| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Virtualization, mobile software |
| Genre | |
| Founded | April 25, 2009; 12 years ago[1][2] |
| Founders | Rosen Sharma, Jay Vaishnav, Suman Saraf[3] |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Worldwide | |
Key people |
|
| Products | App Player, GamePop |
| Website | www.bluestacks.com |
BlueStacks Client with Androidhome screen open as of July 2021. | |
| Stable release | |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 7 or later;[5]macOS Sierra or later[6] |
| Platform | IA-32, x86-64 |
| Size | 527 MB |
| Available in | 48 languages |
| Type | |
| License | Freeware |
| Website | www.bluestacks.com |
BlueStacks is an American technology company known for the BlueStacks App Player and other cloud-based cross-platform products. The BlueStacks App Player is designed to enable Android applications to run on PCs running Microsoft Windows and Apple's macOS. The company was founded in 2009 by Jay Vaishnav, Suman Saraf, and Rosen Sharma, former CTO at McAfee and a board member of Cloud.com.
Low FPS Low Usage. CPU: Ryzen 5 3600X OC to 4.2Ghz GPU: GTX 1060 3GB RAM: Crucial Sport 3000Mhz 16GB SSD: WD Black 256GB Boot Drive. With this setup and 1080p in COD Mobile BlueStacks 5 feels very slow and sluggish but when I check system resources it just keeps spiking 1 or 2 cores and barley no GPU usage. BlueStacks 2 is currently available only on Windows, but will soon debut on Macs in July. Follow these simple steps to go: Step 1: To use and run multiple Android apps simultaneously, you need to first Download BlueStacks 2, which is free. Step 2: Install BlueStacks 2 software on your Windows computer.
Investors include Samsung.[7]
The company was announced May 26, 2011, at the Citrix Synergy conference in San Francisco. Citrix CEO Mark Templeton demonstrated an early version of BlueStacks onstage and announced that the companies had formed a partnership. The public alpha version of App Player was launched on October 11, 2011.[8] App Player exited beta on June 7, 2014. On July 23, 2014 Samsung announced [7] it had invested in BlueStacks. This brought total outside investment in BlueStacks to $26 million.[9]
BlueStacks App Player[edit]
The App Player, software that virtualizes an Android OS, can be downloaded in versions for Windows 10 and macOS. The software's basic features are free to download and use. Advanced optional features require a paid monthly subscription.[10] The company claims the App Player can run 1.5 million Android apps as of November 2019.[11] As of February 2021, BlueStacks have been downloaded over 1 billion times and has more than 500 million users.[12] App Player features mouse, keyboard, and external touchpad controls.
BlueStacks for Mac[edit]
On June 27, 2012, the company released an alpha-1 version of its App Player software for macOS,[13] while the beta version was released on December 27, 2012.
In April 2015, BlueStacks, Inc. announced that a new version of App Player for macOS, 2.0, was in development, which was released in July.[14]
BlueStacks 2[edit]
In December 2015, BlueStacks, Inc. released the new version BlueStacks 2.0[15] which lets users run multiple Android applications simultaneously.[16] BlueStacks 2.0 was also available for Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks or later, till 2018.
BlueStacks TV (BTV)[edit]
On April 7, 2016, the company released BlueStacks TV which integrated Twitch.tv directly into the BlueStacks App Player.[17] This addition allows users to stream their apps to Twitch without the need for extra hardware or software. BlueStacks released Facebook Live integration in September 2016, allowing users to stream their gameplay to their Facebook profiles, Pages they control, or Facebook Groups they belong to.[18]
BlueStacks 3[edit]
In July 2017, BlueStacks released BlueStacks 3 based on a brand new engine and front-end design.[19] BlueStacks 3 added App Center which personalizes game suggestions, an account system, chat, new keymapping interface, and multi-instance. Multi-instance allows users to launch multiple BlueStacks windows using either the same or different Google Play account.
BlueStacks 3N[edit]
On January 19, 2018, BlueStacks announced the release of the BlueStacks + N Beta which runs on Android 7 (Android Nougat) and claimed to be the first and only Android gaming platform to have Android 7 at the time, since the majority of Android emulators ran Android 4.4 (KitKat), including prior BlueStacks versions.[20] This beta version is powered by an upgraded 'HyperG' graphics engine allowing BlueStacks to utilize the full array of Android 7 APIs
BlueStacks 4[edit]
On September 18, 2018, BlueStacks announced the release of its latest flagship version, BlueStacks 4. BlueStacks 4 benchmarks 6-8x faster than every major mobile phone according to the Antutu benchmark.[21] BlueStacks 4 also includes dynamic resource management which only initializes the required Android libraries thus freeing resources. A new dock and search offer a clean user interface. New AI powered key-mapping tool auto maps keys in supported games with key customization also available for further tweaking. In addition, BlueStacks 4 supports[22] both 32-bit and 64-bit version of Android 7.1.2 Nougat.
Development for macOS has been restarted, and version 4 is currently available from the website as of November 2019, first released for Mac in January 2019.[23]
BlueStacks 4 64-Bit Beta[edit]
On January 17, 2019, BlueStacks released a 64-bit version of BlueStacks 4 via its early access program.[24] This version runs on a 64-bit version of Android 7.1.2 which allows for improved performance, and more efficient memory usage. The prerequisites for running this build include running a 64-bit version of Windows 8 or later, with virtualization enabled, and Hyper-V disabled. This 64-bit release allows the installation and usage of ARM64-v8a android applications.
BlueStacks 5[edit]
On May 19, 2021, BlueStacks released BlueStacks 5.[25]
Minimum requirements[edit]
Current minimum requirements for App Player for Windows include: Windows 7 or higher, 2 GB or higher system memory, 5 GB of hard drive space, administrator rights, and an Intel or AMD processor.[5] BlueStacks clashes with the BitDefender antivirus software.[26] An update to the latest graphic card driver version is also recommended.
Minimum requirements for macOS are: macOS Sierra or higher, 4 GB RAM, 4 GB disk space, and a model newer than 2014. BlueStacks has explicitly said that they have not supported Apple silicon yet.[27]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'BlueStacks hits a billion apps used per month and launches new mobile platform'. VentureBeat. December 3, 2015. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
- ^'BlueStacks Partners With AMD, Bringing 500,000 Android Apps To Windows PCs'. TechCrunch. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
- ^Media, Ryan Daws | 19th September 2018 | TechForge (September 19, 2018). 'BlueStacks emulates Android '6x faster' than leading smartphone and is a verified app (safe to download)'. Developer Tech News. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
- ^'Download BlueStacks Offline Installer'. Bluestacks - The Best Android Emulator on PC as Rated by You. January 21, 2017. Archived from the original on October 8, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^ ab'System requirements for BlueStacks 4'. BlueStacks Support. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^'How can I Install and launch BlueStacks on Mac OS?'. BlueStacks Support. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^ abEtherington, Darrell. 'After 10M Downloads, Samsung Backs GamePop As BlueStacks Adds $13M In New Funding'. TechCrunch. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
- ^Empson, Rip. 'BlueStacks Releases App Player And Cloud Connect Service To Let You Run Android Apps On Your PC'. TechCrunch. Archived from the original on December 8, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^'Samsung invests $13M in Android microgaming console GamePop'. CNET. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
- ^Whitney, Lance. 'Android apps can now run on your PC via BlueStacks'. CNET. Archived from the original on December 8, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^'BlueStacks Features and Comparison'. Bluestacks - The Best Android Emulator on PC as Rated by You. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^'What is Bluestacks?'. Bluestacks - The Best Android Emulator on PC as Rated by You. Archived from the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^Rosenblatt, Seth. 'BlueStacks ports Android apps to Mac'. CNET. Archived from the original on June 28, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^'BlueStacks - Did you pre-order the new Macbook?'. www.facebook.com. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^'Bluestacks Review and Fix Engine issues'. TechnoIliyas. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- ^'BlueStacks 2.0 Launched, Lets You Run Multiple Apps Simultaneously'. NDTV Gadgets 360. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^'Twitch users can now live stream Android games from their PC'. techcrunch.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
- ^'Stream Android apps on Facebook Live with Bluestacks'. engadget.com. Archived from the original on September 22, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
- ^'BlueStacks 2 vs. BlueStacks 3 Features'. bluestacks.com. July 30, 2017. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^'Android N Comes to PC; BlueStacks Releases the First Android Gaming Platform Ever to Run Android N'. gamasutra.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- ^'BlueStacks, an Android emulator for PC, gets an update with major performance upgrade'. gamasutra.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- ^Kumar, Rahul (August 19, 2019). 'Is Bluestacks safe for Windows and macOS PC?'. HubsAdda. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^'Release Notes'. BlueStacks Support. Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^'Join our Discord Server for Early Access Releases and a Great Community'. reddit.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^BlueStacks 5 Global Release, retrieved June 5, 2021
- ^'r/BlueStacks - BlueStack and Bitdefender blocking some XML files'. reddit. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^'System specifications for installing BlueStacks on macOS'. BlueStacks Support. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
Mac Bluestacks Multiple Instances List
When you use apps on a device such as an iPhone or Android phone, you may run into a situation where you want to have multiple accounts for the same app. Unfortunately, this can be very hard to do. It usually requires you to uninstall the app and re-install it to switch accounts. Usually these apps don’t have a PC version, which makes it even harder to manage multiple accounts. The people at BlueStacks have written an Android emulator to allow running apps on a PC (they have a MAC version, but it doesn’t support the version of Android required to run most apps), so you will need Windows.
To run multiple accounts of an app follow these steps.
- Download and install BlueStacks
- Install the app that you want to duplicate, but do not log in or create an account. If you have already logged into the app, then uninstall the app and re-install it.
- Open Windows Explorer and go to %ProgramData%BlueStacksAndroid you should see a folder called Data.sparsefs
- Rename Data.sparsefs to Data1.sparsefs.
- Make as many copies of Data1.sparsefs as you need copies of your app. Increment the number after Data each time. You should end up with something like this, but without the Data.sparsefs folder.
Download this zip file, open it, and copy LaunchApp.bat to %ProgramData%BlueStacksAndroid
Open the apps folder that BlueStacks installed on your desktop. You should see a shortcut to the app that you installed in BlueStacks.
Right-click on the shortcut and choose “properties”. You should see a window like this:
link properties
You’ll need to edit the text inside the “Target” textbox. you want to keep the last two arguments. Those will tell BlueStacks which app you want to launch. If you were editing the twitter link, then
“C:Program Files (x86)BlueStacksHD-RunApp.exe” Android com.twitter.android com.twitter.android.StartActivity
becomes
%ProgramData%BlueStacksAndroidLaunchApp.bat 1 com.twitter.android com.twitter.android.StartActivity
Notice that the “Android” became a “1”. That “1” will change for each shortcut to match the Data#.sparsefs that you want to link to.
- Make a copy of the shortcut for each copy of Data.sparsefs that you created
- Rename each link with the number that corresponds to the number in your copy of Data.sparsefs
- Edit the target of each link, just like in step 8. Change the “1” to match the number in your copy of Data.sparsefs
You should end up with links like these:
Bluestacks Multi Installer
Now, when you double-click the links, the batch file will link the proper Data#.sparsefs and launch your app. The first time you run each shortcut you will need to set up a new account. After that, you can switch accounts just by launching the shortcut.