What you need to know
- Microsoft recently announced the discontinuation of the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA).
- Support for WSA ends on March 5, 2025, but Amazon has already stopped Amazon Appstore downloads from the Microsoft Store.
- Andrew Clinick, who worked for Microsoft for almost 30 years, shared his thoughts on why WSA was closed.
Microsoft has announced that the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) will no longer be supported after March 2025. The sudden announcement marks the end of one of the easiest ways to run Android apps on Windows. But while WSA made it easy to install Android apps on a PC, it had limitations, such as the lack of support for Google Play services. Andrew Clinick, who has worked for Microsoft for over 29 years, recently shared some insight into why WSA failed.
In nearly three decades at Microsoft, Clinic spent more than two years as a program manager for the WSA Partner Group. He “led the product team that provides the ability to run Android apps on Windows,” as explained in his LinkedIn profile.
“This included product definition internally, but also with Amazon Store to provide a store experience that seamlessly integrates with Windows and to make android apps feel like native Windows apps. Grown user base by >1000% in first 3 months and helped Amazon 10,000 Android apps for Windows users,” Clinick noted.
Most recently, he worked at Microsoft as the Partner Group Program Manager for Windows AI Plugins and the Partner Group Program Manager focusing on the Windows Developer Program.
Honestly, when Google left, the nails were in the coffinMarch 5, 2024
Clinick shared in several X (formerly Twitter) posts that WSA is struggling to make money and that the lack of support for Google Play Services is hurting the platform.
Clinick went so far as to say that Google’s departure was the nail in the coffin for the WSA.
Microsoft and developers
The reason Microsoft dropped support for WSA should come as no surprise. “Proceeds from the store pay the wsa team’s bills and salaries,” Clinick explained. “WSL is moving to azure and has a profit center in contrast. WSA without a store is great, but it doesn’t help Windows financially,” Clinick said.
He echoed the sentiment that I and others have said, that the WSA is impressive but not financially viable. Given his work experience, I suspect that Clinick understands this fact better than anyone.
When an X user asked why Microsoft partnered with Amazon instead of having Android apps directly in the Microsoft Store, Clinick pointed out the difficulty of getting apps into the store. “It turned out to be very difficult to sustain a store and attract applications,” Clinick said.
READ MORE: The Amazon Appstore has already been removed from the Microsoft Store
He also highlighted how the lack of Google Play services has affected Android apps on Windows. “Then you consider that Google Play Services doesn’t exist. It’s hard to find an app with a large audience that doesn’t use Google Play Services,” Clinick said.
In a separate post, the former Microsoft employee discussed Google Play Services again, saying, “There is no Google Play Services. There’s no way around it in a non-hackastic way.”
This is a familiar story to those who have followed Microsoft and Windows news over the years. Microsoft has released several platforms and devices over the years only to have a lack of developer support and monetization block long-term viability.