When Microsoft first announced Windows 11 back in June 2021, one of its flagship features was support for Android apps. It seemed like a match made in heaven: The Apple ecosystem allows certain iOS apps to run on macOS, after all, so it makes sense to allow Android and PC users to do the same.
Unfortunately, things aren’t really panning out like Microsoft probably hoped they would. On Tuesday, we learned the company was ending Windows Subsystem for Android. The end-of-life plans aren’t immediate: Microsoft is giving users until March 5, 2025 to download Android apps to their PCs. However, following this deadline, you will no longer be able to install new Android apps on your computer, and the ones you have installed will not receive support going forward. Bummer.
Windows Subsystem for Android was never a perfect solution in the first place. Rather than natively port apps from Android OS to Windows, the system allows users to download apps from the Amazon Appstore. While there are plenty of options to choose from, it’s far from the full experience that dedicated Google Play Store support would offer. Still, it’s far better than nothing, which makes this decision by Microsoft a shame.
It gets worse for Windows Subsystem for Android fans, too: Starting today, (March 6, 2024), Microsoft will no longer allow you to search for the Amazon Appstore or any of its Android apps on the Microsoft Store. That might make it seem like support has already ended, and in some ways, it has. Since the Amazon Appstore app is no longer available in the Microsoft Store, you won’t be able to download it going forward. If you don’t already have it on your PC, you’re effectively cutoff from installing Android apps on your PC.
If you do already have the app installed, you’ll be able to install new Android apps from the marketplace until that March 5 deadline. However, there will be no new apps going forward, so what you see is what you get. Developers of existing apps can continue supporting their apps on the platform, but come March 2025, their access will be cutoff as well.
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