eCommerce giant Amazon has recently allowed all developers general access to its Appstore on Windows 11, removing the restrictions that applied to certain developers to push Android apps to the market with minimal changes.
“In partnership with Microsoft, we utilized the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) to provide a first-class experience for running Android apps available in the Amazon Appstore. Popular Android apps and games – including Audible, TikTok, Lords Mobile, Hungry Shark Evolution, and Epic Seven – are now reaching new users on PCs without having to create a separate desktop version for Windows,” Amazon noted in a post on its developer page last week.
Amazon Appstore is available on Windows 11 devices in 31 countries across nine marketplaces worldwide, with users being able to install the Amazon Appstore client through the Microsoft Store to access Android apps from their PCs.
Amazon clarified that all developers can now submit an app to the store provided their devices meet minimum system requirements for WSA installation by following a tutorial included in its post.
Why Could This Become Important?
Nearly two months ago, Microsoft first announced that any developer with an Amazon Appstore Developer account would be eligible to submit their apps for distribution on Windows 11 devices.
The news came after Microsoft surprised the world in 2021 when it confirmed Windows 11 would support Android apps.
Combining this with last week’s announcement from Amazon, experts believe that the two U.S. tech giants just opened a path for tons of new Android apps on Windows.
However, whether this will actually lead to an expansion in the development of Android apps that work with Windows remains to be seen. Currently, there are only around 20,000 apps on the market right now compared to the 3.5 million available on Google Play Store.
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