Microsoft Improves the Windows Subsystem for Android for Insiders

Windows 11 testers on the Dev Channel can download an update for the Windows Subsystem for Android today. This is the Windows component that lets Windows 11 users run Android apps coming from the Amazon Appstore, and today’s update should bring improvements to video playback, Windows integration, and security updates.

The Windows Subsystem for Android can be quite taxing on resources, and apps taking advantage of high-definition video playback may not have been providing the best viewing experience. Today’s update should finally improve this by allowing the Windows Subsystem for Android to leverage hardware accelerated H.264 decoding.

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The Windows Insider team says that this update should also bring improvements to general input, with improved scrolling performance in apps like the Amazon Appstore and Kindle. If you’ve been using the Windows Subsystem for Android to play Android games, today’s update also no longer forces 4X Multisample anti-aliasing (MSAA) to be enabled.

Microsoft has also been working to improve integrations between Windows email clients and Android apps. “Apps that take advantage of launching a mail client or message should benefit from this change immediately,” the Windows Insider team said today.

Lastly, the Redmond giant implemented some networking changes in this update which will be useful for introducing “future improvements” to the Windows Subsystem for Android. The new Windows component and the Amazon App Store started rolling out to non-Insiders last month, though the public preview is still US-only for now.

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Conversation 9 comments

  • blue77star

    08 March, 2022 - 4:18 pm

    <p>This whole things is completely useless.</p>

    • jgraebner

      Premium Member
      08 March, 2022 - 4:49 pm

      <p>Kind of like your responses to Windows 11 articles?</p>

    • wp7mango

      08 March, 2022 - 5:14 pm

      <p>Why is it useless? </p>

      • justme

        Premium Member
        09 March, 2022 - 2:50 am

        <p>While I dont necessarily get the hostility, I do get where blue77star is coming from. Windows isnt running "Android apps", its running *select* Android apps from a specific store (Amazon) only if your accout is US-based. Yes, the software is still beta, and yes Google Play support would require some legal agreement between Microsoft and Google that will likely never happen – but if you happen to use an Android app that isnt in the Amazon Store or isnt one of the "select few" from the Amazon store — you get the idea. Are there a few Android apps folks will use? Of course. But if you tell regular people your OS can run Android apps, then they will expect your OS to run Android apps – in the same way they run the apps on their phones (so things like biometric pass-thru should work). When it doesnt (for whatever technical or legal reason) it is easy to see how they might be frustrated and think the whole thing is useless.</p>

        • dmclaurin

          09 March, 2022 - 9:54 am

          <p>I live outside of the US and I have sideloaded Android apps. So, not useless unless not willing to work just a tad harder (and it wasn’t).</p><p>But I have a great phone experience running my Android apps on my laptop thanks to the "Your Phone" app, thus I realized I don’t need this feature at all.</p>

    • ecumenical

      08 March, 2022 - 6:48 pm

      <p>This reflexive hostility is really weird. Kindle, Audible, PBS Kids apps will all get used quite a lot in my house.</p>

    • saint4eva

      09 March, 2022 - 7:43 am

      <p>What a useless comment.</p>

    • locust_infested_orchard_inc.

      09 March, 2022 - 6:03 pm

      <p>If indeed it is "useless" as you claim, it’s because the guest OS in question is horrendously ?.</p>

  • Robert Dammers

    Premium Member
    09 March, 2022 - 3:06 pm

    <p>Still US only. Do we use the wrong soap? The wrong toothpaste? Is it a reflection of our offer hygienic habits? I’ve taken my desktop out of the beta ring, because there isn’t any point. </p>

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