Developer preview provides Amazon Appstore developers with the opportunity to bring their apps to Windows 11 - where you can reach hundreds of millions of new potential customers.
Amazon Appstore for Windows 11 now in developer preview
Important: Amazon Appstore on Windows 11 will no longer be supported after March 5, 2025. Read the blog for more information.
Today we're happy to announce that Amazon Appstore on Windows has begun an expanded developer preview, growing our developers’ reach to hundreds of millions of new devices. Amazon Appstore on Windows now offers Windows users a catalog of more than 50,000 apps across nine marketplaces - US, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Australia, and Germany. Windows users in these marketplaces can download and enjoy titles like Khan Academy Kids, Disney Coloring World and Epic Seven and developers are now invited to add their apps to the growing catalog.
In June 2021, we announced the Amazon Appstore would become available to Windows 11 devices. By February 2022, the program entered public preview for users and a closed developer beta, giving US-based Windows 11 users access to an initial catalog of 1,000 Amazon Appstore apps. As we continued to add to the initial catalog, we worked with Microsoft and Amazon Appstore developers to enhance the stability, performance, and reliability of apps. We were also able to learn the importance of capabilities like native app support for input mapping and screen resizing for a new form factor.
Now we’ve worked with Microsoft to launch new Windows Subsystem for AndroidTM(WSA) features - available to developers today - such as GPU selection, software-based L3 Widevine DRM, and video hardware decoding, and we will continue to build out new features in the future. In developer preview, all Amazon Appstore developers can request publication of their apps to Windows 11 devices. New documentation, such as a Windows Compatibility Guide and Troubleshooting Index, is now available with guidance on how to test, troubleshoot, natively map input controls, and implement other best practices for apps on Windows 11.
Preparing your app
If you have an existing app or are new to the Amazon Appstore and would like your app to be available on Windows 11 devices, we recommend reviewing our pre-submission checklist and the WSA-specific considerations for Windows devices, including window management/resizing and keyboard and mouse enablement. For most developers we expect this work will take a few days. Once you have prepped and tested your app, reach out via Contact Us to request WSA submission access.
Window management and resizing
Unlike traditional mobile form factors, Android apps running on Windows 11 can be freely resized, responsive, and snapped using Windows actions or gestures. Refer to the technical documentation for enabling support for multiple windows.
Keyboard and mouse input
Keyboard & mouse navigation are essential for the optimal desktop device experience. On large-screen devices, users often interact with apps using a keyboard, mouse, or gamepad. Refer to the technical documentation for guidance on how to enable your app to accept input from external devices. We recommend you optimize your app for the most common mouse and touchpad scenarios such as right click, hover text & effects, scroll, and drag & drop. The key benefits of native mapping include — allowing you to leverage native input support across other Android devices, the ability to support advanced use cases like drag and zoom in/zoom out, and building configurations for various accessibility use cases — such as right/left-handed options and users who need special keyboards.
Unlike traditional mobile form factors, Android apps running on Windows 11 can be freely resized, responsive, and snapped using Windows actions or gestures. Refer to the technical documentation for enabling support for multiple windows.
Keyboard and mouse input
Keyboard & mouse navigation are essential for the optimal desktop device experience. On large-screen devices, users often interact with apps using a keyboard, mouse, or gamepad. Refer to the technical documentation for guidance on how to enable your app to accept input from external devices. We recommend you optimize your app for the most common mouse and touchpad scenarios such as right click, hover text & effects, scroll, and drag & drop. The key benefits of native mapping include — allowing you to leverage native input support across other Android devices, the ability to support advanced use cases like drag and zoom in/zoom out, and building configurations for various accessibility use cases — such as right/left-handed options and users who need special keyboards.
Testing and submitting your app
To test and debug your app on a Windows 11 device using the Windows Subsystem for Android, enable developer mode in your Windows settings and reference this video tutorial for guidance. To provide the best experience for Windows 11 users, please ensure you’ve reviewed all documentation and have thoroughly tested your app before contacting us to join developer preview. We will notify you via email once your app has been approved for the Windows 11 experience with instructions and additional reference material.
Checking your app status
If an app is already live in Windows 11, it should continue to work as-is while gaining the benefits of upcoming WSA releases. To review the status of your apps at developer preview, login to the Amazon Appstore Developer Console and select an app from the My Apps list. On the app detail page, you will find the Supported Devices menu. If you see a new “Windows Devices'” tab then your app is included in the developer preview. If you do not see the “Windows Devices” tab under Device Support, your app is not included in the developer preview at the moment. To be included in the future, ensure you have taken all the steps outlined in this post to allow your app to be published on Windows 11 then Contact Us to request to join developer preview.
What’s next
To discuss developer issues with the community and file bugs or feature requests, visit the Windows Subsystem for Android GitHub repository. To receive updates regarding future program updates, sign up for email notifications. We look forward to sharing more information soon.
FAQs
Microsoft has designed the Windows Subsystem for Android™ (WSA) that powers the Amazon Appstore and its catalog. WSA includes the Linux kernel and the Android OS based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). Windows Subsystem for Android™ runs in a Hyper-V Virtual Machine, similar to the Windows Subsystem for Linux, which understands how to map the runtime and APIs of Android apps in the AOSP environment to the Windows graphic layer, input modes and more.
If you encounter issues with WSA, the process to provide feedback is outlined here. All feedback helps Microsoft improve and shape your future experience. If you have issues specific to the Amazon Appstore developer portal, please Contact Us.
Find Windows 11 specs, features, and computer requirements here.
