Windows Subsystem for Android gets a new update

Sep 15, 2022 18:43 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has released the September 2022 update for the Windows Subsystem for Android, as the company continues the work on making Google’s mobile operating system feel at home on Windows 11.

Available for insiders, WSA continues to be offered only to insiders in the United States and Japan – worth knowing, however, is that all users in the Windows Insider program can give it a try, regardless of the channel they are enrolled in.

“Today we are shipping an update for Windows Subsystem for Android™ on Windows 11 to all Windows Insider channels (U.S. and Japan only). This update (version 2208.40000.4.0) will improve security, input issues, general reliability, and performance,” Microsoft says.

Needless to say, the WSA update comes with lots of improvements, including the switch to Chromium WebView 104 and the latest Linux kernel security updates.

At the same time, Microsoft says it has improved the performance of uninstalling apps, while also fixing video playback issues for apps.

The following more improvements are available in the latest WSA update:  

  • 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 extremely large content
  • UX improvements for the game controls dialog
  • Improvements to networking

At this point, there’s still no ETA as to when all these improvements could make their way to production devices, as WSA is still a work in progress at this point. However, Microsoft recommends everyone to send feedback to the company, just to be able to further refine WSA before the production rollout starts.

“If you are having issues with Windows Subsystem for Android – please file feedback via Feedback Hub under Apps > Windows Subsystem for Android,” the software giant explains in today’s announcement.