We had been hearing rumors all day about the launch of Android apps on Windows 11. A developer’s guide and lots of information had been leaked. However, the official information that has just been published.
Try Android apps on Windows
Microsoft has emphasized that Windows is a platform for creators. That is why it offers the ability to work with Android applications in Windows 11. Let’s see how it works and other details.
To get started, open the new Microsoft Store and you will find a selection of applications that were previously not available in Windows. These Android apps and games join the most extensive catalog to date. Now the Microsoft Store has everything we were looking for, from basic to casual games, productivity suites, creative suites and developer tools to full virtualized environments.
The new Microsoft Store search experience offers the best results available, regardless of the technology used to create an application. With the aim of offering different options when there is more than one option available. And when we are ready to download an Android application, Amazon Appstore will guide us through the rest of the process.
An almost native experience
Running Android apps and games on Windows 11 will feel simple, effortless, and integrated, just as you’d expect. Being able to easily run these applications in parallel, anchor them to our Start menu or taskbar and interact with them using the mouse, touch or pencil. Android apps are also built into Alt + Tab and the task view to help us quickly move back and forth between the applications that matter most to us. Notifications are integrated within the Action Center and share the clipboard between a Windows application and an Android application.
The partnership with Amazon has allowed them to select 50 popular apps so that we can start testing them as Windows Insider by validating different hardware configurations. They will release new apps through Windows Insider Program updates in the coming months. Here are some examples of what you can try today:
- Mobile games: Play some of the most popular mobile games like Lords Mobile, June’s Journey, Coin Master, and more.
- Reading: Enjoy reading your favorite book with Kindle, or a series of digital comics with Comics on your Windows tablet and slide the pages with the ease of a finger.
- Content for kids: Teach your child math, reading and writing skills with the award-winning Khan Academy Kids, or build new digital spaces with Lego Duplo World.
Built on the new Windows platform
To enable these types of experiences, a new component comes to Windows 11 called the Android Subsystem for Windows, which is fed by the Amazon Appstore and its catalog. The subsystem includes the Linux kernel and the Android operating system based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) version 11. It is distributed through the Microsoft Store as part of the Amazon Appstore installation, allowing users to stay current over time as we continue to add support for more APIs, capabilities, and scenarios. The subsystem runs in a Hyper-V virtual machine, such as the Windows subsystem for Linux. Understand how to map application runtime and APIs in the AOSP environment to Windows graphics layer, memory buffers, input modes, physical and virtual devices, and sensors.
The Windows subsystem for Android is available on the full range of Windows processors (AMD, Intel and Qualcomm). They have partnered with Intel to take advantage of Intel Bridge technology. Allowing ARM applications to run on AMD and Intel devices. This enables users to get the broadest set of applications on the broadest set of devices. In order to provide a high-performance and secure customer experience for the Windows Insider Program, Subsystem requires Windows 11 machines to meet minimum system requirements, and we will use this version to validate and adjust these requirements.