BlueStacks Allows You to Run Android Apps on a Mac - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

BlueStacks Allows You to Run Android Apps on a Mac

by

BlueStacks announced a public alpha version of their Android App Player for the Mac today at Google I/O.

The company had originally released a beta version of their App Player for Windows back in March. The software allows users to run Android apps directly on their Windows PCs, and the newest version begins to extend that functionality to the Mac.

bluestacks
While the Windows version allows you to run any Android app without modification, the early Mac version seems to be limited to 15 initial apps that comes bundled with the download. The bundled apps include Air Control Lite, Alchemy, Basketball Shot, Drag Racing, Elastic World, Facebook, Glow Hockey, Guns'n'Glory, Paper Toss, Pulse, Robo Defense, Seesmic, Twitter, Whatsapp, and Zebra Paint.

Their support page claims that "in the very near future", they plan on opening the Mac version up to over 400,000 Android apps:

The BlueStacks App Player for Mac OSX (alpha) supports both Lion and Snow Leopard. You can test drive a fixed set of curated apps for the first release (alpha-1). In the very near future, BlueStacks will let you select from over 400,000 Android apps to play on your Mac.

The alpha version is available as a free download from the BlueStacks website.

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Read Full Article • 151 comments
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Read Full Article • 111 comments
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Read Full Article • 104 comments

Top Rated Comments

gorskiegangsta Avatar
gorskiegangsta
186 months ago
I'll admit, that I too am perplexed by this. What "amazing" Android apps don't already have an iOS counterpart?
Not the point. The point is that you'll be able to run mobile apps on your desktop/laptop OS - something you cannot do with iOS apps. Whether it's at all productive or useful is a whole another argument.
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
devinher Avatar
devinher
186 months ago
I don't really get this. Why would you want to run Android apps on a Mac? Doesn't Mac already have a much better selection of quality apps than Android?
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
chrismarle
186 months ago
Great, enlarged phone apps. Just what I needed on my Mac.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ChazUK Avatar
ChazUK
186 months ago
isn't most of the android apps riddled with spyware?

MacRumors content image

No. Just no.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
faroZ06 Avatar
faroZ06
186 months ago
Bringing apps that require a touch screen to a PC with a keyboard and mouse. Genius.

----------

Console emulators? Google apps? Flash Player? Task Manager?

There are Google apps on the iPhone. As for the emulators.... jailbreak :D:D
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
F
FlameofAnor
186 months ago
I don't really get this. Why would you want to run Android apps on a Mac? Doesn't Mac already have a much better selection of quality apps than Android?

I'll admit, that I too am perplexed by this. What "amazing" Android apps don't already have an iOS counterpart?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments