Microsoft makes huge change to its Windows 11 subsystem for Android

On Thursday, Microsoft updates its Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) on Windows 11 with a huge change to networking.

Windows Subsystem for Android allows Windows 11 devices to run Android applications that are available in the Amazon Appstore.

In May, Microsoft rolled out advanced networking for its subsystem for running Android apps on Windows 11 PCs.

The change helped Android Apps to connect to smart devices on the same local network as a Windows PC.

Advanced Networking was also made ‘on’ by default for newer x64 Windows builds for PCs with Intel and AMD chips.

The “huge change to networking” in the latest release of WSA includes Android app access to local network devices for ARM computers. Also, WSA now has support for IPv6 and VPN (virtual private network) connectivity, according to Microsoft’s Windows blog covering WSA’s July updates.

Another change that Microsoft observes is that WSA now has the same IP address as the host machine/computer rather than its own IP address. This change is shown in the developer section of the WSA Settings app by the removal of the WSA virtual machine’s IP address.

“WSA runs in a Hyper-V VM for compatibility with open-source Android and Windows device interfaces, such as mouse and keyboard. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) also runs in a VM. Users need to install WSA and the Amazon App Store from the Microsoft Store, and also enable virtualization in Windows 11 to run WSA and Android apps on it,” a source as per ZDNet.