name	android-emulator
description	Create, launch, and diagnose Android emulators (AVD) on Apple Silicon via the make-avd CLI: optimal RAM/CPU/GPU settings for M1 Max, host-GPU rendering, cold boot, ANR/CPU-starvation troubleshooting. Use when: "создай эмулятор", "сделай AVD", "настрой AVD", "create an emulator", "make an AVD"

Android Emulator on Apple Silicon

Companion skill for the make-avd CLI (~/.local/bin/make-avd). It creates AVDs with settings proven and launches them with the right flags.

Quick start

command -v make-avd            # verify the CLI is installed
make-avd doctor                # health check: HVF, stuck qemu, host load, versions
make-avd 35                    # create (idempotent) + launch tuned API 35 AVD "api35"
make-avd 36 --name pixel36     # same for API 36 with a custom name
make-avd launch api35          # relaunch an existing AVD with correct flags
make-avd list                  # AVDs with ram/cores/gpu at a glance

make-avd <api> is idempotent: if the AVD exists it re-enforces the tuned config instead of failing; --recreate rebuilds from scratch. It waits for sys.boot_completed, then prints guest loadavg and a network check.

Why these defaults (keep them as-is)

Setting	Value	Reason
hw.gpu.mode	`host`	`auto` silently resolves to lavapipe/swiftshader (CPU rasterizer) on this host → guest loadavg 20–40, SystemUI/Launcher ANR. `host` = gfxstream/ANGLE on Metal GPU. Guest ANGLE is unstable for API > 35 (emulator's own boot warning).
hw.ramSize	4096	Play Store image eats ~1.7 GB right after boot; 2048 keeps the guest in permanent memory pressure (kswapd + LMK kill SystemUI).
hw.cpu.ncore	6	6 of 8 P-cores for vCPUs; leaves headroom for the host and QEMU's own render/IO threads. 4 was too few for boot storms; 8+ starves QEMU itself.
vm.heapSize	512	Default 228 MB caps per-app Dalvik heap; WebView-heavy apps GC-storm and ANR.
disk.dataPartition.size	16G	6G fills with GMS/Play updates; qcow2 grows lazily so 16G costs only what's written.
cold boot (`-no-snapshot`)	on	Quickboot snapshot restore skews the guest clock: ping rtt in quadrillions of ms, false ANR watchdogs, dead TCP feeds (live quote streams hang on "connecting"). Cold boot with these settings takes ~18–40 s.
`-no-audio`	on	Host CoreAudio runs through eqMac; emulator audio adds stutter and load.
on-screen keyboard	forced on	We almost always want the full on-screen keyboard, like a real phone. But `hw.keyboard=yes` (host-keyboard passthrough, convenient for typing) also registers a virtual `ALPHAKEY` device, so Android hides the soft IME — text fields focus with a cursor but no visible keyboard (very visible inside WebViews / when driving via `adb input`). `make-avd` fixes this by setting `show_ime_with_hard_keyboard=1` right after boot. Persists across reboots. Must be applied at boot (before any input connection): setting it mid-session does NOT take effect and needs a device reboot.
launch via `launchctl submit`	built-in	A shell with darwin background QoS (scripts, agents, cron) pins all vCPUs to the 2 E-cores: host shows qemu at PRI 4 / ~45% CPU while the guest reports loadavg 30+ and ANR-storms. launchd spawns the emulator at normal QoS (PRI ≥ 20) regardless of caller.
emulator ≥ 36.6	required	36.5.10 on macOS 26 stalls the host-GPU display pipeline (SystemUI "failed to complete startup" ANRs with an idle CPU, hung `screencap`).

API level choice

Both are verified healthy on this machine (2026-07): API 35 cold-boots in ~18 s, API 36 in ~39 s, both with 0 ANRs, guest loadavg < 1 at idle, working TCP/DNS, ~400 ms app cold starts. API 35 (Android 15) already has the edge-to-edge + IME insets behavior, so it is a safe default; API 36 needs emulator ≥ 36.6.11 and image rev ≥ 7 (google_apis_playstore; android-36.1 has no Play Store variant installed). If an API level misbehaves, run make-avd doctor first, then check troubleshooting.md.

Emulator slow / ANR again?

Work through the checklist in troubleshooting.md — HVF check, host background load, stuck qemu processes, GPU mode verification inside hardware-qemu.ini, guest loadavg/clock checks, SDK updates.

Android Emulator on Apple Silicon

Companion skill for the make-avd CLI (~/.local/bin/make-avd). It creates AVDs with settings proven and launches them with the right flags.

Quick start

command -v make-avd # verify the CLI is installed make-avd doctor # health check: HVF, stuck qemu, host load, versions make-avd 35 # create (idempotent) + launch tuned API 35 AVD "api35" make-avd 36 --name pixel36 # same for API 36 with a custom name make-avd launch api35 # relaunch an existing AVD with correct flags make-avd list # AVDs with ram/cores/gpu at a glance

Why these defaults (keep them as-is)

Setting

Value

Reason

hw.gpu.mode

host

auto silently resolves to lavapipe/swiftshader (CPU rasterizer) on this host → guest loadavg 20–40, SystemUI/Launcher ANR. host = gfxstream/ANGLE on Metal GPU. Guest ANGLE is unstable for API > 35 (emulator's own boot warning).

hw.ramSize

4096

Play Store image eats ~1.7 GB right after boot; 2048 keeps the guest in permanent memory pressure (kswapd + LMK kill SystemUI).

hw.cpu.ncore

6 of 8 P-cores for vCPUs; leaves headroom for the host and QEMU's own render/IO threads. 4 was too few for boot storms; 8+ starves QEMU itself.

vm.heapSize

512

Default 228 MB caps per-app Dalvik heap; WebView-heavy apps GC-storm and ANR.

disk.dataPartition.size

16G

6G fills with GMS/Play updates; qcow2 grows lazily so 16G costs only what's written.

cold boot (-no-snapshot)

Quickboot snapshot restore skews the guest clock: ping rtt in quadrillions of ms, false ANR watchdogs, dead TCP feeds (live quote streams hang on "connecting"). Cold boot with these settings takes ~18–40 s.

-no-audio

Host CoreAudio runs through eqMac; emulator audio adds stutter and load.

on-screen keyboard

forced on

We almost always want the full on-screen keyboard, like a real phone. But hw.keyboard=yes (host-keyboard passthrough, convenient for typing) also registers a virtual ALPHAKEY device, so Android hides the soft IME — text fields focus with a cursor but no visible keyboard (very visible inside WebViews / when driving via adb input). make-avd fixes this by setting show_ime_with_hard_keyboard=1 right after boot. Persists across reboots. Must be applied at boot (before any input connection): setting it mid-session does NOT take effect and needs a device reboot.

launch via launchctl submit

built-in

A shell with darwin background QoS (scripts, agents, cron) pins all vCPUs to the 2 E-cores: host shows qemu at PRI 4 / ~45% CPU while the guest reports loadavg 30+ and ANR-storms. launchd spawns the emulator at normal QoS (PRI ≥ 20) regardless of caller.

emulator ≥ 36.6

required

36.5.10 on macOS 26 stalls the host-GPU display pipeline (SystemUI "failed to complete startup" ANRs with an idle CPU, hung screencap).

API level choice

Emulator slow / ANR again?

Work through the checklist in troubleshooting.md — HVF check, host background load, stuck qemu processes, GPU mode verification inside hardware-qemu.ini, guest loadavg/clock checks, SDK updates.

android-emulator