As early as October 2021, Android applications on Windows 11 finally took a step towards windows insiders. After months of testing, they are also available to operating systems in preview form, but only in the United States. Today, Microsoft announced that it will expand this plan to more countries.
Now there are [windows] in five more countries( https://microsoft.pvxt.net/x9Vg1 ) 11 users will be able to take advantage of Android applications. These countries include France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Microsoft hasn't set a specific timetable before the end of this year. However, if you are waiting for official support for Google play, you will have to wait longer, perhaps forever.
Microsoft highlighted the early success of its online store on build 2022. In the first quarter of 2022, the number of new desktop applications and games increased by 50% compared with the same period last year.
Microsoft also announced a new way to improve application discoverability in Windows 11. The first method is to use windows search to display the search results from the Microsoft Store and install the applications directly. Since more than 50% of people prefer the "start" menu, the company hopes this will become the main access to applications.
Microsoft is also testing the ability to restore applications on Windows devices for seamless conversion between PCs. These two features will soon be available to the windows insider community.
At the same time, developers can now take advantage of pop-up stores and application badges to make their applications more prominent on the website. In the coming months, they will also be able to carry out advertising campaigns in Microsoft stores through a new product called Microsoft Store ads. At present, interested people can sign up for a waiting list.
In addition, the waiting list for publishing Win32 applications to the windows store no longer exists. Any developer can now release their Win32 packages to the Microsoft Store and immediately start taking advantage of new features, such as automatic submission through CI / CD GitHub actions or rest APIs pipeline, testing the visibility of applications, viewing application telemetry, and directly responding to user comments.
Finally, developers of progressive Web Applications (PWA) can take advantage of the following functions:
PWA starter: this feature helps developers start their PWA development, helps improve performance, integrates with the host operating system, and provides guidance for a good user experience.
PWA studio. This is a new visual studio Code extension to help build, package and publish PWA to Microsoft Store without leaving visual studio code.
Meta quest support. PWA in Microsoft store already supports hololens Device, meta recently announced support for PWA on its VR device. Microsoft cooperated with meta to make pwabuilder the ultimate tool for packaging PWA for virtual and hybrid reality, enabling developers to load software packages laterally for meta quest and hololens.
Microsoft stressed that it will continue to make its online store a better place for consumers and developers in the future.