Support for Android apps from Windows 11 may be coming to Xbox

By: Yuriy Stanislavskiy | 03.09.2021, 14:22
Support for Android apps from Windows 11 may be coming to Xbox

One of the main features of Windows 11 is support for running Android apps without emulating or connecting to a "remote desktop". However, this feature won't be available until next year, at least not in the form Microsoft wants end users to see.

New data suggests that, Microsoft may well have bigger plans for the feature than it claims, and it may even become available for Xbox consoles in the future.

Microsoft's advertised scenario suggests that Windows 11 users will use the Microsoft Store to install Android apps on their PCs. At first glance, a consequence of the integration with Amazon Appstore. However, "under the hood" will likely use the same technology that made it possible to run Linux distributions on Windows 10.

What happened?

Technology with a similar name - Windows Subsystem for Android - suddenly appeared in the Microsoft Store. It currently "does nothing," but its very existence gives clues as to the direction Microsoft wants to take. For example, it could be used after this year's Windows 11 release, if for some reason Amazon Appstore integration with the Microsoft Store doesn't happen.

What's interesting is that the system requirements mention Xbox One. And that hints at the possibility of Android apps running on Xbox consoles in the future. It hardly makes sense to run a mobile version of Twitter or Facebook on Xbox, but as far as games or streaming apps go, why not?

Source: microsoft