 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | April 25, 2009; 16 years ago (2009-04-25)[1][2] |
| Founders | Rosen Sharma, Jay Vaishnav, Suman Saraf[3] |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people |
|
| Products |
|
| Website | www |
| BlueStacks App Player | |
|---|---|
| Initial release | October 2011 (alpha) |
| Stable release | 5.22.71[5] |
| Written in | Java,.NET |
| Operating system | Windows 7 or later;[6]macOS Sierra or later[7] |
| Platform | IA-32,x86-64 |
| Size | 527MB |
| Available in | 48 languages |
| Type | Androidemulator |
| License | Freeware |
| Website | bluestacks |
BlueStacks (also known asBlueStacks by now.gg, Inc.) is a chain ofcloud-based onlinecross-platform products developed by theSan Francisco-based company of the same name. The BlueStacks App Player enables the execution ofAndroid applications on computers runningMicrosoft Windows ormacOS.
At the Citrix Synergy conference held inSan Francisco, an early version of BlueStacks App Player was showcased on stage byCitrix CEOMark Templeton, who also announced a partnership between the two companies.[8] The initialalpha version of App Player was launched in October 2011,[9] and it exitedbeta on June 7, 2014. In July 2014,Samsung disclosed its investment in BlueStacks.[10]
BlueStacks generates its primary revenue through an Android emulator referred to as App Player. The basic features of the software are available forfree, while advanced features require a paid monthly subscription.[11] By February 2021, BlueStacks reported over 1 billion app downloads.[12] The App Player provides support for mouse, keyboard, and external touch-pad controls.
In June 2012, the company introduced an alpha version of its App Player software for macOS,[13] while the beta version was released in December of the same year. In December 2024, it released BlueStacks Air[14] for Apple Silicon Macs.
In April 2015, BlueStacks, Inc. unveiled that a new version of the App Player, named 2.0, was under development for macOS and was eventually released in July.[15] In December 2015, BlueStacks, Inc. introduced BlueStacks 2.0,[16] enabling users to run multiple Android applications simultaneously.[17] BlueStacks 2.0 was also compatible withMac OS X 10.9 Mavericks or later until 2018.
In April 2016, BlueStacks launched BlueStacks TV, integratingTwitch.tv into the App Player directly,[18] allowing users tolivestream their apps to Twitch without additional hardware or software.
In September 2016, the company addedFacebook Live integration, enabling users to stream their gameplay to their Facebook profiles, Pages they manage, orFacebook Groups they belong to.[19]
BlueStacks released BlueStacks 3 in July 2017, featuring a new engine and front-end design.[20] This version introduced App Center for personalized game suggestions, an account system, chat, a new keymapping interface, and multi-instance support. The multi-instance feature permits users to launch multiple BlueStacks windows using the same or different Google Play accounts.
In January 2018, BlueStacks announced the release of the BlueStacks + N Beta, running onAndroid 7 (Android Nougat).This was notable as most Android emulators were runningAndroid 4.4 (KitKat) at that time.[21] This version was powered by an upgraded "HyperG" graphics engine that enabled the use of the full array of Android 7APIs.
BlueStacks introduced a new version, BlueStacks 4, in September 2018, BlueStacks 4 demonstrated benchmark results up to 6 times faster than a 2018 generation mobile phone during testing.[22] Dynamic resource management, a new dock and search user interface, an AI-powered key-mapping tool, and support for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Android 7.1.2 Nougat were included in this version.
In January 2019, BlueStacks released a 64-bit version of BlueStacks 4 through its early access program, offering improved performance and memory usage by running on a 64-bit version of Android 7.1.2.[23] This version required a 64-bit version of Windows 8 or later with virtualization enabled andHyper-V disabled. This 64-bit release allows the installation and usage ofARM64-v8a Android applications.
BlueStacks unveiled BlueStacks 5 in May 2021,[24] still based on Android 7.1.2 but also offering compatibility withAndroid 9 (Android Pie) or Android 11, based on user choice.
In September 2021, BlueStacks launched BlueStacks X,[25] acloud gaming service based on the Android platform. Bluestacks X utilizesthrottling to adjust speed according to a user's internet connection, under the name of Hybrid Cloud. The servers for BlueStacks X's are hosted by now.gg,[26][27] a subsidiary of BlueStacks.[28]
In December 2024, BlueStacks launched BlueStacks Air, an Android emulator forApple Silicon Macs.[29]
For Windows, BlueStacks App Player has minimum requirements ofWindows 7 or above, 4 GB ofRAM, 10 GB of disk space, and anIntel orAMD processor. BlueStacks Air currently supports Mac systems usingApple Silicon chips (M1-M5). For macOS, minimum requirements include macOS 11 (Big Sur) or higher Operating System, 8 GB RAM, and 12 GB disk space.
