Microsoft plans to put Apple’s macOS in an uphill battle by adding Android applications in Windows 11.
According to a Microsoft engineer, Windows users can download Android applications to their brand-new upcoming operating system – Windows 11. This seems to be one of the biggest problems we encountered when Microsoft announced Android applications to Windows 11 through the Amazon App Store (via Android Police).
This means that after the release of Windows 11, you must not only stick to Amazon’s apps, but you must also ask new questions about how Android apps run on Windows. For example, it is not yet clear how to start or install the side loader application.
Microsoft engineer: Windows 11 will let you sideload Android apps https://t.co/sYaVH0Xwuk pic.twitter.com/kKHR04aipY
— Android Police (@AndroidPolice) June 25, 2021
Windows 11: Sideload Android Apps
Technically, Chrome OS can also run side-loaded applications, but the process is not entirely simply because it opens Linux and completes the work from the command line. We asked Microsoft for details of running Android apps outside of the Amazon App Store, and they provided us with the following statement: “Customers can find Android apps in the Microsoft Store and can purchase from the Amazon App Store too. We will have something to share later.”
If Microsoft included the Google Play Store instead of the Amazon Appstore, the urge to download apps on Windows might not be so strong. On the other hand, the App Store obviously gives Windows users access to many programs that they could not run on their computers before. Amazon has some obvious omissions in its catalog.
If Windows users want to run the Android version of Snapchat or Apple Music, they won’t say, “you can’t buy them on Amazon.”
Android apps natively via Intel’s tech
Although downloading the app helped solve this problem, it also caused its own concerns. The first is where users get these applications. While cracking free apps such as Snapchat can cause problems, the ability to download APKs allows people to get paid apps for free from less legitimate repositories.
Enhanced security issues and whether Windows can check downloaded applications for potentially malicious behavior are features Google has built into Android. Unfortunately, Microsoft hasn’t revealed more about running Android applications in Windows 11 (although the technical details are attractive).
Don’t limit yourself to the Amazon App Store. We hope that Microsoft will provide more details on exactly how Android apps work soon so that you can get feedback from Windows users and Android developers before making the feature available to everyone later this year.
Image courtesy of Ancient Gameplays/YouTube