One of the big surprises when Microsoft announced Windows 11 last month was support for Android apps alongside a new Microsoft Store. Those Android apps will be delivered through the Amazon Appstore or through side-loading. In terms of Amazon's store, users will also be able to have App Bundles, a feature Google is adding to Android this year.
Google says App Bundles deliver smaller download sizes and allow for more efficient updates. For example, users could possibly get on-demand feature downloads. However, because App Bundles are fragmented and only include parts of apps, they could affect APKs and side-loading.
Amazon has now said it will also use App Bundles in the Appstore and is currently working on integrating support for the feature. One of the problems the Appstore has had is limitations on getting apps that are exclusive to the Google Play Store.
For example, Google's own applications such as Maps. In fact, only around 20% of the apps on the Play Store are on the Amazon Appstore. Interestingly, even Microsoft's app-lite Microsoft Store has more applications than the Appstore. App Bundles could help to change that. As a result, Windows 11 users will also get the same benefit.
More Compatibility
Google says App Bundles are mandatory for the Play Store, which is problematic for side-loading. However, Amazon will not take the same route and will not make the feature mandatory. That means Windows 11 users can get the best of both worlds, having the App Bundles and also the ability to side-load APKs.
While the new Microsoft Store will also be on Windows 10, the soon-to-be-legacy platform will not get Android app support. Of course, you can use a third-party to get Android app running on your Windows 10 device.
Tip of the day: Did you know that your data and privacy might be at risk if you run Windows 10 without encryption? A bootable USB with a live-linux distribution is often just enough to gain access to all of your files.
If you want to change that, check out our detailed BitLocker guide where we show you how to turn on encryption for your system disk or any other drive you might be using in your computer.