How to restrict an APK not to get installed in Android Emulator/Simulator but in real device?

Use this function:

public static boolean isEmulator() {
    return Build.FINGERPRINT.startsWith("generic")
            || Build.FINGERPRINT.startsWith("unknown")
            || Build.MODEL.contains("google_sdk")
            || Build.MODEL.contains("Emulator")
            || Build.MODEL.contains("Android SDK built for x86")
            || Build.MANUFACTURER.contains("Genymotion")
            || (Build.BRAND.startsWith("generic") && Build.DEVICE.startsWith("generic"))
            || "google_sdk".equals(Build.PRODUCT);
}

Therefor:

if (isEmulator()) {
   // emulator
} else {
   //not emulator
}

My recommendation:

try this from github.

Easy to detect android emulator

  • Checked on real devices in Device Farm (https://aws.amazon.com/device-farm/)
  • BlueStacks
  • Genymotion
  • Android Emulator
  • Andy 46.2.207.0
  • MEmu play
  • Nox App Player
  • Koplayer
  • .....

How to use with an Example:

EmulatorDetector.with(this)
                .setCheckTelephony(true)
                .addPackageName("com.bluestacks")
                .setDebug(true)
                .detect(new EmulatorDetector.OnEmulatorDetectorListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onResult(boolean isEmulator) {

                    }
                });

There is no general way of doing this. The job of the emulator, after all, is to behave exactly like a real device as far as possible, including simulating inputs from cameras, GPS sensors, etc.

You may get somewhere if you set your manifest to have a dependency on some hardware which is not normally supported in the emulator. For example:

<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.sensor.accelerometer" 
              android:required="true" />

But really, if you want to prevent people poking around in your app's stored data, the best solution is to encrypt or obfuscate it.


It's currently not possible to prevent APKs from being installed on a emulator. (it used to be possible by adding a sensor requirement to the app, but hese days emulators can emulate that too)

However, at runtime you should be able to validate if your app is running on a emulator using the following check:

if (android.os.Build.MODEL.equals(“google_sdk”)) {
   // emulator
} else {
   //not emulator
}

You could do this check before you create your DB and SharedPreference files etc.