Microsoft now offers to install Android applications directly on Windows 11.
Amazon AppStore on the Microsoft Store
It was one of the flagship features announced by Microsoft for Windows 11: the ability to install Android apps directly from the Amazon App Store integrated into the Microsoft Store. Belatedly, the feature ended up being launched by Microsoft on October 20. Here's how to install Android apps on Windows 11.
Prerequisites
To be able to install Android apps on Windows 11, you must meet several criteria.
First of all, the PC must be running Windows 11 (build 22000.xxx) and have access to virtualization. To check this criterion, run "System Information" and look at the "Hyper-V" line to verify if virtualization is enabled in the firmware. If this is not the case, it will be necessary to go through the UEFI parameters to activate the corresponding parameter (SVM for AMD or VT for Intel).
The PC region must also be set to “United States”. To do this, go to the Windows 11 settings, in the Time and language section, and in the “language and region” section. The change is effective immediately.
Finally, for the moment it is necessary to be a member of the Insider program in the Beta channel. The Microsoft Store must be updated, to at least version 22110.1402.6.0.
How to install an Android application on Windows?
If you meet all the prerequisites, the rest of the operations will be very simple. First, go to the Microsoft Store to download the Amazon App Store. This will also trigger installing Windows Subsystem for Android.
You should now be able to launch the "Windows Subsystem for Android" application.
This application is used to manage the behavior of Android applications. It is possible, for example, to choose to activate the subsystem “as much as necessary”, ie only when launching an application, or then “Continuously”, ie permanently. This last option increases consumption, but allows faster launching of applications.
How to install an APK application?
For the rest of the operations, you must activate the "Developer mode" option which will allow you to easily install APK applications with ADB.
Step One: Download and Extract Android Platform SDK Tools
Using Windows File Explorer, go to the platform-tools folder you just extracted. In this folder, right click and "Open in Windows Terminal".
In the terminal, you can connect to the Android subsystem with the following command: .adb.exe connect 127.0.0.1:58526. The address to type is indicated in the Windows Subsystem for Android application.
The last operations are simple: with the file explorer, copy the APK file to the platform-tools folder, and in the terminal, use the command: .adb.exe install 'apk_name.apk'.
To download apps in APK format, you can use TechnologiesTips Apps. Please note that Microsoft does not integrate Google Play Services into Windows 11. Some applications such as those from Google may not work.
