Microsoft’s Windows Subsystem for Android has finally launched after months of hype and anticipation from users. While the feature has been available for Insider machines for nearly six months, it is now opening to everyone with a supported device running Windows 11 version 21H2.
Listed on Microsoft’s FAQ website for the Android beta support, there are nearly five major requirements that your device must meet in order to run mobile apps properly. A full list of supported PCs that currently support the Android release is not available, but your device should be able to run mobile apps if it meets Windows 11 requirements.
Specifically, you’ll need a device running Windows 11 version 21H2 or newer, have at least 8GB of RAM (as opposed to 4GB required for Windows 11) and have a processor that is officially supported by Microsoft. Additionally, you will also need to enable the virtual machine platform feature from the optional features page.
Here’s the complete list of requirements:
- RAM: 8 GB (minimum) and 16 GB (recommended).
- Storage type: Solid State Drive (SSD).
- Processor: Your device should meet Windows 11 requirements i.e Core i3 8th Gen, Ryzen 3000, Snapdragon 8c or above.
- Processor type: x64 or ARM64.
- Virtual Machine Platform: This optional setting is for virtualization and you’ll need to enable the setting from Control Panel.
- Amazon account.
If you want to download and run 1,000 plus Android apps from Amazon AppStore, make sure the device’s region is set to the United States with English.
If you meet the above requirements, you can download and install Windows 11’s latest optional update (KB5010414) that includes a public preview of Android apps. For those in the United States, they can access more than 1,000 Amazon AppStore items on Windows 11, including popular apps and even games.
This includes Audible, Kindle, Subway Surfers, and many more.
Amazon Store integration in Microsoft Store lets you download Android apps on Windows 11 just like any other app from the Microsoft Store.
You’ll be able to discover these apps via Microsoft Store, but the downloads are powered by the Amazon Appstore.
As we reported recently, Windows 11’s Android support is the result of the company’s contribution to the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
Android integration is built on top of the open-source Android platform and it is supported by Intel Bridge Technology. Android support is not restricted to Amazon AppStore, so you can also manually sideload apps without switching your region and language to the United States (English).