Microsoft has been rolling out several updates for the Windows Subsystem for Android on Windows 11. The WSA is now significantly faster on Windows 11 and it’s getting another big update in near future, according to the updated roadmap quietly made published by Microsoft on Github.
In a surprising move, Microsoft quietly published the first roadmap for WSA. According to the GitHub page, Microsoft is working on Android 13-based WSA for Windows 11. Android 13 is one of the largest updates to the mobile operating system and it was officially announced on August 15, 2022.
Android 13 comes with new theming options, icons and much more. We don’t know what’s new in Android 13 for Windows 11’s WSA integration, but it looks like it will ship with the file transfer feature. This feature will allow users to transfer files between the WSA container and Windows.
Another new feature would be ‘Shortcuts’ and ‘picture-in-picture mode. The picture-in-picture mode will allow you to run Android apps in a small container on top of the native Windows apps. This would be similar to Windows Media Player’s picture-in-picture mode or Groove Music’s mini music player.
Microsoft is also planning to enable local network access by default. It’s unclear when these features will arrive on Windows 11, but we’re expecting a big update in early 2023.
At the moment, WSA supports features like audio codecs, camera (front + back), ClearKey DRM or MPEG-DASH content, CTS/VTS, Direct Bluetooth access (and BLE), Ethernet, Freeform window management, Gamepad and more:
- Location + GPS
- Microphone
- Multi-monitor/secondary display
- Software DRM (Widevine L3 support)
- Touch/Multitouch
- Certain Video Decoders and Encoders
- WebView
- Wi-Fi
- Window orientation
The latest version of the Windows Subsystem for Android was released last month with a number of new features, such as advanced networking, better gaming performance, additional improvements to GamePad controls, better support for mouse and keyboard input, as well as better integration with OS features.
You can always update to the latest version of the Windows Subsystem for Android by visiting the Microsoft Store > Library > Check for updates.
At the time the WSA preview was launched, only users in the US could officially try the integration. Since then, WSA has expanded to more countries like Japan. Earlier this month, WSA’s Amazon Appstore expanded to several new countries, including 20+ new regions in Europe.
While WSA is now widely available in Europe, a global rollout covering Asian countries is not expected until early 2023.