Windows 11: Microsoft launches Amazon App Store for Android apps

Amazon App Store

Microsoft is starting to distribute the Amazon App Store outside of its insider preview, offering the first Windows 11 users to select Android apps on PC. For now, however, the starting gun will only be fired in the US. Users from Germany will have to be patient. While Android apps for Windows 11 were already announced when the Redmond-based company launched its latest operating system last year, the Windows subsystem for Android (WSA) finally seems to be gaining traction.

After extensive testing by US Windows Insiders, the Amazon App Store with more than 1,000 apps is now available in the United States. Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer for Windows and Devices, only vaguely specifies distribution in other countries with the term “over the year.” Whether this also includes Germany remains to be seen.

Android apps would be entirely natural on Windows 11

For users in the US or with associated Microsoft accounts, the new blog post: “To start a preview, open and update the Microsoft Store (click ‘Get Updates’ in Microsoft Store -> Library) – find your favorite titles or explore our new curated collection of mobile apps and games; when you have found what you’re looking for, download them from the Amazon Appstore.

These apps feel like a part of Windows and integrate naturally with the Windows input and windowing experience, like snap layouts.” In addition to Microsoft, Google itself is also approaching the integration of Android apps under Windows 10 and Windows 11. In a first step, the company tries to offer mainly games from the Play Store for Windows systems without being limited by the composite selection of the Amazon App Store. The beta version of Google Play Games has already started in selected countries, but Germany is not yet one of them. However, the fact that a timely implementation for the local market is planned shows that it is the right Google website
February 17, 2022