Microsoft has included native Android app compatibility in Windows 11, which is now accessible to everyone who meets the minimum system requirements. In this post, I will show you 5 different approaches to run an Android app on Windows PC, whether your are running Windows 11 or Windows 10.
Amazon Appstore Windows 11
You’ll need to download the Amazon Appstore if you want to run mobile applications on your Windows 11 computer. The Amazon Appstore and its mobile applications are only available in the United States and Japan. You can change the region in Settings if not.
Once you set the region, you can download the Amazon Appstore from Microsoft Store. When it’s ready, you may install all Android apps in Amazon Appstore on your Windows 11 PC. You will need an Amazon account to download Android apps from Amazon Appstore.
After setup is complete, the Windows Subsystem for the AndroidTM Settings app and the Amazon Appstore will be available from the Start menu. Start up the Amazon Appstore and log in when you’re ready.
If Amazon Appstore is not showing or you get the error saying “Amazon Appstore won’t work on your device”, you should enable Virtual Machine and Hyper-V. In Turn Windows features on or off, check Hyper-V and Virtual Machine related. When complete, restart your PC and then you can install Amazon Appstore.
However, apps in Amazon Appstore are limited. If you want to directly install Android APKs on Windows 11, keep reading to learn how.
Install Any Android APK on Windows 11
Once you have Amazon Appstore installed on your computer, you can install wsa_pacman, a GUI package manager and package installer for Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA). When Amazon Appstore stops working, you can still double click on any APKs to install Android apps.
When installed, you can double-click any GUI installer for .apk and .xapk files on your Windows PC. The app additionally provides a button to open Android settings and one to open the “Manage Applications” Android settings page, from which you can uninstall or disable applications and grant or revoke permissions.
If the Install button is not responding, then you can open the Windows Subsystem for Android app and enable Developer Mode in Advanced settings.
In this way, you can double-click any Android APK files to install Android app on your Windows 11 PC.
Projecting to This PC
On Windows 10 or 11 PC, you can mirror your Android phone screen to your PC, so you can have all your Android app shown on your PC screen. This also works for iPhone or iPad as long as your device supports Miracast. You can refer to the steps below to mirror another screen or project to your PC.
Step 1. Click Start > Settings > System > Projecting to this PC .
Step 2. Under Add the “Wireless Display” optional feature to project to this PC, choose Optional features.
Step 3. Select Add a feature, then enter “wireless display.”
Step 4. Check the option Wireless Display from the list of results, then select Install.
Step 5. After “Wireless Display” is installed, turn the feature on by selecting “Available everywhere“ and adjust projecting preferences on the Projecting to this PC page in Settings.
Step 6. On the PC you’re projecting to, launch the Connect app by entering “Connect app” in the search box on the taskbar, and selecting Connect in the list of results.
Step 7. On your Android device you’re projecting from, go to the screen mirroring settings, and select your PC to connect to it. Now your Android screen will display on your Windows PC.
Run Your Favorite Apps With BlueStacks
Whether you are running Windows 10 or Windows 11, you can use an Android emulator for Windows to install android apps. Bluestacks is a popular Android mobile gaming platform that enables you to run Android apps on Windows PC.
While Bluestacks App Player’s core functionality is available for free, more sophisticated add-ons often come at a price. It boasts support for 1.5 million Android applications and over 1 billion app downloads.
You can download and install the Bluestacks app for free on your Windows PC. You may choose your preferred version of Bluestacks. The installation package comes with clear instructions for you to complete the installation and setup process.
Once set up, you can download and install any Android APK files to run Android apps within the Bluestacks simulated environment. Besides, you can log in to your Google/Gmail account so that you can install apps and games from Google Play Store.
Run Android Directly on Your PC With Android-x86
If you need as near as possible to a desktop version of Android, you can use the Android-x86 project. Android-x86 is an open-source program that transfers the Android operating system to the x86 platform, letting you use it on a regular computer rather than a mobile device powered by the ARM architecture.
There are a few different ways to put Android-x86 into action. You can download Android-x86 as an ISO disc image and install it on your USB drive or internal hard drive, like fresh install of Windows 10.
Alternatively, you may get the ISO and boot Android-x86 within VirtualBox or VMware virtual machine. However, this is a little more difficult if you haven’t used a virtual machine like VirtualBox before.
Conclusion
You can choose any of these methods to run Android apps on your Windows PC. The first 2 methods are only available for Windows 11 users. The third method works for Windows 10 and Windows 11. The rest is available on any Windows PC. What’s more, you can install Android-x86 on any PC without an operating system.