Usually, when Microsoft discontinues a major Windows feature, it’s cause for consternation. Remember the brief moment when Paint 3D was supposed to replace Windows Paint? However, we just learned that Microsoft is dropping the Windows Subsystem for Android, Windows 11’s optional Android emulator, and no one will miss it.
Without much fanfare, the company updated the Windows for Android subsystem documentation page on its website to include a message stating that WSA will no longer be supported as of March 5, 2025. The Amazon App Store app, which is required to use and install WSA, should disappear from the Microsoft Store on March 6, 2024. However, according to Amazon, users will still be able to download it from a dedicated link. And anyone who has WSA installed may be able to continue using it even after support ends.
When Microsoft first announced Windows 11 2021, I was excited to hear that it would run Android apps. Android emulation didn’t arrive at launch — it was rolled out very gradually to Windows Insiders and then eventually to production — but it was a major selling point for the new OS. I envisioned running Android games and mobile-only software alongside my favorite Windows programs.
However, the reality of the WSA was far different from the promises. Instead of running any Android app, it’s designed to only run a limited selection of apps available in Amazon’s app store. There are ways to sideload apps, but they are not officially supported and you can expect problems if you want to use something that requires Google Play Services. I’d really like to run the official Gmail app in a window, but that would only work — maybe — with a hack.
Perhaps even worse than the selection of apps is the slow performance. Running WSA on my laptop was an exercise in frustration. It would take seemingly forever to open and launch the app. Even when it wasn’t actively running, I would occasionally get error messages that it had crashed. I eventually uninstalled it and gave up.
Even if you can install any app from the Google Play store and it works perfectly, WSA just isn’t that useful in 2024. Four or five years ago, you needed a phone if you wanted a TikTok or Facebook app. Today, you can get any productivity or entertainment app you might want from the Microsoft Store, where it’s coded for Windows, or you can find an alternative on the web.
Most Android apps are designed for touch, and while they work with keyboards and mice, the experience isn’t optimal. I installed my favorite Android game, Bubble Shooter Viking Popin WSA, and was sluggish and awkward to use on the desktop.
Some people have 2-in-1 laptops with touchscreens, so WSA might be a little better for them. Even so, apps are typically built to run in portrait mode on a small screen rather than full screen on a 13-, 14-, or 15-inch landscape display. In 2021, when Windows 11 launched, there might still have been hope for standalone Windows tablets to take off. However, aside from the Surface (which is more of a full-service laptop than a regular tablet), that dream is dead and buried.
If your reason for emulating Android is to play games, think again. The selection and quality of Android games pales in comparison to what you can get on Windows. Also, Amazon’s Android app store omits popular games, and many games depend on Google Play services.
The good news is that there is an alternative to running WS for almost any reasonable use case. If you want to send/receive SMS messages from your computer, you can use Phone Link, which connects to your phone via Bluetooth.
If you have a Samsung Android phone, you can use Samsung Flow to remotely control your phone, displaying its screen (and all its apps) on your desktop. If you don’t have a Samsung phone, third-party apps like AirDroid do the same.
What if you are a developer who wants to program Android apps and need to test them on your P? That’s not a problem because Google’s own Android Studio lets you do that.
So while WSA seemed like a good idea a few years ago, it’s just not needed today. Clippy and Microsoft Bob make me cry even more.
Note: As with all of our op-eds, the opinions expressed here are those of the writer alone and not of Tom’s Hardware as a team.