APK sideloads install, but never run

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!

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.

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.

silverfang77 said:

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.

Click to expand...

So added bonus if it cannot run facebook LOL

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