Microsoft says Windows 11 won’t support Android apps at launch

Ben Schoon | Aug 31 2021 - 6:27 am PT

Microsoft just announced that Windows 11 is launching on October 5 after a couple of months in beta, but the significant platform update will come without one of its notable features. At launch, Windows 11 users won’t be able to download Android apps from the Microsoft Store.

The ability to run Android apps natively on Windows 11 is one of the update’s biggest new features, but it’s also something that has not been available in beta releases so far. In its announcement today, Microsoft has directly confirmed the feature will spend a bit more time in the oven, with testing set to start in the “coming months.”

We look forward to continuing our journey to bring Android apps to Windows 11 and the Microsoft Store through our collaboration with Amazon and Intel; this will start with a preview for Windows Insiders over the coming months.

At this point, it remains unclear when Android apps will actually arrive, but it will almost certainly be in 2022. Traditioanlly, Microsoft tests new features like this with its “Insider” program before launching to the general public. If that testing is delayed for a few months, it will likely be quite a while before the public release rolls out. When it does, apps will still be powered by the Amazon Appstore.