One of the most famous points of the presentation of Windows 11, which will soon be a year old, was the announcement that the new version of the most widely used desktop operating system would be compatible with those of the operating system for most used devices, Android. A very smart response, in my opinion, to Apple’s plans to unify iOS and macOS apps, with the added bonus that in this case two monstrously large user quotas are added.
In his debut, Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) was based on Android 11, although its launch almost coincided in time with the arrival of Android 12. Obviously, it would have been quite risky to launch a new function in tests, within an operating system also still in its early days, and also base it on a debut version of Android at that time it would have been nonsense. In this case we can say, with absolute certainty, that Microsoft adopted the most sensible position. Not to mention the number match, Android 11 on Windows 11.
In any case, in Redmond they are already doing their homework to update WSA, to the point that insiders can now test the new version of the Windows Subsystem for Android with Android 12.1, as we can read in Lilliputing. This is the summary of the new functions that we can find in WSA for Windows 11 with Android 12.1:
- Advanced networking allows you to connect to other devices on the same network as your Windows 11 PC for multiple uses with smart speakers, security cameras, and other smart home devices.
- The configuration function has been redesigned with improvements in its interface. In addition, WSA diagnostic data has been added.
- Now, by default, WSA for Windows 11 does not collect diagnostic data.
- Fixed bugs in the camera app, so now the orientation of the camera should always be correct.
- Input device improvements, with better support for scroll wheels and integrated keyboard.
- Hardware video decoding is now supported for VP8 and VP9.
- Chromium WebView has been updated to version 100.
Additionally, Microsoft says that users should also see “Improved overall stability, performance, and reliability«, in addition to the correction of some previously identified problems.
However, We are talking about a version that is still in testing, and with some known problem. The most notable are that some apps that worked in previous versions of WSA for Windows 11 may not work in this new version and that the system may become unstable when printing from an Android app or when accessing the camera function in a Windows 11 PC for ARM.
In any case, it is paradoxical and remarkable that Android 12 arrives before Windows 11 than not a few smartphones that should have already made the leap from Windows 11 a few months ago. And it is that, on the positive side, it speaks of Microsoft striving to make Windows 11 have the best possible Android support. On the downside, some manufacturers should take a cue from Microsoft and speed up the deployment of the latest versions of Android to their devices.
