- I can upload an Instagram Reel from Windows?
Oh, you bet I can.
And it's not the only thing I can do, either.
The preview for Amazon Appstore for Windows 11,
a.k.a. Windows Subsystem for Android, is finally upon us.
So we're going to show you how it works,
what it looks like, and some really cool ways Android makes
your Windows 11 experience better.
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(upbeat music)
How does this even work?
Android today runs primarily on ARM processors,
whereas Windows primarily runs on x86.
Android-x86 is sort of a thing, but only sort of.
With that in mind, it's unsurprising that,
on PCs, most apps are going to be running
in an ARM emulator that Microsoft says is provided
by Intel Bridge Technology.
Don't worry, though.
It'll still run on AMD systems.
And if you're one of the dozens
of people running Windows 11 on ARM hardware,
those apps will run natively, as well,
just like on an M1 Mac.
Most of us are stuck with the emulator for now,
so as for the performance impact of that,
Geekbench can give us a glimpse.
It's clear that the CPU is being held back
by overhead here, compared to the native performance,
but it's not bad, all things considered.
It's 50% higher than the
next-best Android device's single-core performance
and more than double that device's multi-core performance,
though, if you're rocking that min-spec 8th Gen Core i3,
you'll probably want to stick to lighter tasks.
Unlike the CPU, OpenGL, the API
that Android uses to accelerate 3D graphics,
doesn't need to be emulated, and you have the option
of dynamically picking a GPU for running Android apps.
As long as everything is relatively new,
there shouldn't be any trouble running most apps,
although 4x anti-aliasing is enabled by default,
so gaming performance may not be amazing
on older integrated graphics, unless you mess
with the Developer Mode.
It's worth mentioning that, even with a good GPU,
a min-spec CPU may still lag behind
if you're trying to play an ARM-based game.
The Android version
of RetroArch nets horrible performance results,
running Super Mario World
on Snes9x at less than half the speed of native,
and the increased latency
of the threaded video option is required
for frame rates over 30.
This isn't indicative of every Android game,
but it suggests that you might want to stick
with alternatives like BlueStacks or Nox
if you're looking to pwn some noobs running smartphones.
The rest of the subsystem environment sets
aside six gigs of RAM and has its own sandboxed storage.
You can't access the files inside Android directly
from within Windows or vice versa,
but there is a file browser within the virtual machine.
If you sideload an app that lets you transfer files,
I used ftp, then you can get around this limitation,
and if you sideload a launcher,
you'll see that there's more stock apps in here, too,
like a camera, Contacts,
and the standard Android Settings app,
where we can confirm we're actually running Android 11.
Now, this is pretty interesting,
because the other Android emulators you can download,
like BlueStacks and Nox, all run either Android 7 or 9.
I mean it is kinda fitting for Windows 11
to be running Android 11, so-- (chuckles)
But what was that about sideloading I just said?
Yeah, see, up here in America's hat,
we're not allowed to use the Amazon Appstore on Windows yet.
Fortunately there's a toggle right there,
in the Settings app for the Android Subsystem
to enable Developer Mode, where you can access adb,
or Android Debug Bridge.
Using the Android SDK, you can install apps,
uninstall apps, and debug apps,
and any apps you sideload will show up
in the Start Menu like usual,
unless you're installing Google frameworks or something
to try to get the Play store running.
I couldn't, but it's only a matter of time.
And it's time you got
a new Couchripper pillow from lttstore.com.
The extra support really helps
with those long sofa sessions, you know?
Because of the lack of support
for Google services, however,
remember, Microsoft is using the Amazon Appstore,
you're limited in the apps that you're able to install
and the features you're able to use.
While Chrome and YouTube, for example,
install and run, you can't sign in,
and the same'll be true of anything else
that uses the Google Account Manager,
where some simply won't run at all.
And beyond Google services, games that use
their own installers, like Fortnite,
straight-up refuse to install sometimes.
It turns out that there's a reason
why Microsoft has been so careful with how
and when they roll out Subsystem for Android.
With all these caveats, it's fair to ask, why bother?
But in my mind, there are three reasons:
Convenience, preference, and cost.
You have way more options
for two-factor authentication via Android than on Windows,
for example, and popping open an app
whenever you need to get 2FA
instead of unlocking your phone
to do the same thing is a pretty significant time savings.
There are also apps that only have mobile options,
like some restaurants have mobile ordering,
but not online ordering, and smart TVs will
often have apps to control them
that just aren't available on PC.
And then there are things that you could run on PC,
but you just might prefer the experience on Android,
especially when the alternative is simply a webpage.
ProtonMail comes to mind,
and then there's things like Instagram,
where the desktop experience is straight-up worse.
Like, it took until last year to be able to post,
and you still can't do Reels.
It boggles the mind.
It makes about as much sense as
how Antech used to be the big dog back in the day
and they just dropped the ball and disappeared.
Hit Subscribe, because we got a whole video diving
into what happened there.
As for cost, maybe you've already bought the app
on mobile and you don't want to buy it again on PC.
There's also a lotta free photo-editing apps
on mobile that just don't exist on desktop,
like Photoshop Express, VSCO, Snapseed.
All of these are powerful and free.
On a PC, you'll probably have to pay.
Your only free options are web apps like Pixlr
and native apps like GIMP, which each have
their own pros and cons.
Mobile photo editors are often dead-simple,
while getting good enough results,
and if you're already familiar with it on mobile,
you'll be familiar with it on Subsystem for Android.
For your trouble, you get dynamically resizable windows
that many apps actually already work with,
along with full native notifications,
including progress bars for downloads
in apps like F-Droid.
The keyboard and mouse are natively supported
and, well, obviously there's thousands
of apps out there to try out,
I'm honestly surprised at how seamless the integration is
for the apps that do work.
And if Microsoft has their way,
Android x86 apps might make a comeback
to offer better performance and compatibility
with the Android Subsystem.
While it's not as smooth today as iOS apps on macOS,
and you're limited to the Amazon Appstore,
unless you're into sideloading,
it's a far more coherent experience
than software like BlueStacks can provide,
and if Microsoft can give it the love it needs,
it may seriously help Windows 11 adoption,
in spite of the recently announced need
for a Microsoft account, even on the Pro version.
You might not know that you want it now,
but IMO, once you have it,
you'll wonder how you lived without.
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Thanks for watching, guys.
Go check out our recent video,
where we looked at ways to prove the rest
of the Windows 11 experience.
Lots of good apps and tweaks in there.