With the Windows App store having too few apps for Windows phone and other versions of Windows 10, the software giant is trying to bring and run Android apps on Windows Phone. This news comes soon after the company announced that Windows 10 Universal Apps has been renamed as Windows App.
Android apps on Windows Phone?
It was being speculated that one of the major factors for people not opting for Windows phone was the lack of apps in the Windows marketplace. To counter this lack of apps, Microsoft first came up with the concept of single API for Windows Apps so that developers can create Windows apps that will run on all types of devices. Another factor for poor performance of Windows apps is that they are seldom updated and the smaller apps do not get recognition by the users. The games on Windows marketplace too are not pretty exciting.
In its experimental stage, Microsoft is using an Android emulator to help the Android based apps run on Windows phone. It is not clear if the emulator will ever be made public due to copyright issues. While it is testing Android apps using an Android emulator, Microsoft thinks giving users the power to use Android apps from Google Play may invite a legal notice.
Though Android is open source and anyone can use it, Google had made it a monopoly by creating Google Play market and having every developer sell his or her apps using the Google Play market. Cyanogen is trying to break this monopoly by creating a better version of Android. It says that it will snatch away Android from Google but it is a matter of future and also it depends upon how many people switch to the OS from Cyanogen.
If Android developers start listing their Android apps on Windows phone marketplace, it would be easier for Microsoft to distribute the emulator with its Windows 10 devices. But it would be a difficult task convincing the app developers. The easier method would be to ask them to create Windows apps based on the single API as mentioned and linked above. Creating exceptionally good Windows Apps (Windows 10 Universal Apps) is the only legal method ahead for Microsoft as of now. It may get Google’s consent to help it use Android emulator but there is no such talk as of now. It might be a backup plan in case there are not many developers interested into creating apps for Windows marketplace.
Microsoft is on full swing…
Making Android apps available on Windows devices would be a double-edged sword. Microsoft’s first choice would obviously be for native Windows apps to be available in comparable numbers to those for iOS and Android. If Windows 10 on phones could run Android apps then that would instantly close the app gap but may well stifle interest in native Windows app development, affecting both phones and larger devices. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Microsoft resist the temptation to do so at first, thus giving Windows 10 a chance to stand on its own two feet. If it looks like interest in Windows app development is increasing significantly then they may just stick with that. If there isn’t a significant increase in developer interest though, they may well bite the bullet and let Android apps in.