As we said yesterday, Microsoft made Windows 11 compatibility with Android apps possible through the Amazon store. Nevertheless, another important aspect about this is the Android subsystem for Windows 11, a tool that some users have already been able to access.
Mishaal Rahman, a former member of XDA Developers, was able to test first-hand how the performance of Android apps works through Windows 11. He did it through a Realme Book, and the results of his tests are described in a interesting twitter thread. In it he explains that has installed numerous apps through the APKs themselves and from external stores, all through ADB.
Fiddling with the Android subsystem
Rahman began the test by installing Firefox, an app that does not mention any particular problems. It further adds that when adding this subsystem in Windows 11, the Amazon store installs automatically, as well as a multitude of apps from Windows.
In the tests carried out, it was able to install a good number of applications, including the Aurora Store, Apple Music, PUBG Mobile, and even Genshin Impact, among others. However, the last two games mentioned were tested through a Surface Pro X, which as you know, is an ARM64-based system. Their performance on this device still seems pretty mediocre.
Rahman was also able to comment on some peculiarities of this subsystem. In the thread you specify that in your Realme Book, Android consumes about 716MB of RAM of the total. In addition, it also exposes quite detailed information about the battery of the equipment, as if it were a mobile device.
In addition to the thread made a comparison between the performance of the computer running Windows 11 and the Android subsystem. With Windows, his computer achieved a single-core score of 1,385 and 5,201 for multi-core on Geekbench, while running the Android subsystem it achieved a total score of 1,209 and 4,602 respectively.
These results show that native performance on Windows 11 is higher than the computer running the Android subsystem. Referring to Rahman’s results on Geekbench, we see that it obtains approximately a 12.7% drop in single-core and 11.5% in multi-core.
It is clear that there is still a lot to do in terms of optimization, since making a system of these characteristics work with 100% of Android apps are big words. However, the fact that there are several ways to do it and that many of the apps work really well is a good sign.
Install applications via ADB
The variety of Android apps through the Amazon store is limited. That is why to expand the possibilities of its use, it is possible to install APKs from portals such as APKMirror or APKPure and add them to our team through ADB.
Tom Warren, editor at The Verge, has made a very illustrative video on how to perform this process through Windows 11.
The Android subsystem for Windows 11 is currently available only to users in the United States enrolled in the Windows Insiders Program. At the moment its release date to the public is unknown, although everything indicates that once landed, it will give much to talk about.