Windows 11 will lose official support for Android apps | Top Vip News

Image credits: Microsoft / PhotoMosh / stock photo

Just a few years ago, in 2021, Windows 11 gained official support for Android apps thanks to a virtual machine maintained by Microsoft called Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA). With WSA, Windows 11 users would be able to install and run almost the entire range of Android apps, optionally through Amazon’s Android marketplace, Amazon Appstore, thanks to a deal between Amazon and Microsoft.

Now Windows 11 is losing official support for Android apps and, along with it, access to the Amazon Appstore.

Microsoft today Announced that plans to stop maintaining the WSA within this year. Windows 11 users who have installed Amazon Appstore or Android apps will continue to have access to those apps until March 5, 2025, but not after. And starting tomorrow, Amazon plans to prevent new users from downloading the Amazon Appstore from the Microsoft Store, Microsoft’s app store for Windows.

Image credits: microsoft

“Customers can continue using the Amazon Appstore apps 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 ship net new apps targeting Windows 11 after March 5, 2024, but developers with an existing app can continue to ship app updates until the Amazon Appstore on Windows 11 is completely discontinued.”

As Andrew Cunningham of Ars Technica grades, WSA, while a convenient way to run Android apps on Windows, was limited from the start thanks to its inability to access the Google Play Store, the official Android app store, at least not without workarounds. The Amazon Appstore had a smaller selection, which no doubt steered users in many cases to native Windows or web-based versions of apps they might have installed through WSA.

In other words, WSA usage was probably quite low, at a time when Microsoft’s attention is obviously elsewhere, such as on generative AI and its various incarnations in Windows.

Now, just because Microsoft is ending support for WSA doesn’t mean it will be impossible to run Android apps on Windows. There are several third-party alternatives, including Waydroid, which provides support for Android apps through Linux-based system containers, and BlueStacks, an Android emulator for Windows and macOS.

And Microsoft’s commitment to closing the gap between Android and Windows devices shows no signs of wavering.

This week, Microsoft launched a feature that allows Android users to use their device’s camera as a webcam in Windows 11. Elsewhere, Microsoft maintains apps like Link to Windows, which allows Android (and iOS) users make and receive calls, respond to text messages. and check and dismiss notifications from a Windows PC.