BlueStacks

BlueStacks (also known as BlueStacks by now.gg, Inc.) is an American technology company recognized for its creation of the BlueStacks App Player and other cloud-based cross-platform products. The BlueStacks App Player enables the execution of Android applications on computers running Microsoft Windows or macOS. The company's establishment traces back to 2009, founded by Jay Vaishnav, Suman Saraf, and Rosen Sharma.

History
The company's first introduction took place on May 2011, during the Citrix Synergy conference held in San Francisco. An early version of BlueStacks App Player was showcased on stage by Citrix CEO Mark Templeton, who also announced a partnership between the two companies. The initial alpha version of App Player was launched in October 2011, and it exited beta on June 7, 2014. In July 2014, Samsung disclosed its investment in BlueStacks.

BlueStacks (Android emulator)
BlueStacks generates its primary revenue through an Android emulator referred to as App Player. The basic features of the software are available for free, while advanced features require a paid monthly subscription. By February 2021, BlueStacks reported over 1 billion app downloads. 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, while the beta version was released in December of the same year.

BlueStacks 2
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. In December 2015, BlueStacks, Inc. introduced BlueStacks 2.0, enabling users to run multiple Android applications simultaneously. BlueStacks 2.0 was also compatible with Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks or later until 2018.

In April 2016, BlueStacks launched BlueStacks TV, integrating Twitch.tv into the App Player directly, allowing users to livestream their apps to Twitch without additional hardware or software.

In September 2016, the company added Facebook Live integration, enabling users to stream their gameplay to their Facebook profiles, Pages they manage, or Facebook Groups they belong to.

BlueStacks 3
BlueStacks released BlueStacks 3 in July 2017, featuring a new engine and front-end design. 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.

BlueStacks 3N
In January 2018, BlueStacks announced the release of the BlueStacks + N Beta, running on Android 7 (Android Nougat).This was notable as most Android emulators were running Android 4.4 (KitKat) at that time. This version was powered by an upgraded "HyperG" graphics engine that enabled the use of the full array of Android 7 APIs.

BlueStacks 4
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. 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. This version required a 64-bit version of Windows 8 or later with virtualization enabled and Hyper-V disabled. This 64-bit release allows the installation and usage of ARM64-v8a Android applications.

BlueStacks 5
BlueStacks unveiled BlueStacks 5 in May 2021, still based on Android 7.1.2 but also offering compatibility with Android 9 (Android Pie) or Android 11, based on user choice.

BlueStacks X
In September 2021, BlueStacks launched BlueStacks X, a cloud gaming service based on the Android platform. Bluestacks X utilizes throttling 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, a subsidiary of BlueStacks.

Minimum requirements
For Windows, BlueStacks App Player 5 has minimum requirements of Windows 7 or higher, 4 GB of RAM, 5 GB of disk space, and an Intel or AMD processor. BlueStacks clashes with the BitDefender antivirus software. For macOS, minimum requirements include 64-bit macOS Sierra or higher, 4 GB RAM, 8 GB disk space, Intel HD 5200 or higher graphics processor, and an Intel or AMD processor. BlueStacks does not yet not support computers with Apple M1 chips, macOS Monterey, or macOS Ventura.

Criticism
BlueStacks has faced criticism for the forced installation of BlueStacks X alongside BlueStacks 5, despite separate download buttons on the website. Even after uninstallation, BlueStacks X reappears with each BlueStacks 5 update. Starting around February 2023, the installer began forcibly installing a crypto wallet application from now.gg, Inc. (a sister company of BlueStacks, Inc.) as well as an icon on the system tray that runs on startup and cannot be disabled. This application has since been renamed to BlueStacks Services.