Windows 11's flagship "run Android apps" feature got three and a half years
Windows Subsystem for Android deprecated; Android apps died March 2025
The market's verdict: -2.5% on MSFT in the week after.
What actually happened
On March 5, 2024, Microsoft deprecated the Windows Subsystem for Android, the feature Windows 11 launched with in 2021 that ran Android apps through the Amazon Appstore, scheduling its death for March 5, 2025, with no migration path beyond pointing users at third party emulators. A launch headline feature, marketed for years, retired before its fourth birthday. Apple shipped iPhone apps on the Mac in the interim, for contrast, and the company that could not keep Android apps on Windows now sells Android apps on Windows through emulation, informally.
This one is officially acknowledged.
Links
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Impact
- The Verge (publication)
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Context
- Microsoft Learn (official)
↳ caused by Windows Subsystem for Android deprecation (March 2024)
Timeline
- Mar 5, 2024 Stood by it Microsoft stood by it.