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Lack of Google Play support killed WSA on Windows 11, according to Microsoft employee

WSA wasn’t profitable and it’s the main reason for its retirement

2 min. read

Published onMarch 7, 2024

published onMarch 7, 2024

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One of the selling points of Windows 11 was much-anticipated support for Android apps. In a shocking turn of events,Microsoft decided to retire Windows Subsystem for Androidnext year.

Many users were shocked by this decision, since the company didn’t give an official reason for this decision, until today.

Microsoft veteran speaks out on the abrupt Windows Subsystem for Android retirement

Asreported by Windows Central, Microsoft’s Andrew Clinick, who worked as Partner Group Program Manager of WSA for two years, decided to shed some light on this sudden decision.

Store revenue pays the bills and salaries of the wsa team. WSL acrues to azure and vs so has a profit center. WSA without a store is awesome but doesn’t help windows financially

According to him, WSA failed to generate profit, and the lack of Google Play support was the nail of the coffin for this feature.

Many, including us, doubted the success of this feature because Amazon Appstore offers a fraction of the apps that are available on the Google Play store.

Andrew was asked why didn’t Microsoft just host the apps themselves, but it was impossible to find apps to host that don’t rely on Play services.

Turns out standing up a store and attracting apps is mighty difficult. Then you factor in that Google play services isn’t there. Difficult to find an app with a large audience that doesn’t use Google play services

Amazon has already stopped downloads of its Appstore from Microsoft Store, preventing any future app downloads.

It’s sad to see that this feature got shelved, and we hope that someday we might see Android apps on Windows again.

Milan Stanojevic

Windows Toubleshooting Expert

Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.

Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.

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Milan Stanojevic

Windows Toubleshooting Expert

Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount#

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier#

Lack of Google Play support killed WSA on Windows 11, according to Microsoft employee#

Microsoft veteran speaks out on the abrupt Windows Subsystem for Android retirement#