NEW: Channels for Android runs on Windows 11

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#62

Thank you,

I took your lead with a deferent approach and installed BlueStacks.

Download Pie 64-bit (Supports Hyper-V)

It requires Hyper-V and thus Windows Perfectional

After installing, if you get into a loop where it's trying to enable Hyper-V, Right click and chose run as administrator.

While the Google Play Store is available, it did not find Channels. Open Chrome and search from there and it will find channels. Install from there. After you launch channels, you will need to change the playback method. /settings/playback/advanced Chose Software.

Enjoy!

Morris

#63

Wow, two fairly awful choices. Installing something from Amazon. Which I won't do. And bluestacks which acts a lot like malware. UGH

#64

How dose bluestacks act like malware?

#65

It was my perception of odd things that started happening after I installed it a few months ago. Two weeks into it I uninstalled it and the odd apps that had acted wonky and the internet speeds went back to normal. When I had put wireshark on it I found we starting contacting hundreds of addresses which were in listed as being in russia and other asian countries I try not to frequent. After that I determined it wasn't something I wanted installed on my pc. -Bill

#66

You can side load the apk without Amazon or blue stacks involved.

#67

I have not found a reasonable way to sideload into Win 11 Android. All the apps that make it easy are now blocked.

#68

That sounds like there was some malware installed. Not my experience and I'm sorry to learn that happed to you Bill.

#69

I was able to sidelode Channels onto the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) using:

  1. Download APK from Channels server to my local download directory.
  2. Share local download directory with the WSA using Advanced Settings, Experimental.
  3. Installed File Manager for FireTV (developed by Dworks) from the Amazon AppStore.
  4. Selected APK in the File Manager and install the listed APK.

The Microsoft Store also lists some WSA Sideloader apps, that may also work for this purpose. But I didn't try them. I also sideloded the Channels recommended Downloader app from AFTV, hopefully making it easier to sideload other APKs if desired.

The Channels app seems to work very well for me using WSA. But I don't use it often, mainly just for testing.

#70

That's great Michael and thank you. File Manager for FireTV is new to me. When did you do this and is that utility still available? Amazon removed multiple side loaders and what lead me to switching from WSA to Blue Stacks, a product I'd been using for years on Windows 10. The nice thing about using Blue Stacks is that it includes the Google Play Store. They actually want you to be able to use there product. WSA is the most un-Android like Android implementation I've used. Microsoft has invested a lot of time and money making it work differently, a total waste of there time and ours.

#71

Today, it is still available in the Amazon Appstore. But you are right many of the more common file managers are not available.

I am very cautious about installing major system changes that may not be approved by Microsoft. Especially since, I don't really need to run any Android app on my PC.

#72

Blue Stacks is a VM and hypervisor. It doesn't change windows. Very little of what we install is approved by Microsoft. Drivers used to be yet the Windows Computability Lab was retired and the tools provided to developers. Microsoft no longer gets involved with such critical components till on causes a very high number of crashes that show up on there scoreboard and then all they do is notify the manufacture.

#73

I am rereading info on Windows Subsystem for Android. Is this something built by Amazon or by Windows? Seems like its from Amazon. But I did find something on ZDnet that said this: For nearly a decade, Microsoft product planners have been chasing a dream of running Android apps on Windows. Last June, as part of the announcement of Windows 11, the company went public with its intentions. And as of February 2022, those plans have coalesced into a shipping feature. So maybe it is from Microsoft? -Bill

#74

It's a Microsoft implementation of Android, without the Play Store from Google. If you install the subsystem first, Microsoft instructs you to install the Amazon Appstore to get apps. Alternatively, if you install the Amazon Appstore from the Microsoft Store, in the process you wind up with the Android subsystem too. Microsoft likely has some sort of profit-sharing arrangement with Amazon.

#75

It is from Microsoft and highly integrated into Windows 11. While the underlying OS is Android running as a virtual machine, Microsoft has changed a lot of the management to be done by windows. It's very well done yet for somone that knows Android, it wastes time while you look up how to do things. It's a very solid product with the real downside the use of the Amazon Store rather than the Google Play Store. The android apps run as windows and feel like any windows app and this integration is a delight.

#76

This works great on my laptop but is there anyway to make it Fullscreen has blackbar on the top ...

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#77

F11 key?

#78

Thanks that did it.

1 Like
#79

I've been experimenting with this too, and a few observations:

The installation is not difficult, as all you need to do is install the Amazon App Store via the Microsoft Store, and the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) gets installed too. After that, enable WSA Developer Mode, and install the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) -- I installed the scrcpy package which includes ADB.

Navigate to the directory where ADB is located and adb connect 127.0.0.1:58526. Download the Channels APK (process described elsewhere in the forum), and adb install <channels_pkg>.apk No special versions of WSA, or any version of Blue Stacks required.

It's pretty sweet, though I was surprised by a couple of things in mostly positive ways. Getting high density library artwork on my 4K laptop (8 titles per row) was great -- but made me wonder why I don't see this on my 4K TV via my 4K streaming stick?

Screenshot 2023-12-19 132546
Screenshot 2023-12-19 1325461920×1131 262 KB

And, "On Now" has never looked more useful to me:

Screenshot 2023-12-19 132659
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The 6+ hour grid guide came up short initially, though it filled in after I scrolled towards future times:

Screenshot 2023-12-19 132452
Screenshot 2023-12-19 1324523839×2249 451 KB

Settings and similar menus wasted a lot of space looking like this:

Screenshot 2023-12-19 132820
Screenshot 2023-12-19 1328203834×2247 190 KB

Overall I'd give it two thumbs-up, and it looks like something I'll be using a fair amount from here forward.

#80

I was surprised how responsive it is the only drawback is that it is in tablet mode.

1 Like
#81

That's an interesting point, my daily driver laptop is one of those 360 degree convertibles, so it has some very tablet like features (touch screen, and a gesture-rich large touchpad). That probably makes it a better-than-typical WSA platform.