Windows Subsystem for Android makes it easier to access local files
Microsoft built Windows 11 with integrated support for the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), allowing us to enjoy our favorite operating system even on computers. It's not a fully polished experience yet, but Microsoft is making constant improvements. The latest one lets Android apps running on WSA read Windows 11 files with the help of folder sharing, just like we have seen on a few Android emulators like BlueStacks.
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Most of the improvements coming to WSA are based on feedback from the user community. After many requests, Microsoft recently posted to the WSA GitHub announcing that file sharing is available starting with build 2305 of WSA (via 9to5Google). After you turn the feature on in WSA settings, your Windows user profile folder C:\Users\John Doe will be available to the WSA file picker as /sdcard/Windows.
This method of folder sharing gives WSA access to important directories like Pictures, Documents, and Downloads. Files in the shared directory are available to Windows programs as well as Android apps, which is particularly handy for things like editing media files stored outside WSA.
Setting up a shared directory like this also has many security advantages over giving WSA unrestricted access to the Windows root level directory. For instance, Windows system files, potential malware on USB drives, executable files, and hidden files in the shared directory are not available to WSA. Even when accessing the shared directory, Android apps will need to show a system dialog prompt requesting permission to manage files.
If you don’t want to give WSA full access even to the shared user folder, WSA allows revoking access to the shared directory on a per-app basis in the app settings on WSA. Even when file sharing is turned off, you can share specific files with Android apps by dragging and dropping them from a Windows folder into the running Android app. Files can also be copy-pasted this way, because WSA allows the Windows clipboard to paste files into Android apps as well.
File sharing will be available to WSA preview members by default. Users in the stable channel will need to toggle it on in WSA settings, but it is nice to see access is rolling out to everyone. Hopefully Microsoft adopts a similar approach to WSA’s geographic rollout, which has been rather limited until now.
Source: Android Police
