Only a few years ago, in 2021, did Windows 11 officially support Android apps. This was made possible via the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), a virtual machine developed by Microsoft. Due to an agreement between Amazon and Microsoft, Windows 11 users could install and utilize almost the whole selection of Android apps with the WSA, if they so desired.
Official support for Android apps is now being removed from Windows 11, and with it, access to the Amazon Appstore.
Microsoft declared today that it will discontinue WSA support within the year. Users of Windows 11 who have installed Android or Amazon Appstore apps will be able to utilize those programs until March 5, 2025, but not beyond. Furthermore, as of tomorrow, Amazon intends to stop new users from downloading the Amazon Appstore through Microsoft Store, the company’s Windows app store.
“Customers may continue using Amazon Appstore apps that they previously installed and will still be able to receive app updates [after March 6],” Amazon wrote in a blog post published today. “Developers will no longer be able to submit net new apps targeting Windows 11 after March 5, 2024, but developers with an existing app can continue to submit app updates until Amazon Appstore on Windows 11 is fully discontinued.”
The WSA, although a handy means to run Android apps on Windows, was constrained from the beginning because it couldn’t access the Google Play Store, the official Android app store, at least not without finding workarounds, as Ars Technica’s Andrew Cunningham points out. Because there was a lesser selection in the Amazon Appstore, consumers were probably more likely to choose web-based or native Windows versions of the apps instead of the WSA versions.
Put differently, it appears that WSA utilization was rather low during a period when Microsoft was clearly focusing on other things, such generative AI and its different iterations within Windows.
However, this does not mean that Android apps cannot be executed on Windows merely because Microsoft is discontinuing support for the WSA. There are also third-party options available, such as BlueStacks, an Android emulator for Windows and macOS, and Waydroid, which supports Android apps through system containers based on Linux.
Furthermore, Microsoft seems unwavering in its goal to closing the gap between Android and Windows devices.
Microsoft just released a feature that lets Android users utilize the camera on their device as a webcam on Windows 11. Microsoft also supports other apps, such as Link to Windows, which enables users of Android (and iOS) devices to monitor and dismiss notifications, make and answer calls, and respond to texts from a Windows PC.