Install Android emulator and Toast POS

Steve Johnson

Aug 26, 2026

Setting Up an Android Emulator to Test Toast POS Menus at Home

A guide for Great Harvest franchisees — using Android Studio

What this is for (read this first)

This guide walks through installing Android Studio on your home computer so you can run a virtual Android device and view your Toast POS menu — item names, prices, modifiers, photos, and layout — exactly as it would appear on the in-store terminal.

What this is NOT for:

Taking real customer orders or processing payments
Sending tickets to a kitchen printer or kitchen display system
Replacing your in-store Toast hardware in any operational capacity

Toast's own support documentation is explicit on this point: an Android emulator is a visual/QA tool for reviewing how your menu looks, not a substitute for POS hardware. Orders placed in the emulator won't print to your kitchen and shouldn't be treated as live transactions.

Why Android Studio instead of BlueStacks? BlueStacks (the more common emulator choice) doesn't run on Apple Silicon Macs (M1/M2/M3/M4). If you're on a newer Mac, Android Studio's built-in emulator is the reliable option. If you're on an Intel Mac or Windows PC, either works — this guide covers Android Studio since it's consistent across all platforms.

Before you start

System requirements:

	Minimum	Recommended
RAM	8 GB	16 GB
Free disk space	~12 GB	20+ GB
OS	Windows 10/11 (64-bit) or macOS 12+	Same
Internet	Stable connection for ~3 GB of downloads	Broadband

What you'll need on hand:

Your Toast POS login credentials (same ones used at the in-store terminal)
45–90 minutes for first-time setup (mostly download/install time — active work is closer to 20 minutes)

A note on disk space: Android Studio itself, the Android SDK, and one virtual device system image together run 8–12 GB. If your laptop is low on storage, check available space before starting — this is the most common reason setups stall out partway through.

Part 1: Enable hardware virtualization

The emulator runs a full virtual Android device, which requires your computer's virtualization feature to be turned on. Skipping this step is the #1 cause of a "stuck" or unbearably slow emulator.

Windows

Check whether virtualization is already on: open Task Manager → Performance tab → CPU. Look for "Virtualization: Enabled" near the bottom.
If it says Disabled: restart the computer and enter BIOS/UEFI setup (usually F2, F10, F12, or Del during boot — varies by manufacturer). Find the setting for Intel VT-x (or AMD-V / SVM on AMD systems) and enable it. Save and exit.
Back in Windows, open the Start menu and search "Turn Windows features on or off." Check the box for Windows Hypervisor Platform, click OK, and restart when prompted.

Why WHPX and not the older Android emulator driver? Google is retiring the legacy Android Emulator Hypervisor Driver (AEHD) at the end of 2026. Windows Hypervisor Platform is the supported path going forward, so it's worth setting up correctly the first time rather than troubleshooting a driver that's being phased out.

macOS

Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4): No action needed — virtualization is built in and handled automatically.
Intel Mac: Virtualization is almost always enabled by default. No BIOS-equivalent step is required.

Part 2: Install Android Studio

Go to developer.android.com/studio and download the current Stable release (avoid Canary/Beta builds — those are pre-release and less predictable for a one-time setup).
Run the installer:
- Windows: run the .exe, choose the Standard installation type when prompted.
- Mac: drag Android Studio to Applications, then open it.
On first launch, the Android Studio Setup Wizard opens and asks for an install type — Standard or Custom. Choose Standard. It automatically selects the recommended SDK components, default emulator settings, and default install location — there's no reason to use Custom unless someone specifically needs a non-default SDK folder location.
Click through the wizard (it will show the components it's about to download) and let it finish. This downloads the Android SDK and emulator components — it can take 10–20 minutes depending on connection speed.

Part 3: Create a Virtual Device (AVD)

From the Android Studio welcome screen (or More Actions), open Virtual Device Manager (sometimes labeled Device Manager).
Click Create Virtual Device.
Choose a phone profile — Pixel 6 or Pixel 7 is a good default; it's a realistic screen size and performs well.
Choose a system image. This is the important part: pick one labeled "Google Play" (not just "Google APIs" — the Play-enabled image behaves like a real consumer device, which matters for app installs). A recent stable API level (34 is a safe current choice) is fine. If it's not already downloaded, click the download icon next to it — this is roughly a 1.5–2 GB download.
Give the AVD a clear name, e.g. Toast-Menu-Test, and click Finish.
Click the ▶ Play button next to the new AVD to boot it. First boot takes a couple of minutes — subsequent launches are much faster.

Part 4: Install the Toast app on the emulator

There are two ways to get the app onto the running emulator. Either works — pick whichever is easier.

Option A: Browser sideload (matches Toast's official method)

Since this app isn't coming from the Play Store, Android blocks it by default. Enable the permission for Chrome before you try to download, rather than waiting for a prompt to catch it:

In the emulator, open Settings → Apps (on some Android versions: Apps → See all apps, or Apps → Special app access).
Find and tap Install unknown apps (sometimes labeled Install unknown sources, depending on Android version).
Tap Chrome from the list of apps, then toggle Allow from this source on.
Now open Chrome and navigate to: toasttab.com/link/apk
The download should start without being blocked. Once it completes, tap Open → Install.
You'll very likely see a warning screen — something like "This app is unsafe" or "Blocked by Play Protect." This is expected and normal. Google shows this warning for every app installed outside the Play Store, regardless of whether it's actually safe — it's not a sign that anything is wrong with the Toast app or your device. Tap Details (or More details), then tap Install anyway.
Open the Toast app and log in with your Toast credentials.

Heads up for franchisees: step 6 above can be startling if you're not expecting it — the wording makes it sound like something's wrong. It isn't. This warning appears any time an app is installed from outside the Play Store, which is simply how the official Toast sideload process works. If a franchisee calls concerned about a "security warning," this is almost certainly it.

If you skip the step above, Chrome will usually prompt you to enable the same setting mid-download — but enabling it up front avoids the extra back-and-forth and a confusing "blocked" message.

Option B: Drag-and-drop

On your regular (host) computer, visit toasttab.com/link/apk in your normal browser and let the .apk file download.
Drag the downloaded file directly onto the running emulator window.
It installs automatically — find it in the emulator's app drawer and open it.

Important — only use the official link. toasttab.com/link/apk is Toast's own distribution link. Don't use third-party APK mirror or download sites, even if they show up in a search — those aren't vetted by Toast, and installing an APK from an unverified source is a real security risk on a machine you also use for restaurant business.

Part 5: Verify the menu

Once logged in, browse the menu the same way a staff member would at the terminal:

Confirm item names, descriptions, and prices are correct
Check that modifiers and modifier groups display and behave as expected
Confirm images load and look right at this screen size
Check category ordering and any seasonal/limited-time sections

Remember: this is a display-only check. It won't sync live order data, won't send anything to a kitchen printer, and isn't connected to your actual sales reporting.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely fix
Emulator won't launch / error mentions "no acceleration found"	Virtualization isn't enabled — revisit Part 1. On Windows, double-check WHPX is checked and the computer was restarted after enabling it.
Emulator is extremely slow or laggy	Confirm virtualization is on. Close other heavy applications. In the AVD's settings, make sure Graphics is set to Automatic or Hardware, not Software.
Franchisee reports a scary "unsafe" or "blocked" security warning during install	Expected — see Part 4, Option A, step 6. It's Play Protect's standard warning for any non-Play-Store install, not an actual problem. Details → Install anyway.
Can't reach toasttab.com/link/apk	Make sure you're opening the link inside the emulator's browser, not on your host computer, if you're using Option A.
Setup stalls or Android Studio won't finish downloading components	Usually a disk space issue — confirm you have at least 12 GB free.

Cleanup (optional)

Once you're done testing, you can free up disk space:

Delete just the virtual device: Device Manager → right-click the AVD → Delete
Remove Android Studio entirely: uninstall it like any other application. The SDK folder (~/Library/Android/sdk on Mac, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Android\Sdk on Windows) can be deleted separately if it wasn't removed automatically.

Questions or stuck?

Reach out to [Great Harvest IT / [email protected] and include a screenshot of any error message — that speeds up troubleshooting considerably.