Windows 11 Will Be Able To Sideload Android Application

According to an engineer at Microsoft, Windows 11 users will have the ability to sideload Android apps onto the operating system, which looks like an answer to one of the biggest questions we had when Microsoft announced it was bringing Android apps to Windows 11 via the Amazon Appstore (via Android Police). This means that once Windows 11 launches, you won’t just have to stick to the apps that Amazon makes available, but it does raise some new questions about how running Android apps on Windows will work.

For example, it’s unclear what the process for running or installing a sideloaded app will be. Chrome OS technically has the ability to run sideloaded apps, too, but the process isn’t exactly easy, as it involves enabling Linux and doing some command line work. We asked Microsoft for details about what running Android apps from outside the Amazon Appstore would be like, and it provided us with the following statement: Customers will be able to discover Android apps on the Microsoft Store and acquire them through the Amazon Appstore. We’ll have more to share at a later date.

It’s possible that the desire for sideloading apps onto Windows wouldn’t be as strong had Microsoft included Google’s Play Store instead of Amazon’s Appstore. While having any app store will obviously grant Windows users access to many programs that they couldn’t previously run on their computers, Amazon’s has some notable omissions from its catalog. If a Windows user wanted to run the Android version of Snapchat or Apple Music, they wouldn’t be able to get them from Amazon. While sideloading apps helps solve this problem, it does raise concerns of its own. The first is the question of where users will obtain those apps: while there aren’t likely to be piracy concerns with free apps like Snapchat, the ability to load an APK could allow people to get paid apps for free from less-than-legal repositories.

There’s also the question of safety and whether Windows will have the ability to scan sideloaded apps for potentially malicious behavior, a feature that Google builds into Android already. While it’s clear that there’s still a lot that Microsoft hasn’t covered about what running Android apps on Windows 11’s will actually be like (though the technical details it’s revealed are fascinating), it’s still good to have confirmation from someone at Microsoft that the selection of Android apps won’t just be limited to what’s on Amazon’s Appstore. Hopefully Microsoft will start sharing more details on exactly how Android apps will work soon so it can get feedback from both Windows users and Android developers before the feature becomes available for everyone, likely later this year.

Microsoft Looks Ready To Launch Windows 11

After teasing the next generation of Windows during Build last week, Microsoft announced that it'll officially unveil the new version of its operating system on June 24th at 11AM Eastern. The company has begun sending out invites to media, and it's revealed that CEO Satya Nadella and chief product officer Panos Panay will be headlining the event. At Build, Nadella said he's been testing the new OS for the past few months. He added, "We will create more opportunity for every Windows developer today and welcome every creator who is looking for the most innovative, new, open platform to build and distribute and monetize applications." That's likely referring to rumors of an update Windows Store, which could make it easier for developers to push their apps out to consumers. The event announcement follows news that Microsoft killed development of Windows 10X, an OS variant that was initially meant for dual-screen devices.

Last year, the company shifted 10X focus to single screen devices to potentially create a stronger competitor to Chrome OS. Now, Microsoft plans to bring some 10X features into Windows 10 proper. So where can Microsoft go next after Windows 10? When it launched in 2015, I noted that it was a great combination of the best features from Windows 7 and 8. It had the clean desktop of the former, with additional touchscreen smarts from the latter (thankfully, the Start Menu also made a return). Windows 10 was also the first major sign of how different Microsoft was under Nadella, who took up the CEO mantle from Steve Ballmer in 2014. Notably, he announced that Windows 10 would be free for a year (and even longer for some users), a massive turnabout from Microsoft's previous strategy of charging for every new release. By doing so, Nadella encouraged users to move on from Windows 7 and 8, making Windows 10 a more viable platform for developers who wanted to build modern apps. I'd wager Microsoft would put much of Windows 10X's dual-screen features into its next OS. We've yet to see many truly dual-screen PCs, aside from Lenovo's clunky Yoga Books, so the door is wide open for Microsoft to encourage more PC makers to make that leap. The company also clearly needs to work on Windows support for ARM devices, as its current OS holds back flagship hardware like the Surface Pro X. Now that Apple has successfully moved its computers to ARM-based M1 chips, the ball is in Microsoft's court to help PC makers do the same.