Did Microsoft just pull a Google on a Google product? Mind blowing.
this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2024
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Must've gotten infected when eating the Android sweets.
If they hadn't locked into amazon appstore, I feel like they could have made it work.
Either cough up money for Playstore or better yet just make windows store compatible with android and easier to use.
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Man what in the world are they doing.
Windows Subsystem for Android hasn't been as nearly as popular as Windows Subsystem for Linux itself and its scope was limited given the focus on the Amazon Appstore for obtaining Android apps.
Sounds like no one was using it.
To the surprise of no one when it was limited by needing to use the Amazon App store
You could side load apps at least.
But I don’t think the type of person who wants to use this feature also would want the Amazon app store installed on their device.
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Microsoft is working hard at sucking, from what I've seen the past few years.
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That was quick
lol I didn't realise it had been released
It really hadn't rolled out across the globe yet, so no, it wasn't even really released before getting pulled.
Lmao just another thing Linux does better anyway.
What's the easiest way to run Android apps on Linux?
Waydroid
Waydroid
Think there's also an official emulator from android studios but I could be wrong
Yes. Built into Android Studio. Has existed for at least five years. However I only ever used it with the apps I was developing and never even considered using it as a means to launch outside apps. That probably would have been painful.
So could theoretically install waydroid in WSL?
someone did that before microsoft had even released WSA but I don't see anything about people doing it recently. probably someone is working on it right now though, given this news.
I knew WSL was a thing but had absolutely no idea about WSA.
Damn, this was going to be my workaround for using authy now they're discontinuing the desktop app inexplicably.
Host a vaultwarden for free somewhere
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Was it ever actually supported? I was waiting for it to be ready to switch to Windows 11 since android emulators are all extremely heavy, I just remember it being on a preview version.
It worked well. But only with Amazon AppStore apps, so nothing useful
This is what gets me. If they actually just let people install Android apps. It might have worked.
There was also nothing stopping you from sideloading apps. I used it with Auroa Store.
What about waydroid? is it heavy as well? I think vanilla OS Beta even have fdroid built-in to install android app.
In my experience, Waydroid kinda sucked. It used more resources than an Android Emulator on Windows did with less performance in games. Of course, they're different technologies (containerized vs VM) but the experience was vastly different. It lacks so many QoL features. You can't dynamically change resolution. Can't bind keys by default (need to install something for it) etc Wayland requirement was also a trouble for me (It didn't work quite well and I kept running into issues) Intel > AMD > Nvidia for Waydroid
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Nice, I actually used this to make a nice time of reading manga and comics on my surface with tachiyomi. Now I have to find a different workflow.
Btw, Tachiyomi isn't being developed anymore after the cease and desist they got. The fork that replaced it is Mihon.
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Both expected and unexpected. WSA was a major feature announcement when it was originally released, and M$ isn’t normally like Google when it comes to dropping projects.
Windows Phone, Windows Mobile, Family Room, Zune, Expression. When products don't create enough revenue they get axed.
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I hate this. I like wsa and it was one of the main reasons I went to w11. Well.. whatever, we can't have nice things I guess
I almost panicked and thought it was WSL until I got to the Android part. Never knew it was a thing. Still sucks for developers who depended on it.
That was fast
Dang, I'm really disappointed by this. It's the reason I decided to go with a Surface Pro X over a Galaxy Tab when I was looking to buy a tablet.
Without the only app store that matters, this was dead on day 1 for me.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Microsoft announced today they will be winding down their support for Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), which is similar to Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) but was designed to run Android apps from the Amazon Appstore atop Windows 11.
Windows Subsystem for Android hasn't been as nearly as popular as Windows Subsystem for Linux itself and its scope was limited given the focus on the Amazon Appstore for obtaining Android apps.
Microsoft announced this morning on the WSA page: "Microsoft is ending support for the Windows Subsystem for Android™️ (WSA).
As a result, the Amazon Appstore on Windows and all applications and games dependent on WSA will no longer be supported beginning March 5, 2025.
Customers that have installed the Amazon Appstore or Android apps prior to March 5, 2024, will continue to have access to those apps through the deprecation date of March 5, 2025."
This change is only in reference to Windows Subsystem for Android with no apparent changes around Windows Subsystem for Linux that continues to be quite popular for enjoying Linux desktop and CLI apps within the confines of Windows 11, especially among developers and those forced to use Microsoft Windows due to corporate/employer requirements.
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