You can sideload Android APKs on Windows 11
TL; DR
- Famed software engineer Miguel de Icaza confirmed on Twitter that you can sideload Android APKs in Windows 11.
- Microsoft announced yesterday that Windows 11 will support Android apps through the Microsoft Store through the Amazon App Store. But it seems you can install your own APKs from anywhere.
- It is not yet clear exactly how this will all work, but this is certainly exciting news.
Yesterday Microsoft surprised us all with the announcement that Windows 11 will support native Android app installation. With the Microsoft Store, you can search for, install and use Android apps right on your PC. This is possible by integrating the Amazon App Store.
It seems that the answer to this question is yes, at least according to the famous engineer Miguel de Icaza. Miguel is responsible for numerous software projects, including GNOME, and currently works at Microsoft. However, his Twitter bio explicitly states, “Work for Microsoft, don’t speak for them,” so we have to take this message with some skepticism.
Still, Miguel’s pedigree is very high in the software field, so it is likely that he is right about this news.
Of course, it’s not entirely clear how sideloading Android APKs works on Windows 11. Will you be able to simply download an APK like an EXE, double-click it and install it? Or will there be some kind of workaround protocol? We’ll have to wait and see how that turns out.
In the meantime, however, you can look forward to Windows 11 landing even more this fall!
