Windows Subsystem for Android is going away, but it’s still a part of the operating system, and you can use it without the Amazon AppStore. But in a surprising move ahead of the official retirement, Microsoft released an update for the app, just like we saw last year in the Release Preview version.
In a statement to Windows Latest, Microsoft clarified that WSA is set to bite the dust (reach deprecated status) on March 5, 2025. Plans haven’t changed. It’s still being updated because WSA is officially supported until March 5, 2025.
WSA was updated a few weeks ago, and Windows Latest noticed it today. This new update bumps the version to 2407.40000.4.0, but don’t expect surprises yet.
It doesn’t add any new features to the app and could be more of a security patch that rolls out periodically. WSA’s interface and features remain the same, so it’s not a feature drop and more of fulfilling commitments until the retirement date. It’s nice to see Microsoft still offering security updates to WSA.
Microsoft Store dropped Amazon AppStore and Windows Subsystem for Android apps from its list a long time ago. Even web searches for WSA point to the official Microsoft page that doesn’t share too many details. It only shows the retirement date at the top with a small introduction about the feature.
WSA wasn’t ready due to a messy rollout, but it also never turned eyeballs as Microsoft hoped, and it went into a downward spiral after that.
WSA was one of the flagship features and highlights at the Windows 11 launch event, but three years later, the company decided to discontinue it.
Third-party emulation apps have been around for more than a decade, some even supporting Google Play Services, which is required for many Android apps.
Unfortunately, Microsoft could never bring that experience to users. BlueStacks offers Google Play support, so you can sign in to apps and games. But for WSA, it needed the Amazon Appstore, which was another hurdle. You needed a US Amazon account to work, and the app list was so small that you could memorize it in a few minutes.
Sources blame the lack of Microsoft Store revenue as the reason for WSA’s deprecation, while some former employees claim that WSA had no future when Google refused to support it with Play Store.
No dearth of emulation apps
As we said above, there’s no shortage of emulation apps for Windows 11. Even if WSA isn’t there, you can use Google Play Games to play over 300 games on your PC.
Apart from that, every popular app and game already has a desktop client and Microsoft Store version, so there are very few ones that are actually missing out.
Emulation is already a niche category and then restricting it to Amazon Appstore was an idea destined for doom. Say goodbyes because there’ll be no more WSA from March 5, 2025.
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