Microsoft Engineer Confirms You Can Sideload Android APKs On Windows 11 (androidauthority.com) 31
Famed software engineer Miguel de Icaza confirmed on Twitter that you will be able to sideload Android APKs in Windows 11. Android Authority reports: Yesterday, Microsoft surprised us all by announcing that Windows 11 will support native Android app installation. Using the Microsoft Store, you'll be able to search for, install, and use Android apps right on your PC. This is possible through an integration of the Amazon App Store. However, a big question loomed over the announcement: would you be able to sideload Android APKs on Windows 11? Sideloading apps would allow you to install Android programs from outside the Microsoft Store, which would give you a much larger potential library.
It seems the answer to that question is "yes," at least according to famed engineer Miguel de Icaza. Miguel is responsible for numerous software projects, including GNOME, and currently works at Microsoft. However, his Twitter bio explicitly says "Working at Microsoft, not speaking for them," so we need to take this news with some skepticism. Of course, it's not quite clear how sideloading Android APKs on Windows 11 will work. Will you be able to simply download an APK as you would an EXE, double-click it, and install it? Or will there be some sort of workaround protocol? We'll need to wait to see how this develops.
It seems the answer to that question is "yes," at least according to famed engineer Miguel de Icaza. Miguel is responsible for numerous software projects, including GNOME, and currently works at Microsoft. However, his Twitter bio explicitly says "Working at Microsoft, not speaking for them," so we need to take this news with some skepticism. Of course, it's not quite clear how sideloading Android APKs on Windows 11 will work. Will you be able to simply download an APK as you would an EXE, double-click it, and install it? Or will there be some sort of workaround protocol? We'll need to wait to see how this develops.
Wonder what else you can (Score:2)
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It seems pretty obvious that side-loading will involve file manipulation so most AV will see the activity. Of course, the file signature databases for things like Windows Defender will explode in size if this becomes a vector for compromise.
This also prompts one to ask: how isolated will Android apps be from the base OS and hardware? Will apps run in a VM, container or something else? There's still lots to learn about this "feature".
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Will apps run in a VM, container or something else?
Given android apps already work this way, I'd say probably.
In fact, as of Android 8, all of the user facing side of the operating system works over an abstraction layer so nothing truly talks directly to the metal. As of Android 9, you can run an AOSP image directly on to any unlocked OEM device, regardless of kernel version, custom drivers, etc. Permanently flashing it to the phone is also optional, i.e. you can just boot to an image file if you'd like. Android 12 will require OEMs to include Google's sign
Re: Wonder what else you can (Score:2)
I don't think the situation with Android 9+ is *quite* that rosy, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
As I understand it, Google created a kernel abstraction layer that things like binary drivers have to use, so the underlying kernel can change slightly without catastrophically breaking EVERYTHING that interacts with it directly.
Realistically, it means kernel modules might be good for 2-3 years' worth of updates, compared to 0 like they are now. But it's still a STAGGERINGLY HUGE improvement o
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Actually one of the requirements for devices to be certified for 9+ is they have to be able to boot into a pre-built GSI image made by Google and run the compatibility test suite, in addition to the vendor test suite on the OEM's own image. In 12+ it will be required that they can boot into a Google signed GSI image so that device owners will be able to test their apps for compatibility with future versions of Android, thus obviating the need for developers to always buy new devices every time a new version
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Apple-istas seem really triggered this week.
Microsoft have been toying with Android on Windows 10 since Lumia was still a thing. That effort never saw the light of day because of the relative immaturity of the Linux layer that became WSL.
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Apple makes a new CPU so iOS apps can run natively
Microsoft like *pikachu face* *Adds in Bluestack and calls it a feature*
Bluestacks actually emulates ARM and is far from native. What Microsoft is doing here is pretty much a native Android implementation. The only abstraction is WSL, which is super thin, and in some respects non existent. For all intents and purposes you get native performance out of it.
And all you have to do.. (Score:2)
Is sign the contract with microsoft to have your wishes granted!
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Given Android apps are a form of java that execute in a runtime, I don't think its sorcery at all, unless that's a both terrible and genius byte source-code pun..
Sideload Google Play Store? (Score:3)
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Yeah. It's increasingly hard to actually get at the actual APK file these days, short of using sketchy sites to download them. Without Google Play, a lot of apps simply aren't available, again, without resorting to sketchy sites.
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I'm not sure about Fire OS but it's fairly simple to overlay Gapps on top of LineageOS and wouldn't describe them as particularly sketchy.
https://wiki.lineageos.org/gap... [lineageos.org]
All you need is a compatible recovery and it runs a script to install in the system partition. Assuming Microsoft exposes that environment!
Legally, well, um... Google turns a blind eye when it's a custom ROM on a handset that originally ran Android - for a Windows chroot they might have other opinions.
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Yeah. It's increasingly hard to actually get at the actual APK file these days, short of using sketchy sites to download them
If it's hard to get at an APK then the program probably requires play services and won't work on a non-googly device.
Conversely, I find that for most stuff that doesn't require play services, there is some official way to download an APK, usually from github.
Haven't found financial apps as APK (Score:2)
Many major banks and credit unions in the United States offer an app in Google Play Store. I haven't seen banks or credit unions offering a downloadable APK on the bank's or credit union's website.
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I presume many or most of those require play services. I haven't tried to get my CU's app to run on LineageOS without it, I just use another phone.
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Perhaps a cross-licensing deal where Microsoft agree to allow Google to distribute a Windows environment within Chrome OS?
But if Microsoft and Amazon want to foster an Android ecosystem sans Google, they could sponsor the MicroG project. Without the 'signature spoofing', naturally, replacing the google-specific package names with something vendor neutral.
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And MicroG wouldn't help as it wouldn't give access to the huge selection of apps from the Play Store.
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IIRC, Google were rumoured to be interested in Windows a while ago, at least as a dual boot option on Intel Chromebooks.
MicroG providing Play store? Well no but providing a compatible implementation that at most a programmer has to change "com.google." to say "org.microg" in package imports may encourage app authors to upload to an alternative store. Rather than the current situation where they won't bother if it relies on a Google proprietary library that won't work otherwise.
Re: Sideload Google Play Store? (Score:2)
That or Microsoft chose Amazon because Amazon's Android implementation uses Microsoft's services in lieu of Google's. For example they use bing search, the maps API uses bing maps, etc.
Microsoft isn't trying to make money on selling windows, rather they want windows to drive sales of Microsoft's other products, i.e bing, Outlook, office 365, azure, Xbox, etc.
There already is an implementation of Google Play authorized by Google on windows, sand it's called BlueStacks. I doubt Google would decline an opportu
This can make things interesting for app devs... (Score:2)
For some apps, especially vertical market stuff (an app that calculated the bittings for a key, as well as master/grandmaster/etc. keys, for example), this definitely encourages people to write it for Android, then go from there. Since something calculating the cuts on a key doesn't need huge GPU performance, or even CPU performance, this might be as close to "write once, run anywhere" as we are going to get in this world for apps that are not tied to a website.
Many more years of updates for my APK runner (Score:2)
So if I buy a Windows 11 device to run Android APK apps, vs buying an Android device, does this mean I'll get many more years of updates for my APK running device?
I was thinking of switching over to an iPhone 13 this year, but maybe a Windows device running Android apps might be a better solution.
Oh, the irony (Score:2)
The irony when someone who was accused of being a Microsoft mole for a long time before assuming a public relationship with them, with this work relationship seen by many as a reward for his role in creating dissent in the open source/Linux community, is now referred in /. as "famed software engineer".
Of course, slashvertisements aren't new.
And thankfully so (Score:2)
As someone who has used various incarnations of Windows for decades, I can safely say that I will abandon the Windows ship the very moment my Windows stops letting me sideload applications.
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Then be worried that windows 11 won't run unless you have TPM 2.0 enabled. I'm surprised that the tech scene has largely ignored this fact, trusted computing is a danger to freedom and free speech. The silence is scary.
"Sideloading" (Score:2)
Why calling "sideloading" what is simply "installing a program" !?
Sideloading is a term invented by Apple to revile using anything else than their store on iOS.
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The term "sideloading" predates iOS. I seem to remember its use in reference to phones running Symbian, phones running Java ME, and phones running BREW.
To run what? (Score:2)
I’m thinking, but I cannot come up with a single Android app that I’d want to use on my desktop pc, with a 42” screen and a mouse, and without sensors like GPS.