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00:00Look at this. I am running
00:02Snapseed I've got Asphalt 9. I've got Instagram running here all Android 11 apps running
00:08Side by side on my Windows 11 PC. I think even Doctor Strange will be in awe of my sorcery and it is completely free
00:15So how have I done this and is it actually worth doing?
00:20Running Android apps on Windows 11 is actually really convenient
00:24I mean Instagram banking shopping and especially for quicker access to apps
00:28You're already logged in with and also for apps maybe where there isn't a PC version or where the Android one is free
00:34And then there's games
00:35well
00:35sort of
00:36The thing is we've had iOS apps available on Mac and the Mac App Store for a little while now and also Android has been
00:43Available on some Chromebooks and also ARM based Windows computers
00:47but not a traditional x86 Windows PC or at least not really until now and
00:54Weirdly it comes in the form of the new Amazon App Store app within the Windows Store
00:59Although frustratingly right now it is US only while in release preview
01:04So these are actually native Android apps running via emulation and this is by far the easiest and the simplest way of getting access to
01:11Android apps, however being the Amazon App Store
01:14It doesn't have anywhere near the range of apps that you get on Google's Play Store
01:17Nor even Google's own native apps and also of course your Play Store purchases don't carry over
01:23so this official approach of having the Amazon App Store within the
01:27Microsoft Store on your Windows 11 PC or laptop is a bit limited
01:31But currently it is by far the easiest way of doing it and not having to worry about
01:35sideloading apps or maybe even
01:37Casting from your phone or something but only a handful of phones and laptops actually work together nicely in that way
01:42And with this you can get even deeper into the technical stuff if you want because the Amazon App Store app also installs the catchily
01:49Named Windows subsystem for Android or WSA which is Windows's official ARM
01:55Software emulator and this gives you some fine control over settings like the GPU system resources and various developer options
02:03Think of it as the base control program for Amazon or any other app store apps or games to sit on top of
02:09This is also in a preview build form
02:12So while it works performance could do with a little bit of work and the app and game selection is also pretty limited right now
02:18however
02:19there are some barriers to jump over because currently as I say this is US only and while I managed to download the WSA and
02:25The Amazon App Store and install it even with my VPN Surfshark, of course, it still wouldn't work here in the UK
02:31So if you're in the US, this is definitely the quickest and easiest way to try out Android on Windows now
02:37Crucially, you can actually download this the WSA program separately from that Amazon App Store
02:44But this is kind of the secret sauce within Windows 11 that actually changes everything when it comes to accessing Android apps
02:51Now there are other Android emulators out there like Knox and BlueStacks
02:55But these tend to use much older versions of Android whereas WSA gets the almost up-to-date Android 11
03:01So in the end I settled on Magisk on WSA, which I found on github
03:06Installation is a bit more complicated
03:08But this gets you the WSA and crucially the official Google Play Store rather than Amazon's and so the big benefit of jumping through these
03:16extra few hoops is that you get this Google Play Services Google
03:20Apps and of course your purchases and your save game data if you will all carry over from your Google account
03:27Although in case you don't fancy all that Google tracking nonsense
03:31Then something like the Aurora store gets you open source access to the Play Store
03:35But without the Google App Store services in either case, you'll need to enable developer mode in the WSA
03:41Download the Android SDK platform tools and then use the command prompt or Android studio app to sideload apps and games
03:48This is definitely an in-depth process and could really be a whole video by itself
03:52But I have linked to some of my favorite guides in the description below for how to do this
03:56But then when you have cracked the art of sideloading you can install a launcher
04:00I'm using Nova launcher
04:02Which is pretty popular and people still use a lot on their phones and that way you get access to some more basic apps like
04:07A clock and calculator and weather apps and also the regular Android settings app
04:10Which gives you a few more controls you can play with
04:13So all that is a lot. It does take a bit of work, especially if you're not in the US
04:18But we have access to the Google Play Store and the Google Play Services and things like Instagram where I can post stories and reels
04:24Which you can't do through the Windows native app or even on your web browser on your laptop or your computer
04:30So is it worth it going to all this fuss?
04:32Well, here I am up and running in the Play Store and Aurora store and straight away. I jumped into Instagram YouTube Spotify
04:40Amazon shopping my bank and I actually really liked having these down the side of my desktop already logged in and ready to use
04:46It's a genuine time saver and it feels a bit like next-gen widgets. For example, I've got the
04:52Microsoft Store Instagram app on the left here and then this Google
04:57Android version on the right and while this is actually a bit more responsive and similar to the sort of web browser experience and you
05:03Can now post images and videos you can't do stories can't do reels
05:08But you can with this as you can see, it's not flawlessly smooth
05:12Despite having a very powerful PC here and I have had a couple of issues with actually posting content
05:17Sometimes it is a bit buggy
05:18Although I would also recommend using the beta version of Instagram to get access to all the latest features
05:23But the thing is when you come to actually posting content and you go into your files
05:28There aren't any because this uses its own little partition of storage 256 gigs
05:34Separate from what's obviously on your computer and also it's not running from your phone
05:38So actually transferring files between your PC and this emulated Android device
05:44Which I think is actually emulating a pixel 5 for whatever reason is an extra step and you can either use like an FTP
05:50Transfer tool thing or I found even easier just download your favorite cloud storage apps like Google Drive or
05:56Dropbox and then you can download your content internally and then post it bit of a fuss, but it works
06:03But that's just one example. There are other benefits
06:06for example
06:06If you already own an app on Android
06:08You don't need to rebuy it on your PC because you've logged into your Google account and also the number of free
06:13Productivity and photo editing apps like Snapseed or Lightroom photo editor plus the actual integration with Windows works really well
06:21Keyboard and mouse support works well, and you get actual desktop shortcuts to your Android apps and also full desktop push notifications
06:28Just like a regular Windows one. It's also useful that each app is dynamically resizable
06:33But also there's lots more two-factor authentication apps to choose from on the Android store
06:37And I really like being able to verify my Google security prompts without having to reach for my phone
06:42So it is a pretty solid integration into Windows and it feels like we're just at that sort of point where soon
06:49This is all gonna work beautifully
06:51Well, you don't have to jump through any of these hoops, but it is a bit of a faff currently and there are other limitations
06:56Performance wise the WSA program allocates just over six gigs of RAM or at least it did on my machine
07:02But things can feel a bit sluggish and stuttery even with only a couple of apps open
07:07I mean, I'm running a top-spec 12th Gen i9 with a 3080
07:10This should be able to play Asphalt 9 flawlessly, but as you can see the emulation, it's a bit stuttery and not great
07:17I also ran Geekbench to get a rough idea of the CPU performance
07:21Overhead that the emulation has and actually it's not that bad in single-core, but in multi-core
07:26It's actually a third lower which is pretty big
07:29But it's still a halfway reasonable score and doesn't really account for the performance issues
07:33But less demanding games have got Alto's Odyssey here or you know, just simpler games
07:37They do run well and it works and again, actually, I'm using my mouse and keyboard here
07:42It still feels like you're playing something on miniclip
07:45From like, you know 15 years ago on the web browser
07:47Well, I have to click the left mouse button to jump on screen
07:50It took me back to was it trials and those kind of games used to play in school
07:54Side note though if you are running a Windows on ARM laptop or an ARM based Chromebook
08:00Then Android apps will run natively and not have to be emulated so you'll get much better performance
08:06But there is still a big problem
08:07Well, there's lots of big problems
08:09But it's still not the full range of apps that you'd get on your Android phone or tablet now in fairness
08:14This is an in beta experience right now
08:16But we just don't know if apps are missing because they need to be greenlit for compatibility or they'll just be missing for good
08:22More apps are being added all the time. Plus in the meantime, you can download and sideload other apps
08:27But again, really that's only for enthusiasts
08:30However, if you really want to play Android games on Windows then something like Nox player or BlueStacks emulators
08:36Get you closer to that stock smartphone experience with much better frame rates
08:41So let's wrap up and well
08:43Thank you
08:44first of all for sticking with me this long as it's quite a technical video and you may also be thinking what was the point
08:48Of all that it sounds like a real pain in the ass and it is
08:52Well, no it is but it works and there are some definite advantages the productivity the banking the security apps having access to those
08:59Only desktop with a pretty seamless integration into Windows 11 is a cool experience
09:04But I think what I'm most excited for is what's gonna come soon
09:07All this currently is in preview or in beta or us-only
09:11Eventually, we'll just be able to go into the Microsoft Store and whether it's a native Windows app on x86 or an emulated Android app
09:17You might not even know it'll just download give you a desktop shortcut and you can use it and it should be hopefully that
09:24Seamless but it's all about options and flexibility and you can of course just ignore all this and not bother and just pick up your
09:30Phone if you want, which is a lot easier, but it's up to you. So hopefully you enjoyed this
09:34I will update the description below as things change or you know improve also check out my good friend Linus's video
09:40He did something very similar on this and also if you have any suggestions or workarounds or tips
09:44Share them in the comments below so everyone else can enjoy them as well
09:47Thank you so much for watching guys hit that subscribe button below if you enjoyed the video and want to see more of me
09:52And I'll catch you next time right here on the tech chat
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