Wine 3.0 lets you run Windows apps in Android devices

Wine, a software that enables users to run Windows apps on Linux and other Unix like operating systems is now available for Android devices. Codeweavers, which makes the Wine app, has announced the stable release of Wine 3.0 for Android. The application was in the testing phase for a long time.

The Android version of the app supports audio and basic graphics, but not Direct3D, which many programs, especially games, need to use. However, Direct3D 10 and 11 support will hopefully be coming later this year.

The APK file, which can be downloaded from the Wine HQ website, needs to be installed as an unknown source, rather than getting it from the Google Play Store. Users need to download either 'wine-3.0-arm' or 'wine-3.0-x86' and not the release candidate APKs. Once installed, users will get a full-screen Windows display, including a Start menu, and support for audio and basic graphics.

Wine 3.0 is said to work better with x86 Android devices than those powered by ARM processors. For smartphones with ARM processors, only apps that are ported to Windows RT work well. Wine 3.0 offers Direct3D command stream, Android graphics driver, and improved DirectWrite and Direct2D support.