The Easy Way to Get The Google Play Store Working on Windows 11 [Android 13]

Update (10/01/24): Android 13 Windows Subsystem for Android™️ Images (2311.40000.5.0) with Google Play Services is now available for you.

By enabling the Windows Subsystem for Android in Windows 11, you are allowing your Windows device to run Android apps. Android applications are downloaded from the Amazon Appstore on your Android device.

Recently, Microsoft has added the ability to set up a VPN on Windows Subsystem for Android.

Microsoft released the Windows Subsystem for Android to Windows Insiders on the Beta build of Windows 11 earlier this week, it didn't take long for developers to tinker with the build of Android.

John Wu, the creator of Magisk successfully achieved root on the Windows Subsystem for Android.

Until today, it was impossible to launch the Google Play Store and sign in to your Google account successfully or use apps that depended on Google Play Services.

A clever student by the name of ADeltaX from Italy managed to successfully install the Google Play Store and sign in to his Google account, this means that he's able to use any apps that need Google Play Services.

It's now possible to use Google's Android apps such as Google Keep or Google Home on Windows 11.

The easy way to get the Google Play Store on Windows 11

This method is a shortcut of ADeltaX's instructions, if you prefer you can follow the full instructions from the Github repo.

• Make sure virtualization is enabled first, go to Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows features on or off. Make sure the boxes next to ‘Virtual Machine Platform’ are ticked, then click ‘OK’ to confirm.

• Uninstall Windows Subsystem for Android if it's already installed.

• Enable Developer options in Windows 11.

Download the already-patched MSIX package from below:

Updated Windows Subsystem for Android 13 (2301.40000.7.0)

Microsoft bumped the new version of Windows Subsystem for Android up to 2301.40000.7.0 this includes a major update to the Android version which includes many new features.

• Picture-in-picture mode supported! For apps that use the Android PIP feature, the subsystem now supports this behaviour. With the flexibility of having apps in windowed mode and all of the great Windows resize and snap features, this makes multitasking within Android apps even easier

• A new "Partially running" system setting was added to the WSA Settings app, which runs the subsystem with minimal resources but apps launch quicker than the "As needed" mode

2204.40000.20.0

• Windows Subsystem for Android updated to Android 12.1

• Advanced networking on by default for newer x64 Windows builds

• Updated Windows Subsystem for Android Settings app: redesigned UX and diagnostics data viewer added

• Simpleperf CPU profiler recording now works with Windows Subsystem for Android

• Windows taskbar now shows which Android apps are using a microphone and location

• Improvements to Android app notifications appearing as Windows notifications

• Reduced flicker when apps are restored from minimized state

• Apps are not restarted when devices come out of connected standby on recent Windows builds

• New video hardware decoding (VP8 and VP9)

• Fixes for on-screen keyboard in apps

• Fixes for full-screen Android apps and auto-hidden Windows taskbar

• Windows Subsystem for Android updated with Chromium WebView 100

• Added support for Android NetworkLocationProvider in addition to GpsLocationProvider

• Improved general stability, performance, and reliability

2206.40000.15.0

• The new suite of shims is available to toggle in the Windows Subsystem for Android Settings app which enables better experiences in several apps

  • Compatibility for games with joysticks (mapped to WASD)

  • Compatibility for gamepad in games

  • Compatibility for aiming in games with arrow keys

  • Compatibility for sliding in games with arrow keys

• Scrolling improvements

• Networking improvements

• Android minimum window size defaulted to 220dp

• Improved dialogue when an unsupported VPN is detected

• New toggle to view/save diagnostic data in the Windows Subsystem for Android Settings app

• Security updates

• General reliability fixes, including improvements to diagnostic sizes

• Graphics improvements

2207.40000.8.0

• New compatibility shim to allow apps to maintain aspect ratio but still support resize

• Accessibility improvements to the Windows Subsystem for Android Settings app

• New compatibility shims in the Windows Subsystem for Android Settings app

• Fixed problems with restarting apps

• Apps that update toast notifications instead of using progress toasts have better behaviour

• The game controls user education dialogue for apps with compatibility shims enabled

• Improvements in handling VPN

• Scrollbar fix for Windows Subsystem for Android Settings compatibility page

• User crash data and system app crash data is now being reported

• The “No Internet available” toast notification is now suppressed

• Custom Android toasts now render correctly

• Amazon Appstore 60.09 update

• Android security update

• Improved reliability

2208.40000.5.0

• Reliability fixes for App Not Responding (ANR) errors

• Improvements to input compatibility shims

• Improvements to scrolling (smoothness) in apps

• Usability Improvements to the Windows Subsystem for Android Settings app

• Startup performance improvements

• Fixed crashes when copying and pasting considerable content

• UX improvements for the game controls the dialogue

• Improvements to networking

• General graphics improvements

• Improvements for the gamepad when using multiple apps

• Improved performance of uninstalling apps

• Fixed video playback issue for apps

• Updated to Chromium WebView 104

• Linux kernel security updates

2209.40000.26.0

• Improvements to the Camera HAL

• Improvements to clipboard stability

• Improvements to multi-threaded (>8 core) performance

• Improved security for graphic streaming

• Reliability improvements for package launches

• Security updates for ANGLE and GSK

• Annotated telemetry with package installation sources

• The window with legal information has been fixed

• Security updates to the Linux kernel

• Enhancements to platform stability

• Updated to Chromium WebView 105

2210.40000.7.0

• Enhancement of audio recording quality

• Enhancement of OAuth scenarios

• Support for MPEG2 decoding

• Improvements to the camera experience when the device is not equipped with a camera

• Improvements in input reliability

• Chromium update to 106

2211.40000.11.0

• Windows Subsystem for Android updated to Android 13

• Improvements in boot performance

• Improvements to mouse click input

• Improvements in clipboard stability

• Improvements to application resizing

• Reliability improvements to media files opening in Windows

• Jumplist entries for applications supporting app shortcuts

2301.40000.7.0

• Improved audio input latency and reliability

• Improvements to camera experience (camera metadata now exposed to camera apps)

• Improvements to framerate performance: specific benchmarks have improved by 10%-20% on ARM and 40%-50% on x64

• Fixed zooming out in apps using a touchpad or mouse

• Improvements to platform reliability

• Using the latest Chromium WebView to version 108

• Synchronizing global microphone and camera privacy toggles between Windows and Android apps

• Android 13 security updates

2301.40000.7.0

• Picture-in-picture mode supported! For apps that use the Android PIP feature, the subsystem now supports this behaviour. With the flexibility of having apps in windowed mode and all of the great Windows resize and snap features, this makes multitasking within Android apps even easier

• A new "Partially running" system setting was added to the WSA Settings app, which runs the subsystem with minimal resources but apps launch quicker than the "As needed" mode

• Linux kernel updated to 5.15.78

• Improvements to platform reliability

• Android 13 security updates

2304.40000.5.0

• Package verification

   for apps on WSA: Android apps are scanned using anti-virus software installed on Windows prior to app installation.

• The ability for users to configure how much memory to assign to Android

• Android apps will be launched when a user opens the supported app link from any app (Android AppLink support)

• Linux kernel updated to 5.15.94

• WSA reliability and performance improvements

2305.40000.6

• File sharing enabled.

• File transfer using drop and drop and copy and paste.

• Windows Subsystem for Android Settings (renamed to just “Windows Subsystem for Android”) redesign, including displaying all installed Android apps.

• Enable apps that specify android.hardware.type.pc in their manifest to opt in to receiving raw input events.

• Wi-Fi API compatibility improvements.

• Camera hardware compatibility improvements.

• Linux kernel security update.

• Updated the latest Chromium WebView to version 113.

• Android 13 security updates.

Test out the build and let us know in the comments if Android apps are more stable for you.

Xposed is a framework for modules that can change the behavior of the system and apps without touching any APKs. That's great because it means that modules can work for different versions and even ROMs without any changes (as long as the original code was not changed too much). It's also easy to undo.

As all changes are done in the memory, you just need to deactivate the module and reboot to get your original system back. There are many other advantages, but here is just one more: Multiple modules can do changes to the same part of the system or app. With modified APKs, you to decide for one. No way to combine them, unless the author builds multiple APKs with different combinations.

Download the patched, already-rooted WSA packages or the non-root WSA packages

Note

It's recommended that you use the latest version of 7zip to extract the files:

Downloads

• Extract the Zip file (ideally to your C: Drive).

• Search for Powershell in the start menu

• Open Powershell as Administrator

• Run

•  for the 64-bit WSA or

• for the ARM64 WSA run 

•  and type A when prompted.

• Run 

•  This will automatically enable virtualization if you haven't done so already install the Windows Subsystem for Android and install the Google Play Store alongside the Magisk app.

• The WSA app should now be installed in the background. If you get an error, please ensure all of the steps have been followed correctly.

• Launch the Windows Subsystem for Android.

• You should now be able to log in to the Google Play Store with your Google Account.

We can now enjoy the full suite of Google Play Apps on our Windows 11 machines.

Upgrading WSA to the new version without wiping your data

• Download the new version of the WSA package(64-bit or ARM64) and extract it to your C: Drive.

• Copy the contents of the newly extracted WSA package into your existing WSA installation

• Search for Powershell in the start menu

• Run Powershell as Administrator

• Run 

•  for the 64-bit WSA or 

•  for the ARM64 WSA run 

•  and type A when prompted.

• Run

• to install the WSA, this will automatically update your WSA whilst preserving your user data and install the Google Play Store alongside the Magisk app (if you downloaded the rooted version).

Ali Hussan Ahmed

Senior Writer

Ali is passionate about technology and appreciates well-laid-out designs with functionality that blends well with the brand. He is a Full Stack Web Developer with over 4 years of experience working with React.