Microsoft has officially announced the first preview of Android apps experiences into the Windows Insider Program. This means that beta testers will soon get a new preview version of Windows 11 that will allow them to try Android apps on their Windows PCs. The software giant said that this preview will be available to Beta Channel users in the US on eligible devices running Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm platforms.
Running Android apps on the Windows ecosystem has never been easy. To use Android apps on Windows, users needed to install third-party Android emulators, and they had their own limitations. But now, Windows users will soon be able to run and use Android apps on their PCs without having to install third-party Android emulators. For this, Microsoft has partnered with Amazon to curate 50 apps for Windows Insiders to test on the operating system. These apps include reading applications like the Amazon Kindle app and some mobile games like Coin Master, Lords Mobile, and June’s Journey.
How to Experience Android apps on Windows
The latest update will allow testers to load Android apps via the new Microsoft Store. Moreover, the apps will also be integrated into the operating system alongside the Windows apps. This will let users cycle between them seamlessly with the usual Alt+Tab command. To try out the Android experience on your Windows system, open the new Microsoft Store, and you’ll find a selection of mobile experiences that were not available there before. These include mobile games, productivity suited, creativity tools, social media apps, developer tools, and more.
To enable Android app experience on Windows, Microsoft has introduced a new component called “Windows Subsystem for Android™” on top of Windows 11. This integration makes the mobile experience seamless. Users can see notifications from Android apps in the Action Center or share their clipboard between a Windows app and an Android app.
“We have built the experience with accessibility in mind; many Windows accessibility settings apply to Android apps and we are working with Amazon to deliver more improvements,” the team behind Android on Windows 11 said.
Note that the update is currently available in the US only, and users need to log in with a US-based Amazon account to try out this feature.
