Android & iOS emulators: setup & troubleshooting

If Android or iOS emulators are missing or fail to start in JetBrains Rider, Visual Studio, or Visual Studio Code on macOS or Windows, use the checklists and setup paths below.

Quick-fix checklist (do this first)

  • Start the emulator manually once, then reopen your IDE.
  • Update tools & images (Android Emulator, Platform-Tools, system images).
  • Use one Android SDK location across tools; avoid cloud-synced folders.
  • Windows: ensure virtualization is enabled (see “Windows virtualization”).
  • ADB refresh: adb kill-server && adb start-server, then adb devices.
  • AVD reset: Cold Boot or Wipe Data for a flaky AVD.
  • macOS/iOS: open the iOS Simulator from Xcode once to initialize it.
  • After changing SDKs, emulator images, or virtualization settings, restart your IDE so it refreshes its device list.

Android emulator setup

There are several common ways to manage Android Virtual Devices (AVDs):

Option 1 — Android Studio (works with all IDEs)

  1. Install the latest Android Studio.
  2. Tools → SDK Manager → SDK Tools: update Android Emulator and Android SDK Platform-Tools.
  3. Tools → Device Manager (AVD Manager): create/update an AVD with a recent system image.
  4. Launch the emulator, then run your Uno Platform app from your IDE.

Option 2 — Visual Studio

  1. Install Visual Studio 2022 with the Multi-Platform App UI development with .NET workload.
  2. Open Tools → Android → Android Device Manager.
  3. Create/update an AVD and start it before you deploy from your IDE.

Option 3 — JetBrains Rider

  1. Install Rider and the Android Support plugin via Preferences/Settings → Plugins → Marketplace.
  2. From Rider’s Device/AVD Manager, create/update an AVD (you can reuse AVDs made in Android Studio).
  3. If Rider doesn’t list it immediately, start the AVD manually and restart Rider.

Option 4 — Visual Studio Code

VS Code doesn’t include a built-in AVD manager. It uses AVDs created by Android Studio, Rider, or Visual Studio and can start them via extensions or the terminal.

  1. Install/verify Android SDK & tools

    • Create AVDs in Android Studio (recommended) or another IDE.
    • Ensure command-line tools are available in your PATH (e.g., <sdk>/platform-tools and <sdk>/emulator).
    • Optional: confirm the .NET Android workload is present: dotnet workload list (look for android).

  2. Start an emulator

    • Use an extension (e.g., an “Android/iOS Emulator” helper) to start/stop AVDs from the Command Palette, or

    • Use the terminal:

      emulator -list-avds
emulator -avd <your_avd_name>
adb devices

  3. Make VS Code see the device

    • Reload Window after the emulator starts, or restart VS Code.
    • If the emulator isn’t listed, verify adb devices shows it, then relaunch the debugger.

  4. Troubleshooting in VS Code

    • Ensure ANDROID_SDK_ROOT (or ANDROID_HOME) points to the correct SDK.
    • Keep only one SDK location across tools to avoid a mismatch.
    • If an extension can’t find the emulator, set the SDK/emulator path in its settings.

Windows virtualization (required for fast Android emulation)

Enable Windows Hypervisor Platform (and Hyper-V on supported editions), then reboot. Avoid conflicts with other hypervisors (e.g., VirtualBox in non-Hyper-V mode).

iOS simulator setup (macOS only)

  1. Install the latest Xcode from the App Store and launch it once to accept the license.

  2. Verify the Simulator runs: Xcode → Window → Devices and Simulators.

  3. If your IDE can’t find the Simulator, start it manually or reboot.

  4. Inspect available simulators:

    xcrun simctl list devices

SDK location

  • Keep your Android SDK and AVD directories outside cloud-sync folders (OneDrive/iCloud/Dropbox) to avoid file-locking and partial syncs.
  • Verify or change the SDK path in Android Studio:
    • macOS: Preferences → Appearance & Behavior → System Settings → Android SDK
    • Windows/Linux: File → Settings → Appearance & Behavior → System Settings → Android SDK
  • Use a single SDK location across all tools (Android Studio, Rider, VS/VS Code).
  • Set environment variables so CLIs and IDEs agree:
    • ANDROID_SDK_ROOT (recommended) or ANDROID_HOME (legacy).
  • Typical locations:
    • macOS: ~/Library/Android/sdk
    • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Android\Sdk (or a custom C:\Android\Sdk)
    • Linux: ~/Android/Sdk
    • AVDs: ~/.android/avd (macOS/Linux) or %USERPROFILE%\.android\avd (Windows)
  • After moving or changing SDKs/AVDs, restart your IDE so it refreshes device lists.