BlueStacks

About this release

BlueStacks puts a mobile operating environment inside a desktop window, which sounds like a novelty until you watch someone play a phone game with a mouse and keyboard for the first time. The desktop machine has more memory, a bigger screen, a better cooling story and real input devices, so applications that stutter and drain a handset run smoothly here for hours. That is the whole pitch, and it has kept this program in use for a very long time.

Keyboard mapping is the part that changes how the games actually play. Any on screen control can be bound to a key, and the mapper ships with sensible layouts for the common genres, so a shooter gets aim on the mouse and movement on the usual four keys without anyone configuring anything. Layouts save per application and follow the account, and a gamepad works just as well for anything that suits one.

Multiple instances are the other reason people install it. Several environments run side by side, each with its own storage and its own signed in state, and a synchronised mode mirrors input from one window into the others. For anyone managing more than one account in the same application, that turns an afternoon of repetition into a single pass.

Underneath, the engine uses hardware virtualisation where the machine offers it, which is the difference between usable and painful. Graphics go through the desktop card directly, storage sits on the host filesystem so transfers in and out are just file copies, and the resolution and frame rate of the virtual display are configurable rather than fixed to a phone shape.

What it does

Keyboard and mouse mapping

Bind any on screen control to a key or the mouse, with saved layouts per application.

Multiple instances

Run several independent environments side by side, each with its own storage and state.

Synchronised input

Mirror actions from one instance into the others for repetitive work across accounts.

Hardware acceleration

Uses processor virtualisation and the desktop graphics card rather than software emulation.

Configurable display

Resolution, density and frame rate set to suit the monitor rather than a phone shape.

Host file transfer

Shared folders move files in and out with an ordinary copy.

Changed in this version

• Lower memory use when several instances are open at once.
• Improved compatibility with recent graphics drivers.
• Keyboard mapper gains per profile switching without restarting the instance.
• Faster first boot of a newly created instance.
• Fixed audio crackle that appeared on some onboard sound devices.

System requirements

Install order

1. Enable virtualisation in the machine firmware before installing, since performance collapses without it.
2. Unpack the archive and run the installer.
3. Let the first instance finish its initial boot without interrupting it.
4. Set memory and core allocation per instance in the engine settings before heavy use.

Worth knowing before you start

File details