Bluestacks is an American based tech-company that produces Bluestacks Android emulator for PC or MAC. Moreover, the software is free to download, and owing to this perk the company has attracted millions of users worldwide. However, cross-platform products are usually prone to errors and bugs but most importantly they do possess an elevated risk of a security breach. Consequently, this uncertainty raises a question among potential users whether Bluestacks is safe to use or not?
We are here to put an end to any speculation by providing our readers with what we believe is our take on this dilemma.
Furthermore, we will be trying our best to present pieces of evidence with each of our claims just to eliminate gaps for any doubts.
Table of Contents
Is Bluestacks Safe?
Bluestacks Android emulator is totally safe to use on PC or MAC. And to prove this statement we provide you with a detailed report on the safety of Bluestacks, all the while eliminating any speculation.
Bluestacks Android emulator allows its users to download and run almost 95% of all the apps available on the Google Playstore onto PC or MAC.
In other words, users can enjoy a wide range of Android apps, from gaming to social media. So in consequence of such a high percentage and plain convenience, new users are eager to try out the software.
Now, when it comes to safety, we have not yet succeeded in obtaining any concrete evidence that would suggest that Bluestacks Android emulator is malicious.
There has been a report which stated that the Antivirus software, McAfee and Avast have labeled the software as malicious. However, the report later turned out to be false.
Bluestacks might ask for you to halt antivirus operations on your system. But, there is no need to worry about it because antivirus software can interfere with the downloading procedure.
To clarify, if a file is prevented from being downloaded but the installation proceeds further, the software might not work as it was supposed to, in such a case, after installation.
Is Bluestacks Android emulator safe for PC?
There is no harm in saying YES, indeed Bluestacks Android emulator is not only safe to use but super convenient. That is to say, you no longer have to use your phone all the time while you are on your computer.
Bluestacks Android emulator is neither malware nor insecure, although it automatically sends user data statistics back to its servers, which is just for Bluestacks to improve its services.
Bluestacks will not ask for your personal information but if you do feel insecure you can always turn off the user data statistics feature from the settings.
| Avast Anti-virus | Not a threat! |
| BitDefender Anti-virus | Not a threat! |
| Kaspersky Anti-virus | Not a threat! |
| Comodo Anti-virus | Not a threat! |
| AVG Anti-virus | Not a threat! |
Is Bluestacks Android emulator safe for MAC?
The same goes for MAC users, BlueStacks is a safe to use Android emulator. This fact also proves beneficial to those Apple users out there that want you to use any particular Android app which is not available on the App Store.
Similarly, Bluestacks will not ask for your personal information but if you do feel insecure you can always turn off the user data statistics feature from the settings.
Let us have a look at some of the BlueStacks reviews by some users:
What is Bluestacks?
Bluestacks is an Android emulator designed with the sole purpose of replicating the entire functionalities of Android onto a PC or MAC, in doing so this enables its users to have a quick look at their social media accounts and pages from their work or home desktops or laptops, also enabling them to play games that were only made available for smartphones or tablets.
This unique feature has made the company very popular with an astounding number of users online.
Bluestacks have also made sure the app is in no way malicious or posing any security threats to its users.
Moreover, earlier versions were reported to be running apps slower than usual. A user reports:
In addition to slow operation, earlier versions were also notorious for causing installation issues. However, you need not worry much about how the older versions operated. The newest version of Bluestacks is called the Bluestacks 4 Android emulator.
Is Bluestacks Android emulator legal to use?
The only reason people speculate on the legality of the software is because most emulators do violate rules and regulation.
However, Bluestacks is an Android emulator, and Android is an open-sourced operating system, meaning you can modify the operating system according to your utilization.
Secondly, Bluestacks is just an emulator that is not malicious in any way and it allows its users access to login into there Google Play accounts. In other words, it is safe to say Bluestacks is legal to use.
Is Bluestacks running slow?
If you think you are experiencing this issue than try to wrap your head around the fact that BlueStacks utilizes virtualization technology to mimic an Android OS operating on your system.
After that, it runs the apps over it and gaming apps can be a bit graphics intensive even for your system.
Consequently, you might be overburdening your RAM, Bluestacks needs at least 2GB of RAM and a minimum of 4GB of the hard disk to perform at its optimal level.
Older versions were reportedly slower and that might have been a software-related issue. Although Bluestacks has acknowledged these issues and have been working on improving its software.
Therefore, if you are facing performance issues we would suggest you clear up some RAM space and optimize your CPU. Also, remember to update graphics drivers and close all unnecessary programs running in the background.
PC requirements for optimum performance
The minimum system requirements are listed below:
- OS: Microsoft Windows 7 and above
- Processor: Intel or AMD Processor
- HDD: 5GB free disk space
- RAM: Your PC must have at least 2GB of RAM. (though having 2GB of RAM might cause the apps to run slow.)
- Up-to-date graphics drivers from Microsoft
- You must be an Administrator on your PC.
However, the recommended system requirements for optimum performance are as follows:
- OS: Microsoft Windows 10
- RAM: 8GB or higher
- HDD: SSD (or Fusion/Hybrid Drives)
- Processor: Intel or AMD Multi-Core Processor with Single Thread PassMark score > 1000, with virtualization extensions enabled in the BIOS.
- Graphics: Intel/Nvidia/ATI, Onboard or Discrete controller with PassMark score >= 750.
- Internet: Broadband connection to access games, accounts, and related content.
- Up-to-date graphics drivers from Microsoft
- It is recommended installing the BlueStacks App Player if you have a virtual machine (Microsoft Virtual PC, VMWare Workstation, or Oracle Virtualbox) installed on the same PC.
FAQs about BlueStacks Android emulator
Is Bluestacks free?
Ans: Yes, Bluestacks Android emulator is free to download.
What can Bluestacks do?
Ans: Bluestacks is an Android emulator that enables its users to experience the Android mobile ecosystem from the comfort of their desktop or laptop.
Which is better NOX or bluestacks?
Ans: Bluestacks has outperformed NOX is every benchmark so needless to say Bluestacks is better.
Is Bluestacks safe for your computer?
Ans: Yes, Bluestacks Android emulator is safe and secure. There is no evidence of it being a malicious software of any kind.
Can you get a virus from Bluestacks?
Ans: No, Bluestacks is safe to use.
Can I install Snapchat on my PC using Bluestacks?
Ans: Yes definitely, the whole point of using Bluestacks is to be able to use all your mobile apps on your PC or laptop.
How to install BlueStacks on MAC
This is a fairly straight-forward method. However, before we begin let us look at some of the system requirements:
- Operating System: Mac OS Sierra(10.12), High Sierra (10.13) and Mojave(10.14)
- RAM: 4GB RAM
- HDD: 4GB disk space
- Up-to-date graphics drivers.
- Updated App Store app from Apple.
- Make sure that you have the latest graphics drivers for your Mac’s graphics card.
- You must be an Administrator on your PC.
Once you have gone through all the requirements head over to the BlueStacks website and begin the procedure by downloading the installation file.
Choose MAC OS as the operating system and click on the “Download” button. Once the file download has finished, double-click the icon to proceed with the installation.
Click the “Install Now” button to start the process.
However, if you get a ‘System Extension Blocked’ popup, then click on “Open Security Privacy”, next click on ‘Allow’ in ‘Security & Privacy’ settings and you should be good to go.
Now just wait and let the installer extract all the necessary files, the entire downloading process should only take a couple of minutes (faster if you have a high-spec system).
Once the download is completed the software will ask you for the Google Play account sign-up. In that case, if you already have an account just sign in and enjoy your Android App on your MAC.
A similar method will follow suit for downloading Bluestacks on your PC running Windows. Just download the installation file from the Bluestacks website.
Choose the appropriate OS and begin to download it. Once the file has been downloaded just run the installer and enjoy your apps.
Final words
Bluestacks has bridged the gap between mobile applications and PC programs, users can now benefit from this software and run any mobile application on their system.
The plus point being it is completely legal to do so and secure.
We believe this article has answered almost all your queries and doubts about Bluestacks software.
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