The euphoria around Windows 11 is not dying and reveal that Android apps will work natively inside Windows 11 has raised many emotions and questions.
So, Microsoft has announced that Android apps will run natively inside Windows 11 OS and that they will reside alongside your other installed ones as icons, etc.
It is no secret that many users have been using emulation software to run Android apps inside Windows so far, so what is the difference?
It is still emulation
Whatever you would like to believe it is still emulation and Android apps are at the end of the day still Android apps running inside emulated environment.
This time we will not need third-party emulation software running inside Windows, we will have third-party emulation services running inside Windows.
Intel has teamed up with Microsoft in order to integrate Intel bridge algorithms in order to run Android apps, meaning that yea, pretty much we have emulation services running in order to run the application.
The problem with this kind of approach is that well emulation software is running and consuming system resources only when we start it, this kind of service is always running and always consuming resources and for someone who really does not care about Android apps at all, this is just a waste of resources.
Android store
The store is another issue here, instead of the Google play store we will have the Amazon app store integrated inside the new Microsoft store.
This means that any kind of for example game progress or login information from Google store cannot be transferred into Windows 11, add to that information that in the Amazon app store there are tons of missing applications like SLACK, TRELLO, BitWarden, etc and we might have a serious question here about the use of this feature.
Android apps that do not use Android services
If you even look past that it is still emulation and that it is available on the Amazon app store there is still concern about applications not using Google services for their running.
Many Android apps are relying on Google services like location or optimize their use of on-device resources, handle in-app purchases, etc. that cannot be found on this system.
Uber is a prime example that uses Google location service to determine your location and for its mapping data, with that application, is useless.
Other like Guardian will even pop up message that says Google play service is required in order to even work.
Android apps without Eero system
Amazon Eero system for enhanced internet access is not even yet available in its own app store which brings us to missing some key players like Bank of America, Chase mobile, Bueller, etc.
And across the board, the apps that are present in the Amazon Appstore are often as good as abandoned. Lots of titles are numerous versions behind their up-to-date Play Store counterparts, and plenty of programs you encounter in the Amazon environment clearly haven't been touched in years.
Conclusion
Many new Windows 11 features are quality features that I personally consider good but although this one seems innovative and good I simply cannot stand back it up.
Android apps were already inside Windows with emulation software which used google services and was working just fine, this was not needed in my opinion.