We often talk about Android emulators for Windows as a way to easily bring games from the small screen to the monitor, but the opposite is also available. One of them is Winlator, a Wine-based Windows emulator. Launch Windows apps and games on Android smartphone. Winlator is open source and does not cost much to install. Installation is another story.
With the power of current Android mobile processors and the gradual adaptation of Windows to ARM architecture, the boundaries separating both operating systems are increasingly blurring for applications. Of course, it will never be possible to share these between both environments, but there are tools that enable this. They act as a bridge. Because if there is a way to bring your PC games to your mobile phone, why not try it?
Winlator is the first step towards a complete Windows emulator for Android
It’s true that mobile processors are getting more powerful and a top-notch Android can chew through graphics-intensive games like they’re sweet, but There will always be a performance hitch in emulation; It’s not for nothing that applications and games running on Android need extra power compared to running on Windows. This is definitely one of the disadvantages of Winlator.
The application we are talking about is open source and can be downloaded from the developers’ GitHub. It is a port of Android based on Wine and using Box86 and Box64 to emulate Intel and AMD architecture (the first for 32-bit software and the second for 64-bit software). It is an APK on its own that installs directly on the phone. It weighs 253 MB and is currently at version 6.1.
Once connected to the phone you need to run the emulator and create a type of virtual machine in Wine called a “Container”. Once the hardware conditions to be emulated (the higher they are, the slower the emulation can be), you need to turn on the machine with “Run” and Winlator will install a basic Windows environment Here you will see different phone folders (very reminiscent of 3.1).
Applications need to be added to the mobile phone on a PC: from an exe or by loading the folders of the game previously installed on the PC into Winlator. There’s no guarantee they’ll work properly, but it’s a good first step towards playing regular games without having to lug around an extra machine like a Steam Deck. Moreover, Winlator control is not touch sensitive, so games (or keyboard and mouse) require an extra controller. Allows you to drag the touch cursor across the screen.
Perfect for testing and extending the use of purchased games and applications on Windows: Winlator is free and developed as open source. The latest version is 6.1 from a few months ago.
Cover image | Ivan Linares
More information | Winlator GitHub
via | XDA Developers
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