APK sideloads install, but never run


silverfang77

Lone Wolf
Local time
11:29 AM
Posts
5
Location
In a vortex
OS
Windows 11
OK, so I installed the Android Subsystem, Amazon Appstore, logged in with my Amazon account, etc. because I wanted to install Facebook for Android, which I know Amazon has because it shows up in the Amazon Appstore on my Android devices. However, in the Windows one, it doesn't show.

OK. I figured WTH I'll just sideload it. So I installed ADB, got the virtual Android IP from the subsystem settings, downloaded the APK from APKPure, then opened the command prompt and did adb connect IP number, which worked. Then did adb push C:\appfolder\facebook.apk. It did the streamline installation and said "success".

When I look in the Start Menu, the sideloaded Facebook app icon does indeed show up as an installed program. Wonderful! When I click on it, however... nothing, nada, zero, zip, zilch! No matter how many times I click the blessed thing, it's always the same.

Just for a control, I ran the same thing on my laptop (also newly upgraded to 11 as of today). Sideload app installed successfully, shows up, etc. When I click it, the big fat zero is what happens.

Apps downloaded from Amazon Appstore work just fine when I doubleclick them. Why do ones from the Appstore work, while the sideloads just sit and rot?

Thank you so much!
 
Windows Build/Version
Windows 11 Pro, version 21H2 (OS Build 22000.556)

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Omen 30L
    CPU
    Intel Core i9 10850K
    Motherboard
    HP 8703
    Memory
    Kingston Fury Beast 32 GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GeForce RTX 3080
    Sound Card
    RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Omen 25
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD 952 GB, HDD 1.8 TB
    PSU
    Coolermaster
    Case
    HP Omen
    Keyboard
    HP Omen
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless trackball
    Internet Speed
    4G/5G hotspot
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Free
Could be any number of reasons, but I suspect the primary reason is going to be the (emulated) architecture that WSA brings to Windows. Most Android devices run on ARM-based processors, whereas most WIndows devices do not. I haven't played much with WSA, but I suspect that either 1) it is emulating ARM, or 2) the apps in the Amazon App Store for WSA have been re-tooled for x86 architecture.

If you grabbed the .APK from APKMirror, see if there is an x86 targeted release that you can try.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
Thanks for the reply. I ended up installing the version of Android with the Google Play Store. Literally every Android app runs in it, except Facebook. Since it refuses to run on two different Android installations, I've concluded that it's the app itself rather than the subsystem.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Omen 30L
    CPU
    Intel Core i9 10850K
    Motherboard
    HP 8703
    Memory
    Kingston Fury Beast 32 GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GeForce RTX 3080
    Sound Card
    RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Omen 25
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD 952 GB, HDD 1.8 TB
    PSU
    Coolermaster
    Case
    HP Omen
    Keyboard
    HP Omen
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless trackball
    Internet Speed
    4G/5G hotspot
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Free
Thanks for the reply. I ended up installing the version of Android with the Google Play Store. Literally every Android app runs in it, except Facebook. Since it refuses to run on two different Android installations, I've concluded that it's the app itself rather than the subsystem.
So added bonus if it cannot run facebook LOL
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
I go this way:
  1. I have installed Facebook app on my smartphone
  2. I installed on my smartphone from Google Play Store the app: "Apk extractor" (author: meher)
  3. With "Apk extractor" I extract Facebook app to an apk file
  4. I transfer Facebook apk file to Windows 11 PC
  5. I sideload Facebook apk file into WSA
Result: All OK and Facebook runs in WSA
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11

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