Microsoft is Killing the Windows Subsystem for Android and Amazon Appstore on Windows 11

Microsoft has quietly announced that it will sunset the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) on Windows 11 next year. Support will officially end on March 5, 2025, and after that date, Android apps will no longer be supported on the OS.

Here’s the message Microsoft posted on a support page for the Windows Subsystem for Android (via Windows Central) :

“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. Until then, technical support will remain available to customers. 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.

The Windows Subsystem for Android was introduced on Windows 11 back in the fall of 2021, and Microsoft teamed up with Amazon to make a limited selection of apps from the Amazon App Store available on Windows. However, despite various updates, the experience of running Android apps on Windows 11 has never been great. Performance was often lackluster, and the Amazon App Store was also missing the biggest apps that are available on the Google Play Store.

If the Windows Subsystem for Linux on Windows 10 and Windows 11 has been a great addition for developers, the Windows Subsystem for Android likely never got any traction. As Microsoft probably found out, you don’t really need Android apps on Windows 11 when native apps and web apps can do a better job. I would also be surprised if the iPhone and iPad apps and games Apple makes available on the Mac App Store on Apple Silicon Macs get any significant usage.