Microsoft Publishes Windows Subsystem for Android Guidelines for Devs
- Paul Thurrott
- Oct 20, 2021
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Microsoft this week published documentation for developers who wish to optimize their Android apps to run well in Windows 11. It was first spotted by the Walking Cat on Twitter.
“Windows Subsystem for Android enables your Windows 11 device to run Android applications that are available in the Amazon Appstore,” the documentation explains. “If you’re a developer interested in targeting Windows desktop devices and optimizing for the Windows operating system, this guide is for you.”
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The guide provides details for configuring your Windows 11-based development environment, which will need to be in the Insider Program for now since this feature isn’t yet available. (It’s not even available to Insiders yet, but should be soon.) You will also have to install the Amazon Appstore for Android from the Microsoft Store, but the documentation notes that just installing an Android app from the Microsoft Store will trigger an automatic install of the Appstore for Android too. Interesting.
You will also need to make some configuration changes in a new Windows Subsystem for Android Settings app which will be available via Start > All Apps > Windows Subsystem for Android. And developers will likely need to make changes to their apps to account for the keyboard and mouse interfaces found in PCs, though some have already done this work for Chromebooks. There is more advice in there about window management and resizing, which makes sense.
Hopefully, we’ll get a first peek at the Windows Subsystem for Android soon, and we can certainly expect to see it in the Windows Insider Program by the end of the year.