The Android Subsystem for Windows may be available to Microsoft Insider testers sooner rather than later.
Microsoft is planning to roll out Windows 11 on October 5. However, one key feature that will not be included in the rollout is support for Android apps. Instead, the company has promised it to Windows Insiders in the coming months.
All that said, the Windows Subsystem for Android has appeared on the Microsoft Store.
The Windows Subsystem for Android hasn’t even been in preview yet. Microsoft hasn’t talked about how it will work, or what you’ll need. The app in the Store is just a placeholder app that does nothing when downloaded.
The app is just “for testing purposes”
Unfortunately, the listing only says Microsoft Confidential in the description, saying that the app is for testing purposes and that the people who are supposed to be using it shouldn’t take screenshots or talk about the content.
Earlier this year, Microsoft officials said the coming Android subsystem will provide a proxy native app between the Android app model and the Windows app model. There will be a virtual machine that provides compatibility for the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). This is to provide custom variants of Android that don’t require Google Play Services support. And that’s why the Amazon Store was mentioned during Microsoft’s Windows 11 launch event last week. It seems Amazon’s FireOS is actually based on AOSP.
Even more interesting is that this app is listed as available for Xbox consoles. These include the Xbox One family and the new generation of Xbox Series X|S devices. Microsoft hasn’t talked about Android apps running on gaming consoles, but gaming on Android is a big deal.
Obviously, none of this is official. Microsoft has said very little about Android apps running on Windows 11, let alone on Xbox. When the company announced the Windows 11 release date, they also announced that Android app support is delayed. Interested people will just have to wait for further information to come out of Redmond.
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