Microsoft Starts Supporting Testing Android Apps on Windows 11

Microsoft is now allowing Windows 11 testers to try out Android apps. A preview version of the Windows Subsystem for Android will be available to beta testers of Windows 11 today, providing access to apps from the Amazon Appstore. Testers with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm processors will all be able to try out Android apps on Windows 11.

Android apps in the Microsoft Store are provided by the Amazon Appstore, but with a custom interface for finding and downloading these apps. While not as expansive as the Google Play Store, this will provide Windows 11 users with access to mobile games, social apps, and more. Android app support on Windows 11 is based on Android 11.

There are, however, a couple of caveats with the launch of Android apps in the Microsoft Store on Windows 11 in this early preview. Only 50 apps are available, curated by Microsoft to ensure they work on a “broad set of hardware.” More apps will be added “in the coming months” with this initial batch including games, reading apps, and kids’ content. The other big catch is that this is only available at launch in the United States.

Is any of this a game-changer? I don’t know. I have no issues reading the Washington Post on the web — and I think many parents would prefer it if their kids played Lego Duplo World on a cheap tablet anyway. If you play Clash of Kings or Coin Master, there are other questions you have to ask yourself first anyway. Now if Microsoft would allow me to move my taskbar up to the top of the screen again, where it belongs, that would be nice, though.