In a surprising move, to me anyway, the recent introduction of the Windows Android Subsystem (WSA) is now being deprecated starting in March 2025. The ability to download the subsystem actually ended this month.
Being a Beta tester I was pleasantly surprised back in October of 2011 to see Microsoft introduce a subsystem within Windows 11 that would support Android applications. I figured a lot of fans of Android games would love the move and wrote an article, “How To Install Android Apps In Windows 11” when it was released to the public in May of 2023. Now in just over two years, it is deprecated.
Reneging On A Gift
I always thought giving something to someone and taking it back was a bad move. If an employer handed out pay increases when they were not expected, everyone would be happy. However, if the employer took the pay increase back you would have a group of very displeased employees. It would have been better to not give it out in the first place. Microsoft is doing the same thing with WSA. We were happy without it, but now that they gave it to us, they are putting themselves in a position of creating dissatisfied customers.
The Reasons Behind The Move
A little research to find out why these reasons. WSA faced limitations, the biggest being no access to Google Play Services. Understandable, why would Google help Microsoft? Users were limited to Amazon apps. But the real reason was financial considerations as it affected the revenue from the Microsoft store. According to Andrew Clinick, who worked on the Microsoft WSA team, WSA was nice, but it did not pay the bills.
An Alternative
There is a nice alternative that is already included in Windows 11 and includes Google Play Services. See my previous article, Microsoft’s Phone Link. If you already own an Android-based phone, you can link it to Windows 11 and run any Android app from your phone.
Every Android app on my phone has successfully worked on my PC. One drawback is mobile apps designed to run in portrait mode are also viewed that way on your monitor. You can expand the app to the full height of the monitor but not the width.
Summary
The good news is that Apps are designed to be used in landscape mode and the phone screen itself works perfectly in full screen on your monitor. You do have options through Google Play by downloading one of the available forced Rotation Apps that will force your phone to be displayed in Landscape mode. If you are used to using your phone in portrait mode, it’s not a major deterrent to doing it on the PC. So the deprecation of WSA is not as bad as I first thought.
My interest in computers was a natural transition from all things electronics. I was hooked after building my first Heathkit computer around 1976, which evolved into a TSR80 and a long list of Windows computers. My first full blown program was a graphics program which started my career path in graphic design and IT work for 40 years. I now run a small computer repair and service company focused on helping veterans and retirees in our area with computer and software training classes.
