Microsoft announced the retirement of the Windows Subsystem for Android today. The subsystem was heralded as one of Windows 11’s upcoming features prior to the launch of the operating system more than 3 years ago.
The store allowed developers and users to run certain Android applications directly on Windows 11 machines. Microsoft partnered with Amazon to bring the Amazon Appstore to Windows 11. This limited availability of apps on Windows 11, as Google Play was not supported.
The announcement on the official Windows Subsystem for Android website offers the following information on the retirement.
Microsoft is ending support for the Windows Subsystem for Android™️ (WSA). As a result, the Amazon Appstore on Windows and all applications and games dependent on WSA will no longer be supported beginning March 5, 2025.
Microsoft ends support for the Amazon Appstore and all apps and games that depend on the Windows Subsystem for Android on March 5, 2025. Windows 11 users who installed Android apps or games on their devices will have continued access to these through March 5, 2025.
Installations of the Amazon Appstore are still available at the time of writing. Microsoft Store will prevent installations starting March 6, 2024.
Microsoft offers no reason for the deprecation of the feature. Windows Subsystem for Android was available in a few dozen countries only including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan. The feature had specific system requirements on top of that: a 64-bit processor, virtualization support, 16 GB of RAM and a Solid State Drive. The last two requirements were recommended but not enforced.
The deprecation of the entire Windows Subsystem for Android puts an end to any Microsoft Store application that used it to install Android apps on the Windows device.
The last update of the Windows Subsystem for Android was released less than a year ago. It introduced file sharing capabilities between the subsystem and the Windows 11 host machine.
Alternatives to the Amazon AppStore
One alternative that continues to work for developers and users is BlueStack. It is a third-party solution that focuses on bringing Android games to PC. BlueStack claims that it offers more than 2 million Android games to PC players.
Google launched Google Play Games recently to bring a selection of Android games to PC. The software is still in beta at the time of writing and limits games to a fraction of what is available on Google Play.