Windows 11 has made a lot of friends due to its ability to run some Android apps (via Amazon’s App Store) directly on the desktop without issue, and things have gotten a lot better on the mobile gaming front. with a Windows update. Subsystem for Android (WSA).
This is still in testing, and the new version of WSA (noted by Neowin (opens in a new tab)) comes with the new Windows 11 preview build that was just released (build 25295, which brings a small but nifty change we talked about earlier).
With WSA 2301.40000.4.0, frame rates have been increased by 40-50% with AMD and Intel processors. There is also a substantial increase for those using an ARM processor, although a more modest increase of 10% to 20%.
It’s not just about smoother frame rates, as there are a number of other important tweaks as Microsoft details in this blog post (opens in a new tab).
This includes a fix for zooming out in apps with the mouse (or touchpad) so it now works correctly, and overall reliability improvements (with better audio input latency, to boot). Android 13 security updates are also integrated in this new version, which is nice to see.
Analysis: The proof will be in the pudding, of course
A 50% boost in frame rates – or close to that – is huge, of course, and it will make Android game playback much smoother on the Windows 11 desktop. Or it should, anyway; remember, this version is still in testing, so certainly at the moment things may not work as expected.
We have to take Microsoft’s word for it that the gains will indeed be that big, but the fact that the company said 40% to 50% rather than “up to 50%” certainly makes it pretty clear that it should be a huge difference across map to Android apps on Windows 11 desktop.
Work on improving overall stability will no doubt help make WSA a more user-friendly experience, and having the latest security updates is also another important step forward.
WSA has long been considered a big selling point for Windows 11, as Windows 10 doesn’t have it – although recently we’ve seen a workaround to get WSA on the latter (although the method is clunky and the results may well be unpredictable, so proceed at your own risk on this front).
