Android emulation on PC is a rapidly growing offering. This solution allows people to play their favorite games or use popular applications on a computer or laptop. Large screens provide more interesting gameplay, without requiring the purchase of a new device. In addition, less attention is paid to such things as requirements, battery life and free memory. One of the leaders among the competitors in this niche is the LeapDroid emulator. This is an Android emulator that runs on a PC, and, according to the developers, it is the fastest and best. Is it so? Let's check in practice!
What is a LeapDroid emulator?
Installing the Android emulator LeapDroid - the process is quite simple. But for a start it is better to use the FAQ to make sure that all settings will correspond to the maximum performance.
In addition to the main application, you also get access to two LeapDroid VM applications - LeapDroid VM1 and LeapDroid VM2. This tells us two things. The first is to use the VM software to run an instance of Android, which is no different from how others do it. Secondly, it allows you to quickly and easily open two instances of LeapDroid for those cases where you may need to run two accounts at once.
A few other notes. This Android emulator uses Android 4.4.4 KitKat. Many powerful user and advanced features such as ADB and background applications are supported.
LeapDroid emulator functionality
Using LeapDroid is quite simple. The main user interface is the KitKat Android interface, and the menus and home screens are exactly the same as on the smartphone. Of course, not everyone immediately remembers how and what was on the 4th Android, but it seems that all the functions are in place.
How to use LeapDroid? In the right part of the window there is a toolbar with several buttons. These buttons include the standard Home, Recent Apps, and Back, along with a volume up and down button. Along with them there is a button on the main screen, a button for easy installation of the APK and a button for full-screen mode. The LeapDroid interface is clean, and performance leaves no doubt about stability.
LeapDroid works with your mouse and keyboard. At first, it's a bit annoying, because you can't do things like clicking the mouse, dragging text, or using the mouse scroll wheel. However, getting used to how everything is done on Android does not take much time. Moving the cursor while typing is probably easier to perform with a mouse than with a finger.
Moving through the interface, opening and using applications and games, as well as loading time - everything is customized. The software boasts the highest criteria of any emulator, and application testing makes it difficult to refute these claims. It definitely loads faster than BlueStacks, and using an emulator seems simple and fast.
Most applications that support Holo and Material Design require different gestures to navigate the user interface. In addition to the obvious scrolling, there are also side buttons, and most of them are programmed so that your fingers can fully control the operations. This means that there are many mouse movements. Of course, there may be inconvenient moments, but this is not the fault of the developers - this is how the Android OS works.
Finally, we turn to one of the distinguishing features of LeapDroid - Keymapper. This feature allows you to use the keyboard and mouse buttons to make various games playable on your laptop. For many, such as Exvius Final Fantasy Brave, Clash of Clans and most click and drag games, minimal tweaking is required. However, when you install more complex games, such as Asphalt 8: Airborne, Critical Ops and others, learning can be a bit more difficult.
Fortunately, the company has many tutorials on how to customize and use keyboard layouts with various games. Usually you need to enter the game settings to change some things and work with hardware keys.
The first thing you probably want to do when installing LeapDroid is to start installing all of your applications. During testing, we tried out many applications, including Google Play Music, Google Drive, Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Google Chrome and others. It seems that the emulator controls them pretty well. Creating documents in Microsoft Word, notes in Evernote, checking tasks in the calendar, chatting in Skype and even browsing the Internet are all easy tasks. Even Google Now works with a bang, and clicking the Voice Search button allows you to perform voice prompts without first setting.
Some applications require fine tuning in order to work properly. For example, in the Google Play Store, the definition of installed applications takes some time. Unfortunately, any application that requires a camera does not work at all.
The LeapDroid team is very proud of the ability of their emulator to play games. We tested the gaming experience with games that the emulator recommends, along with some others. The results were generally positive. He played great games such as Asphalt 8: Airborne, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and Critical Ops. Key mapping is a little more difficult, but it works quite well, just get used to it a little. Because most games only require mechanical point-and-click tools, games like Clash of Clans run with almost no problems and require minimal configuration.
There are times when keyboard functions are required. Most riders need steering, while most FPS games require driving and aiming controls. There are also zoom settings that can help you in games like Clash of Clans. For many games, including The Bard's Tale, the keyboard actually sets itself up. However, for others, such as Asphalt 8: Airborne, this can be a problem. It all depends on what kind of games you like.
Keyboard settings
Select keyboard type and control
LeapDroid boasts 99% compatibility with applications and games, which is good news. Almost everything should work. The only game with the launch of which had problems was Final Fantasy from Square Enix. Everything else worked fine.
What are the advantages of an emulator?
Benefits:
- Performance, especially load time, is well above average. The company has published benchmarks that claim it is the fastest emulator. During testing, we did not use any tests, but we also did not have any performance problems. It works very well.
- The installation process is simple, and almost anyone can do it.
- This is a very clean, efficiently developed emulator. There are no viruses in it, and installation icons can be easily removed. This is, in fact, the very Android to which everyone is so used.
- Most Android programs work fine. Developers love to show off the emulator’s gaming prowess, but it works equally well with entertainment apps, productivity apps, and others.
- Most Android games work fine. Games are stable with high frame rates and performance.
- Keymapper functionality is required, especially for applications such as The Bard's Tale, all racing games, etc.
- The sidebar is a necessary feature that gives you constant access to the buttons, even if the applications or games are in the background. There are also shortcuts for screenshots and keyboards.
- Keyboard and mouse work fine.
- The official website has textbooks and a help desk page that describes the answers to the most common questions. There is also a forum topic if you want to discuss deeper issues.
- Internal storage capacity is limited by your computer. It is much larger than most Android devices.
- Everything works, including audio input and output.
- There are powerful custom tools such as debugging, testing and installing an APK. There are also two separate icons for quick launch of two copies of the emulator.
What LeapDroid inferior competitors
Disadvantages:
- Some applications, such as Snapchat, do not work as they should. The developers claim 99% compatibility, so this is not surprising.
- Newer versions have support for things like GPS, but it’s not yet completely perfect. The feature will work and probably in future updates even better, but it's worth noting that GPS support is relatively new.
- Some applications run with difficulty. Third-party programs, Google Play Store and some others, may require a restart of LeapDroid before they start working properly.
- Keymapper is a great tool, but it requires a little practice and patience. On some games, it works without problems, while on others it takes a bit of effort to set up.
- The emulator working with KitKat will not necessarily be bad, but Google Play services bridge the gap between the old and the new OS. However, those who want to use the features of the new versions of Android will not be able to do this.
How to install the emulator on your PC
How to install the program? The following steps describe the installation:
- Download the installer from the official LeapDroid website (approximately 255 MB);
- double click installer;
- follow the instructions;
- The application will be installed.
After installation and configuration, you can open and use the application.
IMPORTANT! Since November 2016, after the purchase of Google, LeapDroid has stopped development.
The installation process runs smoothly and without fail. We tested it on two devices (Intel chipsets), and everything went fine. The first opening of the emulator activates the screen saver, followed by the standard Android home screen. You just need to log into the Google Play Store, and the "click to install" icons, you can simply delete. You can also use them to install games on your PC if you want.
System requirements
Currently, the emulator is free to use and does not require a lot of installation space. System requirements - you will need a dual-core processor, 2 GB of RAM and a more or less modern video card.
In general, LeapDroid is a very solid emulator. It is installed correctly, works well and is cleanly removed, and not all of its competitors can boast. Performance is better than expected. Of course, there are several significant problems, especially with the camera. However, compared with the competition, the list of errors is shorter and relatively insignificant.