Step 3 - Install Android PlatformsĪt this point, I tried running the emulator command, but the SDK doesn't contain any Android Platforms, the Android platform is essentially Android OS, you need to install at least one version (eg 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, etc) to run the emulator.

Since we are using the command line you might find it useful to add the android-sdk- platform/tools folder to your system path so you can run the android commands from any folder. I placed the android-sdk-mac_86 folder in my /Applications/ folder, but you can put it wherever you want.

Step 1 - Download the Android SDKĭownload the Android SDK, and unzip it somewhere. Also, I'm using a Mac, but I think the steps should be pretty close if you are running Windows or Linux. I should mention that there is also an Eclipse Plugin for Android Development as well that you can use instead. So I thought I would give a quick and easy guide for folks to follow, that might be interested in getting started with Android Development and running the Android Emulator. I am in the process of building some mobile apps for one of my clients, and while I'm pretty familiar with running the iPhone simulator and building iPhone apps, I'm pretty new to the Android development tools at this point.

How to run an emulator on mac