Lack of enough native apps was one of the biggest drawbacks of the Windows on ARM platform since its early days. The situation is rapidly improving after the introduction of the Windows Prism emulator and Snapdragon X Elite processors.
In September, Google first announced that its Google Drive app was coming soon to Windows on ARM devices. Today, Google announced the first beta release of Google Drive for Desktop on Windows 11 ARM64 devices. Google confirmed that this new Google Drive app offers the same functionality as the x86 version, but the Outlook Meet plugin will not be available.
Google warned that this initial beta version may contain bugs, so it should not be used with production data. Google specified that Windows 11 and Microsoft WebView2 are the only requirements to install the app. WebView2 is generally pre-installed in Windows 11. However, if it is missing, the new Google Drive installer will prompt you to download and install it.
On a related note, Microsoft recently announced the availability of Windows 11 on ARM ISOs for download. Similar to x64 Windows 11 ISO files, users can now utilize the new Windows 11 Arm64 ISO files to create virtual machines, perform in-place upgrades, or create bootable installation media for ARM-based PCs. The availability of these ISO images simplifies the installation and management of Windows on ARM for both individual and enterprise developers.
You can download and install the Google Drive beta version for Windows on ARM using the link below.
Over the past few months, several third-party app developers have released their native apps for the Windows on ARM platform. Several popular apps, including Chrome, Spotify, Zoom, WhatsApp, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Blender, Affinity Suite, DaVinci Resolve, Arc browser, NordVPN, ProtonVPN, and many more, now run natively on ARM.