Is Bluestacks Safe?

Android apps and games have come a long way since their inception. They are now more polished, efficient, and aesthetic than ever, making even the most sophisticated PC applications blush. What’s even more impressive is that they deliver almost identical results in most cases, despite having a match smaller footprint.

With such a lucrative package sitting in front, it’s hard not to give in to the temptation of running Android apps on a bigger screen, make them draw power from your computer’s beefy processor. The thought of running Android apps on PC was the main motivation behind the development of the BlueStacks app player.

BlueStacks app player has been around for almost a decade and is the most popular Android app simulator in the world. However, despite its ever-increasing popularity, there have been concerns about safety. Today, we’ll take a look at the allegations against the application and tell you whether BlueStacks is doing your PC any harm.

Related: How to Play Among Us on Mac with BlueStacks

Does BlueStacks make your PC slow?

This is one of the biggest concerns regarding BlueStacks. But sadly, there isn’t a clear answer to this question. BlueStacks is a very resource-hungry application, which means it draws a good amount of GPU and CPU power to function as intended.

Additionally, since Android apps aren’t optimized for PC systems, they often draw more power than anticipated. A shortage of power straight away leads to slow down, and people tend to have a hard time functioning smoothly. However, if you have an upper mid-range or high-end machine, with enough processing fire-power, BlueStacks should run just fine.

Related: How to install Android games and apps on Windows and Mac using BlueStacks

System requirements

To have a clearer idea, take a look at the minimum and recommended system requirements for running BlueStacks.

Minimum

  • Microsoft Windows 7 operating system and above
  • Intel or AMD processor
  • 2GB of RAM
  • 5GB free HDD space
  • Administrator rights
  • Latest graphics drivers
  • Internet connectivity

Recommended

  • Microsoft Windows 10 operating system
  • Intel or AMD multi-core processor with single-thread PassMark score of over 1000
  • 8GB of RAM
  • Nvidia or AMD graphics card with a PassMark score of over 750; updated graphics drivers also needed
  • SSD for faster load times
  • Internet connectivity

Related: How to Update Among Us on BlueStacks

Is BlueStacks a Chinese application?

The distrust between China and other countries has climbed to an all-time high, which has propelled users to question each and every application or service they use. BlueStacks, which has recently gotten a reputation for being a “Spyware” is also coming under fire.

If you, too, are doubting the origin of the Android app simulator, we’re here to tell you that the developing company, BlueStacks, is a full-fledged American organization, with no links to China. It was founded in 2011 and in San Francisco, California.

Related: Beware of Among Us scam

Is BlueStacks spyware?

In the previous section, we discussed the allegations many have made, calling BlueStacks a malicious application that spies on your activities and reports to the overlord. However, after extensive testing by many independent organizations, we have landed on the conclusion that BlueStacks, if downloaded from the official website, doesn’t have spyware.

The app emulator itself doesn’t have any anti-spyware protection, of course, which means it all comes down to the source of your download. If you start experiencing abnormalities on your PC after downloading the application, be sure to do a deep scan using your antivirus software.

Related: How to avoid Rocket League scam?

Is BlueStacks a cryptocurrency miner?

Since its launch, BlueStacks has been infamously associated with slower PC performance. Recently, however, the allegations have taken a turn for the worst. Many users claim that BlueStacks is a cryptocurrency miner that uses users’ valuable PC resources to make the parent company richer.

If you suspect the same and believe BlueStacks is behind your PC’s slow response time, you should hit ‘Alt + Ctrl + Del’ and check how much resource the application is using.

Since cryptocurrency mining is heavily dependent on GPU performance, you could easily monitor suspicious activity by going to the GPU activity tab in Task Manager.

If you don’t get the result you were looking for, make sure your PC is capable of handling BlueStacks effortlessly.

Related: How to Play Among Us for Free on PC on BlueStacks

How to get BlueStacks safely?

Now that you know that BlueStacks isn’t a malicious application by itself, it’s important to know where to download it from. Even if you search on Google, many websites with ulterior motives would jump out and offer you the download link. And since most of these websites look almost legitimate, it’s not difficult to give in to the temptations.

However, if you want to have a safe and sound experience with BlueStacks, we recommend pausing for a little bit and questioning the legitimacy of the site. If anything seems a bit fishy, feel free to leave the website.

For a hassle-free, secure experience, all you have to do is go to BlueStacks’ official website and hit the download button. Alternatively, you can click on this link to fast-travel.

Related: What is ‘3 of your pictures and 4 hours of my time’ Instagram scam? 

Should you download BlueStacks?

We believe we’ve addressed pretty much every security concern there is regarding BlueStacks. It isn’t a cryptocurrency miner, it isn’t Chinese spyware, and it doesn’t steal your Google account credentials.

However, all its perks don’t make BlueStacks a must-have application for all PC users. BlueStacks is only for those who want to run Android apps on their precious PC hardware. It could push your PC to occasional slowdowns, but overall, BlueStacks is as good as an emulator can get. Just make sure to download from the official BlueStacks website, and you’d be good to go.

Related: Among Us Online: Beware of Scam Websites!

Posted by
Sushan

A mediocre engineer hoping to do something extraordinary with his pen (well, keyboard). Loves Pink Floyd, lives football, and is always up for a cup of Americano.