On Fri, 26 Feb 2016 23:03:47 -0600 "Peter Easthope" <pe...@easthope.ca> wrote:
> https://wiki.debian.org/AndroidTools indiates > that Android SDK is a rather complex beast. > > Suppose a user needs one or a few Android apps > but is not particularly interested in owning an > Android device. Is installation of Android SDK > to a small laptop and app usage there feasible? Not unless you can avoid it, IMO. Said Android SDK is basically a rebranded Eclipse IDE plus heavily patched QEMU (for ARM architecture emulation). To describe it in one word - it's a memory and CPU hog, completely redundant for actual *running* Android apps. Luckily alternatives are exist. More important is that it's free software alternatives. First one is http://android-x86.org. It's somewhat outdated Android build for x86-64, ready to be placed in any virtual machine of your choice. The installation and running needed apps comes usual Android way. Second one is ARChon - http://archon-runtime.github.io/, which allows to run *some* Android apk's as Chromium extensions. > Or not worth the distraction and better to buy > a tablet or smartphone? Depends on your needs IMO. I'd go for an extra device (that I don't control) only if aforementioned methods fail. Reco
