In today’s article, I will show you how you can install the famous Android emulator named Bluestacks on macOS. Once you install Bluestacks on macOS, you can enjoy Android apps and games on your laptop.
Overview of Bluestacks
Table of Contents
Bluestacks is an Android emulator that is one of the most popular around there because of its features. It actually fills the gap between cross-platform ecosystems like Android and Windows or macOS where you have to freedom to run Android applications on your PC whether it is running on Windows or macOS.
Bluestacks offers an awards system in which users will get virtual currency whenever they play games or undertake tasks like streaming or sharing video from BlueStacks. With its media manager, you can easily import files from your PC into the Bluestacks and vice versa.
If you are a Windows user, then you can install Bluestacks on Windows by following these simple steps.
Main Features
Game Controls
It comes with amazing gaming controls that include presets gaming controls and advanced gaming controls. You can also change the presets at your convenience. Moreover, you can also create your own gaming controls.
Shooting Mode
Bluestacks comes with the feature of shooting mode, where you can have high precision like PC games. It has a very fast response time. In order to activate the shooting mode, simply press F1 to aim and then shoot with your mouse.
Multi Instances
This is the feature that I like the most. With multi-instance, you can play the same game from different accounts or play multiple games at the same time. You can also optimize your PC for the best performance even with multiple instances running in the background by using the Eco Mode feature.
Record Macros
Now you don’t have to do repetitive tasks on your own because you can record macros and automate boring tasks to replicate them in real-time. This option is especially enabled only for games where the game developers support it.
Real-Time Translation
One of the most innovative features is that of real-time translation where you can play any of your favorite games in your very own language. It allows you to share the game across language barriers.
System Requirements
Bluestacks requires a system with a good quotation to run all the apps and games smoothly but with the latest updates, Bluestacks has introduced Eco Mode which will run on an average quotation system. However, below is the list of both minimum and recommended requirements.
Mini Requirements
- macOS 10.12 (Sierra) or above operating system
- 64-bit OS architecture
- Intel or AMD Dual-Core Processor
- Virtualization should be enabled
- Intel HD 5200 or higher Graphics
- 8 GB of available disk space
- 4 GB of RAM
- Graphics Driver with OpenGL 2.1
- You must be an Administrator on your PC
- High-Performance power plan
- 1280 x 800 Resolution
Recommended Requirements
- macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or above operating system.
- 64-bit
- Intel or AMD Multi-Core Processor with Single Thread PassMark score > 1500.
- Virtualization should be enabled
- Intel/Nvidia/ATI, Onboard or Discrete controller with PassMark score >= 750
- SSD with 32 GB of available disk space
- Up-to-date Graphics Driver with OpenGL 2.1 or higher
- You must be an Administrator on your PC
- High-Performance power plan
- 1920 x 1200 or higher resolution
Steps to follow to download BlueStacks on MacOS
- In order to install Bluestacks on macOS, you need to download the offline installer app which you can download here.
- Then open the downloaded file, and click on the Bluestack icon for starting the installation process.
- Then click on the install button.
- After that, a window will prompt where you have to click “Proceed” in order to continue.
- It is possible that you get the “System Extension Blocked” popup after the previous step, if it appears, then click on “Open Security Preferences.”
- After that, simply click on “Allow” in the “Security & Privacy” settings.
- You are good to go and can you Bluestacks on macOS
Pros
- Clean and Easy to use interface
- Easy to install games and apps
- Multi-instance support
- Good key mapping
- Customize gameplay controls
Cons
- Comparatively Slow In-app operations
- Not the best option for MMOGs
Pro-Tip
You should turn on the Virtualization in the setting of your UEFI at startup because like other emulators, Bluestacks also takes advantage of hardware virtualization technology built into modern PC to pave the way for emulation tasks. Keep in mind that this setting is turned off by default in the PC’s UEFI or BIOS.
Alternatives of Bluestacks for macOS
If you don’t want to use Bluestacks for some reason and want to try a new Android emulator for macOS, then you can find the list of best alternatives for Bluestacks on macOS.
Nox Player
Nox Player is one of the best choices if you are looking for a Bluestacks alternative because of its features like gameplay optimizations, controller compatibility, ability to change the Android device’s build, and most importantly its user-friendly interface.
MEmu Player
Another competitor in the race of best alternatives for Bluestacks on macOS is the MEmu player. There are tons of amazing features that you will get in this emulator but the most important one is its ability to support both Intel and AMD CPUs. It also supports running multiple instances at once.
LDPlayer
LDPlayer is another amazing alternative to Bluestacks that is specially optimized for gaming. You will be amazed to know that there is a dedicated app store for games that run quite well on LDPlayer. You can make use of virtualization technology to make your experience more smooth.
GenyMotion
If you are an Android/iOS developer, and looking for a platform where you can test your newly created apps, then Genymotion is one of the best choices. The best part of this emulator is that you can run it on both desktop and cloud through a web browser so you can use it on any platform including Windows, macOS, and Linux.
