Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) was supposed to be a game-changer. With WSA, you could sideload Android apps or games and even access Amazon’s mobile store. Well, that was until Microsoft decided to put it to rest for good. Surprisingly, WSA recently received an update in the Release Preview channel.
Windows Latest noticed that WSA was updated to version 2407.40000.5.0 on our Windows 11 Insider PC. The update began rolling out in the Release Preview channel earlier today, and we couldn’t spot any difference. There are no release notes available for this update, which means that it could be a security update.
When we looked closely at the WSA update, we noticed that the Android security update is still from September 2023. So, it’s unclear what has changed, but it’s likely a minor security fix from Microsoft.
It’s not difficult to assume that no feature upgrades will arrive for the soon-to-be-obsolete WSA. You cannot even find the app on the Microsoft Store. Searching for Amazon Appstore doesn’t return any relevant search results.
Microsoft has already announced the retirement date for WSA, which is March 5, 2025. There are barely eight months left for the feature to bite the dust. While WSA is reaching end of support, it will continue to receive bug fixes or minor security improvements.
The idea of running Android apps directly on a Windows 11 PC seemed to be cool, but it didn’t resonate well with the consumers. However, it is not entirely the user’s fault.
Windows Subsystem for Android was off to a rocky start
Microsoft proudly claimed WSA to be one of the revolutionary features of Windows 11. But when the OS became publicly available, it was missing its most hyped feature. The WSA rollout commenced months later and was limited to the U.S. at the beginning.
The Redmond giant then expanded the program to a few other countries, but that didn’t seem to have any impact. Moreover, WSA had a limited number of apps, and the most popular ones weren’t immediately available. So, it became a niche product that only attracted enthusiasts, as opposed to the entire user base.
Without any revenue from apps and Google not coming on board, WSA soon faded away. Microsoft decided that it was not feasible to keep the program running for long and announced its end date soon after.
So, another seemingly good idea met its demise this year. WSA uses virtualization to help you run Android apps but requires an Amazon Appstore account to work.
There are ample Android app emulators available for Windows 11 PCs, BlueStacks being the most popular among them. You can use BlueStacks to emulate apps and use them on your PC while signing in to your Google account.