Not long ago, in 2021, Windows 11 got official support for Android apps. This was made possible by the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), a virtual machine that Microsoft looked after. Thanks to a deal between Amazon and Microsoft, Windows 11 users could purchase and run almost all Android apps through the WSA. They could also do this through Amazon’s Android market, the Amazon Appstore.
Now Windows 11 no longer works with approved Android apps and can’t get them from the Amazon Appstore either.
Microsoft said today that it will no longer be supporting the WSA after a year. People who have Windows 11 and have downloaded apps from the Amazon Appstore or Android will be able to use those apps until March 5, 2025, but not after that. And from tomorrow on, Amazon will not let new users download the Amazon Appstore from the Microsoft Store, which is Microsoft’s app store for Windows.
Amazon said in a blog post today that customers can still use Amazon Appstore apps that they already downloaded and will still be able to get app changes after March 6. “After March 5, 2024, developers won’t be able to submit any new apps for Windows 11. However, developers who already have an app can keep submitting updates until Amazon Appstore for Windows 11 is completely shut down.”
Andrew Cunningham of Ars Technica points out that the WSA was limited from the start because it couldn’t connect to the Google Play Store, which is the official Android app store, without finding workarounds. The WSA was a handy way to run Android apps on Windows. The Amazon Appstore didn’t have as many apps, so users probably went to the Windows or web-based versions of apps they could have downloaded through the WSA instead.
At a time when Microsoft’s attention is clearly focused on other things, like generative AI and its many forms in Windows, WSA usage was likely pretty low.
Now, the fact that Microsoft is stopping support for the WSA doesn’t mean that Android apps can’t be used on Windows anymore. There are a number of third-party options, such as BlueStacks, an Android emulator for Windows and macOS, and Waydroid, which supports Android apps through Linux-based system containers.
And Microsoft doesn’t seem to be changing its mind about making Android and Windows systems work together.
Also Read: Microsoft is Trying to Beat Apple as the Most Valuable Company in the World
As of this week, Microsoft released a feature that lets Android users use the camera on their phone as a screen on Windows 11. Microsoft also takes care of apps like Link to Windows, which lets people with Android or iOS phones make and take calls, send and receive texts, and see and dismiss messages from a Windows PC.
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