Is the Android Experience on WIndows 11 Really Going to Work?

Android applications will be available on Windows 11, a concept that many users are looking forward to. However, there are quite a few terms and conditions that apply. How will this integration work, and can you expect it to be as neat as it sounds? Maybe… or maybe not. Let’s take a look.

How Android Apps Will Be Available on Windows

Instead of using the Google Play Store to distribute Android applications, if you want to get these applications on the Windows operating system, you have to go through the app store on Amazon. There are a couple of catches with this, though.

Amazon’s Appstore doesn’t have as many Android applications as you might expect, and this lack of applications is particularly notable when it comes to productivity software. The Google applications are missing in action, as are common productivity solutions like Trello, Slack, and Asana. Password managers like LastPass, 1Password, and Bitwarden are nowhere to be found. Even Microsoft’s applications aren’t here, such as Outlook, Office, and OneNote, and you can forget about finding any major banking applications.

The apps that are available aren’t even properly maintained, so you can expect to find outdated applications compared to Play Store variants.

Why is This the Case?

The problem can be traced back to Google Play Services, a key component to these applications’ operations. Google Play Services give an application the ability to handle purchases, use location data, push notifications, and other functionality.

Since Google Play Services are required in order for the applications to function as intended, it’s natural that they simply would not work correctly when distributed elsewhere. In order for these apps to be successful on multiple platforms, a developer essentially has to work out all the kinks so that it is compatible on Amazon’s Appstore, and when they don’t, the app breaks… and if developers do not give these apps the attention they need, it’s no small wonder that these issues will hinder Android applications’ use on Windows 11.

Whether or not this will change in the future is yet to be determined, so it’s not clear if your favorite Android applications will wind up working on the new Windows OS. In the meantime, you can count on Walsh IT Group to help your business make the best decisions regarding software solutions. Don’t wait! Give us a call at (832) 295-1445.