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Android apps are pretty much useless on Windows 11

This feature could have been amazing, but it’s pretty terrible.

windows 11 logo
Image: Microsoft

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One of the biggest promises of Windows 11 was the ability to run Android apps on your desktop. First announced when the new operating system was announced, they’re finally here. The thing is, they’re terrible.

I mean terrible. Android has never been a good operating system for large screen use. You can take whatever you want from that and from the fact that the iPad rules the tablet market.

No really, Apple owns over half of the worldwide tablet market, and they’re a single manufacturer. Android is better suited for smaller screens, and it shows.

Windows 11 doesn’t even make it easy to run Android apps. Once you struggle through the installation to get Android running, you have to go to another storefront to get apps. That storefront? It would be fine if it was the Google Play Store, but apparently, that was a bridge too far.

Instead, it’s the Amazon Appstore. Yeah. That’s only a step above the other third-party Android app stores, and that’s only because you can be fairly sure apps won’t have malware in them.

amazon appstore on windows 11
Amazon Appstore on Windows 11 (Image: KnowTechie)

Amazon’s Appstore has been around for a decade. It’s barely passable, missing many of the modern apps that you’d actually want to run on your desktop. Not only is the app selection abysmal, but the experience as a whole is sluggish.

Also, only US-based Windows users can install the Appstore, possibly because of licensing issues.

That said, at least it’s safe. Because of how annoying it is to install the requirements to run Android apps, there are a host of installers from third-party sources. Often, these third-party sources can result in an influx of bad code and malware.

One of the more popular ones, Windows Toolbox, was secretly installing malware through PowerShell scripts. Yeah, Amazon Appstore isn’t looking too bad now, right?

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Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.

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