How Will Android Apps Work on Windows 11?

close-up View of The New Microsoft Windows 11 Logo on Computer Screen

With the news that Android applications will be available on Windows 11, users can expect to find Android apps available for download with a few terms and conditions to apply.

Let’s look at how this integration will roll out and why it may not be the solution we hoped for.

How will Android apps be available on Windows 11?

Rather than relying on a version of the Google Play Store optimized for Windows, Android applications will be available on Windows through the app store maintained by Amazon. This arrangement brings a few challenges with it, however.

For one, Amazon’s Appstore offers remarkably few apps compared to the other marketplaces. What’s worse, this lack of apps is particularly apparent regarding the productivity-based software you’d expect to find. Naturally, there aren’t any of Google’s applications, and many famous business applications like Trello, Slack, and Asana are missing. LastPass, 1Password, and Bitwarden are also absent as far as password management solutions are concerned. Many Microsoft programs don’t appear either. While Outlook, the all-in-one version of Office, and OneNote are there, others aren’t. Major banking applications aren’t there.

Exacerbating this issue is that many of the apps available aren’t correctly maintained, far outdated compared to the versions present on the Play Store.

Why is this the case?

The root of all of these issues is Google Play Services, a key component to many applications’ operations. Google Play Services enables an application to handle purchases, use location data, push notifications, and various other functions.

Naturally, this makes Google Play Services critical to the functionality of Android applications and a challenge to host on more than one app store and why many titles are missing from Amazon’s. A developer effectively has to reinvent the wheel to put the same application on Amazon’s Appstore. Otherwise, the application breaks.

So, with developers simply not focusing their efforts on optimizing their applications for all platforms, these deficits will be reflected in the applications available on Windows 11.

Will this change?

Perhaps, provided that app developers focus on making their applications available through Amazon’s Appstore. In the meantime, you can count on 4Corner IT to equip your team members with the tools they need to function efficiently.

Give us a call at (954) 474-2204 to learn more.

5 Steps to Speed up a Chrome Browser

5 steps to speed up a chrome browser

As our dependency upon technology increases, so does the demand for faster and faster response times. Most of the time, our technology devices are very responsive. On occasion though, some of the most-used features of technology such as Google’s Chrome browser seem to become slower and slower.

Fortunately, there are a few easy things that individuals can do to bring back that lightning fast response time they enjoyed when their device was brand new.

Check for Malware and Viruses

One of the main reasons why browser response times become slower is due to malware and/or software viruses. Let your IT support team know about your slower browser response times. They can perform some extra security checks to determine if the reduced speed is due to a virus or malware.

Use Google’s Cleanup Tool

If your device is free of malware and viruses, and you are still having trouble with a slow Chrome browser, Google does offer a free Cleanup tool. Simply search for and download the Chrome Cleanup Tool, follow the instructions to run the file, and let it perform its cleanup work. 

Reduce Flash Use

Although web developers are definitely moving away from using Adobe Flash Player, there may be some older websites that still use it. To gain control over using Flash Player in the Chrome browser, simple enter the following into the browser address bar: “chrome://settings/content?search=Flash”. From there, click on the “Flash” tab and either select “Block” or “Ask first”.  

Optimize Image Rendering Speed

The world wide web is full of great images to view, but they tend to slow down user experience. For those who want to see if they can speed things up, try increasing the way the Chrome browser reads images by bumping up a flag entitled, “Raster Threads”. To change the setting, type in “chrome://flags/” into the browser address bar. In the search feature on the page, look for “Number of raster threads” and change the setting to “4”. Keep in mind that this particular feature is experimental and Google may remove it at any time.

Go back to Default

Lastly, if you’ve tried all the suggestions and are still not satisfied with browser response times, going back to the way the browser was originally set up could do the trick. From the Chrome browser, click on the 3 dots in the upper right corner. From the menu that appears, click on “Settings”. From there go to “Advanced”, then select “Reset and clean up”. Going back to default won’t erase any saved passwords, history or bookmarks, which are the items most people want to save anyway.

If you’d like to know more about keeping all your devices super responsive, please contact us!

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