Amazon Appstore has high requirements for running Android apps on Windows 11

The Amazon Appstore application is the official storefront to install Android applications on Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system using the Windows Subsystem for Android as the foundation.

Microsoft released a preview of the Windows Subsystem for Android and the Amazon Appstore application back in late 2021 and has recently integrated the functionality in Windows 11. Microsoft restricted the preview to customers from the United States, and the recently integrated version has the same restriction. In other words: if you are not from the U.S., you can't install the Amazon Appstore application from the Microsoft Store. It is unclear why Microsoft is keeping the limitation at this point.

The geographical restriction will be lifted at one point, but Windows users who are interested in running Android apps and games on their devices face another hurdle: the system requirements.

The minimum system requirements for running the Amazon Appstore on Windows are 8 Gigabytes of RAM, an Intel Core i3 8th generation or better, an AMD Ryzen 3000 or better, or a Snapdragon 8c or better. The recommended requirements double the RAM to 16 Gigabytes.

Windows 11 itself requires 4 Gigabytes of RAM or higher and some of the supported processors do not meet the minimum processor requirements either.

Microsoft does not seem to restrict the installation or the opening of the Amazon Appstore on devices that don't meet these system requirements currently. It is possible that these won't be enforced but resemble PC game requirements that are not enforced either usually. If Microsoft enforces the requirements, some devices that run Windows 11 officially won't be able to use the Amazon Appstore on the device.

Users with incompatible devices can still install and run Android applications using other means, e.g., by using programs such as WSATools or WSA PacMan. These third-party programs will install Android apps and games, provided as APK files, on the Windows device. The Windows Subsystem for Android is still necessary, but the Amazon Appstore application is not.

The Windows Subsystem for Linux is quite popular and it is up for debate whether the Windows Subsystem for Android will be equally popular. Android has a larger userbase and some users might like the idea of playing their games or apps on Windows devices. The main downside is that Microsoft restricts it to the Amazon AppStore currently, which is not as attractive as Google Play in terms of what is available.

Google did announce that it would bring some Android apps and games to Windows as well, but the entire Google Play library won't come to Windows at this time, or ever.

Now You: are you looking forward to running Android apps and games on Windows? (via Deskmodder)

Amazon Appstore has high requirements for running Android apps on Windows 11