How to Install Genymotion Android Emulator on Ubuntu

In this tutorial I am going to explain how to Download and Install Genymotion Android emulator on Ubuntu. I will also show you how to setup Genymotion with Android studio so you can emulate your Android app directly from the Android Studio.

Requirements

Genymotion requires Oracle VM VirtualBox. If you don't have VirtualBox Install on your Ubuntu Desktop, Then follow the instruction given in the bellow link and Setup VirtualBox.

Install Oracle VM VirtualBox on Ubuntu.

To Install Genymotion on Ubuntu do the following steps:

  1. Download Genymotion for Ubuntu Linux.
  2. Make downloaded ".bin" file executable.
  3. Execute the ".bin" file from the command line.

First, Go to the genymotion.com/download page and Download Genymotion for Ubuntu (You need to create an account and sign in). The Ubuntu Installer should have ".bin" extension.

Next, make the ".bin" file executable with the chmod command:

chmod +x genymotion-2.11.0-linux_x64.bin

Then, execute the installer from the command line:

sudo ./genymotion-2.11.0-linux_x64.bin

Once you execute the bin file, the setup will ask for the confirmation. Press "y" and enter to Install Genymotion.

install genymotion on ubuntu

And that's all we have to do. You can open Genymotion from the Ubuntu dash software menu.

Creating a New Android Virtual Device

Now will go ahead and create a virtual device, The following steps detail how to set up an emulator in Genymotion:

  1. First, sign in with your registered credentials.
  2. To Create new devices, clicking on the + (plus) button on the main screen.
  3. Select the Android version from the drop-down list, then select the Android device and click on the Next button.
  4. Name your Android device.
  5. Click on Next and It will create the new Android emulator.

Once done, go back to the main screen and the new virtual device will start appearing in the virtual devices window. Select the device and Click on Start to launch the emulator.

Google Nexus 9 running on the Ubuntu Genymotion Android Emulator.

Configure Android Studio

You need to install Genymotion plugin on Android Studio to stimulate your Android project directly from the Android Studio.

Also read: How to Install Android Studio On Ubuntu.

  1. In Android Studio, go to File > Settings > Plugins and click Browse Repositories.
  2. Right click on Genymotion and click Download and install.
  3. Restart Android Studio.
  4. After the restart, click View > Toolbar to display Genymotion plugin icon.
  5. Click on the plugin icon on the toolbar and select the path to the Genymotion installation folder.

While it's possible to use the Google Android simulator, many developers prefer Genymotion because it is fast, and easy-to-use emulator and comes with many real world device configurations.