How to fix AVD emulator grainy, poor resolution display in Android Studio

Android, Computer, Hardware, Information, Linux, Mobile, Other Linux, Programming, Software, Ubuntu 1 Minute

The AVD emulator on Android Studio display shows all characters at 1:1 resolution grainy. It is difficult to read the text of the app under testing. To overcome this problem:

  • From the menu of Android Studio select Help -> Edit Custom Properties and enter hidpi=false
  • Create the AVD emulator device and disable device frame and select no skin and also resizable.
  • Instead of a docked view, select the Window view, so the device opens in it’s own window.

I had selected a Pixel 3 when creating the AVD and the above approach fixed the resolution.

Another alternative is to use a Physical Device for testing or debugging apps. For Android versions below Android 11, use a USB cable or if on Android 11, enable wireless debugging.

Published by Geetu R. Vaswani

Published