Is bluestacks safe? Before we start talking about BlueStacks, we need to introduce the Android emulator concept for you at first.
The idea of an Android emulator was originally to use the emulator in testing, running different applications on the virtual system, or finding bugs on devices other than phones.
The android emulator allows the host, which is usually the computer system, to act like another HW or SW system that is used for various purposes. This idea got a lot of attention to Google’s Android SDK release in 2008.
BlueStacks App Player is computer software that works like an emulator, which gives you the ability to download, install, and run most of the mobile applications or games on your personal computer or your laptop.
The main role of BlueStacks is to run Android apps and games on Microsoft Windows or Mac.
After you install BlueStacks, it will set up to work with the social media platforms that you choose like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
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BlueStacks is considered one of the most popular software for Windows and Mac. At first, the BlueStacks software was not the best option for running Android applications on PC.
Still, with the number of BlueStacks users increasing, the developers have put much more effort into making it as developed as it is today.
The idea of the BlueStacks software was executed and launched in May 2011 in San Francisco at Citrix Synergy conference.
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The CEO (Mark Templeton) showed the early version of BlueStacks on the stage and announced the companies that are in partnership with him.
The history of BlueStacks started on June 27, 2012, when the company launched the Alpha-1 version of the software for Mac OS.
On the other hand, the beta version was released on December 27, 2012. After that, Bluestacks announced that the new BlueStacks version for Mac was in the development phase; this was in April 2015.
You can download BlueStacks on your Windows or Mac OS. BlueStacks aims to virtualize the Android operating system experience on PC.
The software’s basic features are free to download, install, and use. However, some advanced and optional features may require a monthly paid subscription.
BlueStacks Company says that its application would be capable of running more than 96% of the available applications at the Google Play Store. To use the app and play games, you will need a mouse, keyboard, and touchpad controls.
You can customize the user interface of the BlueStacks software to match your needs from the app.
BlueStacks allows the user to run more than one application using the Multi-instance feature that allows the user to open multi windows using the same Google Play Store account or a different one.
Safety concerns
Is BlueStacks Software is considered safe and legal? Many users may suspect that BlueStacks or Android emulation software is not safe somehow.
This may happen because some security apps like Avast may detect BlueStacks or other Android emulator executables a threat.
Majority of these reports ended being wrong and even in those cases where the executable was infected, no evidence detected that the file was already infected when Bluestacks was installed.
However, it has been obvious that many of these reports are false. Even in the case that the executable files were infected, no file was found to be infected after the installation of BlueStacks.
Should i delete Antivirus software?
During Installation, BlueStacks usually asks for disabling your Antivirus protection until the process is finished.
This step is only to ensure that your Anti-virus software does not have over protection settings that may show BlueStacks as a threat to your computer.
BlueStacks, the Android emulator, has been scanned by most efficient security scanners, and it was found that there is no indication for malware infection. With these taken procedures, you can install this Android emulator with no worries.
Here, of course, we are talking about downloading the platform, the original edition, from the official website for BlueStacks, other sites may not be completely safe.
If we go back to when BlueStacks was just launched and started to gain popularity, many concerns have pop up about the revenue model the company was using.
Many websites were filled with warnings to people to stop using the software. The issue was that to keep using the app, you have either to pay for the creators, or you download some applications; this caused a lot of concerns for the users, which has increased the probability that the program may have contained some adware.
Moreover, one that makes the problem even worse is that the original BlueStacks software did not have an uninstaller included.
Also, the main folder of the program has no way to delete it as it was read-only, so the users could not do anything with the folder.
Luckily, these problems and concerns had lasted for just a couple of months. The developers and creators of BlueStacks decided to let go of the approach of downloading and rating the program and made the software free.
This was a result of realizing that the old approach was going to stop them from more growth and development.
Most of the last versions included an uninstaller, and the folders are no longer read-only.
In brief, the Android emulator BlueStacks is completely safe, and there is no evidence found for malware, adware, spyware, etc.
For now, you can go and download the software with no worries. However, you need to keep in mind that BlueStacks is only a virtual machine software, and it is completely your decision to download and install the trusted apps from the Google Play Store.
Is BlueStacks is legal or not?
In general, Android emulators are not considered illegal because the operating systems like Android are available and considered as open-source.
Moreover, downloading, installing, and using apps on any device (emulator on PC, phone, tablet…etc.) is completely legal, and there is no problem in this as long as you appropriately use them. So, BlueStacks is legal software that you can use with no problem.
To sum up, if you do not have an android device that you need to run Android Applications, it is not a problem anymore.
You need to download BlueStacks, which is a free Windows software that can handle popular applications and games like PUBG and Candy Crush while you work on Microsoft office in another window.
Although it is one of the most popular Android emulators, BlueStacks focuses mainly on promoting applications.
Installation
Like normal Windows apps installations, you have to run the EXE file and follow the steps.
Bluestacks needs at minimum 2GB RAM and a 9GB free space on the disk. During the installation, it informs you that BlueStacks works best with and Access to App store and enabling the Applications Communications; you could uncheck these options if you want.
The App Store Access is a feature like it is obvious from the name, which gives the ability to connect to Google Play Store or Amazon App Store, which is previously installed by default along with Facebook, GamePop, and Twitter.
On the other hand, Application communications allow, by the privacy policy of BlueStacks, to contact you through text messages, notifications, or sending an email to you. If you leave it enabled, there will be no spam emails from the company; anyway, you got the option to uncheck it.
The BlueStacks installation may take a while up to 20 minutes to initialize the program for the first time. During this period, BlueStacks suggests and shows to you some of the applications that they support like games and so on.
User Interface
The user interface of BlueStacks is focused mainly on games, and this is very obvious when you see the program at the first launch.
You will not see the typical home screen of a normal Android phone system, but instead, you would see, as in other Android emulators, some applications that form up few rows, which most of them are games and some media and messenger apps.
The user of BlueStacks does not have the full experience of the Android OS, but it would appear like a customized windows application that displays the Android programs in full-size screen or windowed screen.
Though BlueStacks is, typically, an Android emulator that runs on 4.4.2 KitKat Android, it is more like an Android application launcher.
The customized home screen of BlueStacks is very confusing and misleading. Firstly, it shows up to the user like all the applications are installed, and the user has access to them, but when he taps the app thumbnail, it takes him to Google Play Store, where the user can download and install the application.
Common problem with BlueStacks:-
The problem is that, from the app icons, the user cannot differentiate between the installed and which are some suggested apps.
To see all the applications which are already installed, you have to click on the button “All Apps” on the top row. The applications are organized in alphabetical order, and they cannot be grouped.
The worst thing here is that there is no way to arrange the home screen applications or remove the thumbnails.
When you start BlueStacks, you will always see these suggested apps, although you have no interest in playing such games.
When you click on the “More” button for an application category, a list of recommended applications pops up with a limited number of suggestions, instead of every app in this category that you could download.
To install one app that you do not have, you have to search by its name and go through the search results on the Google Play Store. Otherwise, there is no direct link to browse the Google Play Store Apps.
So, this restricted and limited environment that BlueStacks provide makes a feeling that it is like the pushy salesperson marketing Android Games and Applications.
Touch-Screen and Keyboard Input
On the other side, however, it feels very much like you are on an Android platform when you run the applications with BlueStacks in the full-screen mode instead of windowed.
If you have multi-touch like touch screen tablet PC, you can contact support to complete this. Also, you can integrate sensors so you can do things like tilt moves in apps and games.
What if you do not have a touch-screen laptop?
The BlueStacks Android emulator was previously designed with the old non-touch-screen computer in mind.
The keyboard icon in the menu at the bottom of the bar provides the user with map tablet controls like zooming, tilting, swiping, and tapping keys.
Bugs
Unfortunately, the keyboard features for a mapping does not work very well. When using Google Earth through BlueStacks, there was some lag in zooming using the mapped key.
For example, when you play Temple Run, you may find that the mapping keys are reversed.
Also, some features seem to be useless, like rotating the screen when playing some games. It is a bad idea to play Temple Run with a rotated screen and swipe-left to jump instead of going left. So, the setting is completely wired to be there.
Performance and Gaming
In spite of these bugs, BlueStacks did the intended job of providing a good platform to play games fairly well, even on many old laptops. Most of the games that were tried like Clash of Clans, Dragon Blaze, Asphalt 8, etc. ran well without any hitch.
While trying Batman Arkham Origins on BlueStacks, it ran smoothly; however, there were some bugs and glitches like overlaying text and missing text. Also, there was some occasional freezing in some scenes.
Moreover, applications take too much time to load. It may take up to 45 seconds to start apps like Instagram in BlueStacks.
During testing some media apps, WhatsApp ran very well without problems. However, the BlueStacks Android emulator struggled in processing some photos on Instagram and opening some emails in Gmail.
Also, Google Earth has many lags and glitches, but this was expected as Google Earth requires high specifications to run appropriately.
Anyway, the performance will be, in any case, limited by computer specifications, memory, and CPU. BlueStacks would run best if there is no other program running alongside it. The performance will be better when you try BlueStacks on a new computer or laptop like Surface Pro (8GB of RAM), though there were some bugs and glitches.
How to Speed Up Bluestacks Emulator?
As we have mentioned before, Bluestacks is an android emulator that makes users able to run android applications on personal computers and MAC OS. It works with Windows 7 and the ones after it and with MAC OS sierra and the ones after it. It takes up a minimum of 2GB RAM on the personal computer and is very good for running games. However, some users have reported lagging in the software.
Here are some ways in which you can fix this problem and use Bluestacks to the best of its ability:
- Customize the display settings that are best suited to your device. Set the graphics to 800×450 for low-end devices. To achieve this, go to the settings bar and choose the desired graphics.
- Select OpenGL from the ‘Engine’ settings to minimize the lag. Set the CPU cores according to your personal computer. However, the CPU core one is recommended for low-end computers and 4 for fine working computers.
- Allot maximum RAM to Bluestacks. From engine settings, select the Memory option and slide adjacent to 4096. This is important for the optimum working of the software; it allows Bluestacks to operate on whole hardware, which subsequently increases its efficiency. Restart the app. If that does not fix the problem, then proceed as follows.
- Set the FPs to a maximum. Set the frame rate to 40 or 60 as per your PC.
- If you have any anti-virus applications, then disable your anti-virus applications for an hour or till the next restart. Close any other background applications if the lagging still occurs.
- Update your graphic card if necessary. Use the NVIDIA graphic card for the excellent working of the software.
- Lastly, right-click on the left corner and go to the task manager. Then select Bluestacks, right-click on it, and set the priority to ‘above normal.’ Do not choose an option other than this because it will result in poor performance. The steps mentioned above will enable you to fix a lag in your Bluestacks app and run smoothly on PC.
How to log out from BlueStacks Android Emulator?
To log out from BlueStacks, you have to take some steps:
Firstly, you have to go and click on “My Apps” tab, next you choose “System app.” After that, click on “settings.”
Choose “Google” and click on the icon “Menu.”
Click on the “Remove account.” A pop-up window will show up to you, choose “Remove Account” to confirm the deletion.
When you finish removing the email account, you will be directed back to “settings.”
Now you are logged out from BlueStacks. To log in again, scroll down and click on “Add Account” and now you have to click on “Sign in “and complete with your email ID and password.
How to make a Factory-reset for BlueStacks Android emulator?
Follow the following steps to factory reset BlueStacks; resetting all the preferences, settings, and deleting all the data you have on BlueStacks.
1- Click on the “setting” button and choose “preferences.”
2- When you go to BlueStacks Preferences, click on the “Data” tab, and choose the “Factory Reset” button.
3- A pop-up window will appear to you, choose “yes” to delete all the applications and data.
4- If you have any questions, contact BlueStacks Support at [email protected]
BlueStacks Android Emulator: free or paid?
The BlueStacks Android emulator software has some basic and free to download features that are available to the user. If the user wants some more advanced optional features, this may require a monthly paid subscription.
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