Update 1 (9/4/2021 3:10 PM ET): While the original store listing said it was available for Xbox, Microsoft confirmed Windows Central that he has no plans to bring WSA to Xbox consoles. This appears to be a simple mistake, and the list of apps has since been changed to reflect it.
Microsoft is set to start rolling out Windows 11 on October 5, and one key feature that’s been promised and won’t ship is support for Android apps. Instead, it will officially come to Windows Insiders in the coming months. However, Windows Subsystem for Android has appeared on the Microsoft Store and you can even download it.
Unfortunately, it does nothing at the moment. If you go to open the application provided by the Microsoft Store, you will only see a black and blank window. It’s nothing exciting at the moment.
What is even more interesting is the store listing for Windows Subsystem for Android. Since it hasn’t been previewed yet, Microsoft hasn’t explained how it will work or what you’ll need. Unfortunately, the listing only says Microsoft Confidential in the description, indicating that the app is for testing purposes and people supposed to use it shouldn’t take screenshots or talk about the content.
The system requirements page is a bit more revealing. The required Windows version is 22000, which is the one that will ship on October 5th. This indicates that Microsoft may not force users to wait for next year’s Windows 11 feature update to get the Windows Subsystem for Android. As we can see, the functionality can be delivered independently. It will also require 8 GB of RAM, of which 16 GB is recommended. It runs on either ARM64 or x64 processors, and that’s obviously no surprise, since those are the two types of processor Windows 11 runs on.
Perhaps more interesting is that this app is listed as available for Xbox consoles, including the Xbox One family and the new generation of Xbox Series X|S devices. Microsoft hasn’t talked about Android apps running on game consoles, but games on Android are a big deal. Bringing these games to the console, even if it’s just a way to play them, could be a useful strategy, if that ends up happening.
Of course, none of this is official. Microsoft has said very little about Android apps running on Windows 11, let alone Xbox. He announced the feature at the Windows 11 launch event, and then when he announced the Windows 11 release date, he announced that Android app support was delayed. We’ll just have to wait for the company to have more to say about it.
You can download Windows Subsystem for Android on your Windows 11 PC here.
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