Microsoft’s delaying one of the most highly anticipated features of its new Windows 11 software.
According to a new report from The Verge, the tech giant said it won’t offer Android mobile phone apps on its new app store for PCs when its next iteration of Windows launches on October 5 as a free upgrade for many users. Microsoft didn’t give a date for when Android apps will be made available either.
Instead, the company said it plans to offer the new feature, developed in partnership with Intel and Amazon, available in a “preview” test “over the coming months.”
“We look forward to continuing our journey to bring Android apps to Windows 11 and the Microsoft Store through our collaboration with Amazon and Intel; this will start with a preview for Windows Insiders over the coming months,” a Windows blog post reads.
Since Windows 11 has an official release date of October 5, Android apps for Windows 11 will probably have to wait a little more, perhaps until 2022. If this feature doesn’t make it to Windows 11 version 21H2, it remains to be seen whether it will be packaged with version 22H2 or released earlier. Microsoft is planning one feature update per year for Windows 11 as opposed to two that it did for Windows 10.
Microsoft officials are planning a phased rollout of Windows 11 between October 5 and mid-2022. Microsoft will make the operating system available to new devices first. The company plans to use “intelligence models that consider hardware eligibility, reliability, metrics, age of device and other factors” to roll it out to additional in-market PCs.
Microsoft plans to use Windows Update to notify Windows 10 users when their devices are eligible to move to Windows 11. Users also will be able to “seek” manually the upgrade for eligible devices by going to Settings > Windows Update > Check for Updates.
