Image: Mark Hachman / IDG
Microsoft is unexpectedly killing off its support for Android apps within Windows 11, although you’ll have a year to play games on your Windows tablet until support officially expires.
But if you haven’t already installed support for Android apps, you’re out of luck.
Microsoft isn’t saying exactly why it’s ending support for the Windows Subsystem for Android, though notice was given as part of an official Microsoft developer document that Windows Central noticed. That means that the existing Android app store on Windows, published by Amazon, will cease working.
“Microsoft is ending support for the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA),” Microsoft wrote. “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. Until then, technical support will remain available to customers.”
Unfortunately, it also sounds like if you didn’t act fast, your ability to play Golf Clash on a Surface Pro tablet is gone forever. “Customers that have installed the Amazon Appstore or Android apps prior to March 5, 2024, will continue to have access to those apps through the deprecation date of March 5, 2025,” Microsoft added. (Emphasis ours.)
Amazon also posted a FAQ providing a few more details. “Apps installed from the Amazon Appstore on your Windows 11 devices will continue to work until March 5, 2025,” the company said. “While we expect no immediate impact on your ability to access the applications between March 2024 and March 2025, over time, some apps may not function properly.”
Why did Microsoft kill off Android apps on Windows? If I had to make a guess, it was because they stunk. The real killer was the lack of formal access to the Google Play Store, which meant that users had to download apps from Amazon’s app store, which sort of feels like a knockoff. And the Amazon store is still full of what appear to be junky, play-to-win games and apps. Finally, while there still are Windows tablets from Microsoft and Lenovo, there are basically zero Windows tablets catering to consumers. All that probably didn’t help Microsoft’s usage metrics.
I was, however, able to download the Kindle for Android app on to a Windows 11 PC just a few minutes ago. So if you want to try out Android on Windows, act fast.