Discord Developing Native Windows on Arm Version of Its App

Discord is currently developing a native version of its communications application for Windows on Arm. An early development preview build is now available for testers, paving the way for a full Arm64 release tailored for compatible Arm-powered devices.

Claudia Fellerman, a spokesperson for Discord, confirmed to The Verge that the company is actively working on this build for Windows on Arm. However, she noted that the project is still in its early stages, and the timeline for a public release remains uncertain.

Currently, users can install Discord on Qualcomm-powered Copilot Plus devices. However, the experience is often hindered by emulation issues, leading to frequent freezes and slow loading times for chat history and channels. Alternatively, users have the option to utilize unofficial Discord clients that are specifically compiled for Windows on Arm. In recent weeks, I have been testing one such client, which is optimized for Windows on Arm, and it provides a user experience comparable to that of the app on Intel-powered devices. The navigation is seamless, and the performance significantly surpasses that of the emulated version.

Once Discord officially launches its application for Windows on Arm, it will join the ranks of hundreds of applications that are natively supported on the latest Qualcomm-powered Copilot Plus PCs. While emulation can offer a satisfactory experience for lightweight applications on Windows, resource-intensive applications like Discord and Premiere Pro necessitate a native version to ensure optimal performance.

According to the Windows on Arm app tracking site, there are currently 731 apps listed, with nearly 42 percent of applications being native Arm64. Less than 10 percent of the tracked applications are unsupported on Windows on Arm, while approximately 31 percent are compatible with Microsoft’s Prism emulator. Microsoft has successfully encouraged convince a large portion a variety of app developers to create native Arm64 applications, including popular software such as Chrome, Dropbox, Zoom, Photoshop, Spotify, and many others.