Microsoft has added native support for Android apps in Windows 11. "This is long-awaited news"
As part of yesterday’s presentation of Windows 11, it became known that Microsoft‘s new operating system will receive native support for Android applications. You can download them directly from the new Microsoft Store, which will now have the Amazon Appstore built in. There is an opinion that this news was worth waiting for a long time.
There are few details about the support and principles of Android applications on Windows 11 yet. The main thing is that we are not talking about emulation. The operating system will be able to run them thanks to Intel Bridge technology. Despite the name, this compiler supports not only Intel processors, but also AMD solutions.
The essence of Intel Bridge is that it translates applications compiled for Android into x86 instructions in real time, which are reproduced in Windows 11. And now the main question is: how productive is this solution.
Also important: despite the fact that the Amazon Appstore will be built into the Microsoft Store, you will still have to register on Amazon to download Android applications. Plus, we should not forget that the choice of applications on this platform is much more modest than on Google Play.
In a conversation with us, Nikita Zatsepin, Senior Growth Marketing Manager at Unity, who was previously responsible for the development of the BlueStacks platform, an emulator of Android applications for desktop systems, said that the news was expected.
Nikita ZatsepinLet me just focus on why I personally expected this from Microsoft:
- Apple has, in fact, been providing native access to mobile applications on Mac for a year (thanks to its ARM chips). There aren’t many games yet, but it’s a matter of time.Speaking through the prism of the gaming market, the idea of playing mobile games on desktops is not new – it’s enough to recall Google’s chromebooks, as well as the integration of Android emulators with hardware manufacturers (MSI x BlueStacks).
- It is clear that Microsoft is also looking in this direction.The audience of mobile players on PC is very involved and extensive.
- These are hundreds of millions of people around the world who should not be ignored by either developers or the Microsoft platform, which can now involve them natively.The only interesting point in all this is integration with the Amazon Appstore.
On the one hand, the principle is clear: “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Nevertheless, of course, I take off my hat to Amazon’s bizdevs. Now interest in this small-growing store will grow, and traffic will come not only from the USA.
In general, I consider the news in a positive way. If 5 years ago I often had to watch a finger twisting at the temple at profile events when I was talking about very involved mobile players on the desktop, now when Microsoft announces native Android support, no one is twisting at the temple anymore. The boundaries between the platforms are erased.
