Adding Existing Device Definitions To Android Studio AVD Manager

Question

Sorry for the newbie question but I just downloaded and installed Android Studio in an effort to get into Android development. I've looked around and can't seem to find any information on how to add existing device definitions to the emulator/AVD Manager. Aren't there just a bunch of device definitions that the manufacturers provide that can be loaded into the IDE via the AVD Manager. It seems like that would be the logical way to do this. It seems like the only thing you can do is create a new device based on existing device definitions. Is it possible to add device definitions? How is this done?

Answer 1

You are free to add your own device definitions to the AVD - the definitions for Nexus devices (and some others) are already provided.

Launch the AVD, switch to the Device Definitions tab, and click the Create Device... button (see screenshot below).

Now fill in the values based on the device you are trying to simulate (lookup the device specs here if needed).

Once you've created a definition, select it from the list and then click the Create AVD... button. Here you can choose the Android version and CPU type (ARM/Intel), and various other emulator specific settings.