime 1.2 – ARM 38.4410.120.43 with the warnings displayed in your screen shots. After that the Android APK (popcorntime.apk) (which I converted with Twerk! first) in the same way with the warnings you displayed in your screen shots.
I had the same problem with the game apk you mentioned for testing (just the blank emulator with the Android logo), but when I try the popcorntime.apk it doesn’t even start the emulator window.
Any suggestions? Thanks a lot for your help!
Cheers!
What should I do if it says “error loading extension”?
Can we play clash of clans with it?
hi, i’m using a odroid xu4 with linux ubuntu 16.04 and i have chromium is it alright. after install ARChon there is a error icon click on and there is a red message: “minimum_chrome_version”: “32”,
do have to have chrome instead of chromium or 32 loading ARChon
thank you very much
waiting to have google play store
Hi,
Trying to use a streaming app on your extension; it loads fine, but the minute I load a stream, I get a picture indicating that something has gone wrong (the puzzle piece with the sad face you see with Google Chrome, when loading a webpage goes wrong).
Any suggestions?
on developer dash it said the folder was incomplete for 32 chrome tried the mirror as well both failed
wow… umm… derrr… where do I get the apk files from…?