Microsoft Not Bringing Android Apps To Windows After All?

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I can't see why Microsoft would support porting iOS apps while leaving Android hanging. The "not enough resources" excuse doesn't make sense either. :confused:

Microsoft unveiled some huge news back in April, pledging to allow developers to run reworked Android and iOS apps on Windows. While Microsoft is pushing ahead with its iOS porting tools, the company's Android work has been put on hold. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have revealed to The Verge that the company has pulled back on dedicating employees to Android app porting, favoring the iOS route instead.
 
How many core apps that are missing from Windows Store are just doubled up on both iOS and Android?

So probably a bit of a waste of resources getting both at this stage. Just go for the one. Maybe add Android later if required.

Makes sense to me.
 
I wonder how many bags of cash from Apple it took to persuade them to drop Android.
 
They have iOS ports working -- Candy Crush on Windows 10 and Windows Phone is basically iOS code. I think that is more important than Android apps (as those are mostly poorer versions of iPhone apps).

Another rumor is that the Android ports actually worked too well and undercut the need to use Microsoft's own development platform.
 
Most popular apps are available on both iOS and Android, so I can see them not wanting to do the work to build two emulators if it doesn't add many apps to your library.
 
Z3r0k3wl said:
I wonder how many bags of cash from Apple it took to persuade them to drop Android.
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The two efforts were significantly different. The Android support was only for phones and provided binary compatibility. The iOS support is x86 only and is a code migration process and isn't binary compatible. Though once ported over migration to a universal app for the phone should be easier.
 
Z3r0k3wl said:
I wonder how many bags of cash from Apple it took to persuade them to drop Android.
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None. The explanation I've seen is that Android units tend to slow down over time. iOS and WinMo don't have that problem. By porting over the parts necessary to run Android apps, it introduced the OS degradation that Microsoft was unwilling to accept. So they probably realized that the app gap that this was designed to address could be filled by going all iOS apps. There's not a lot that is missing on WinMo that happens to also be an Android exclusive.
 
They probably don't want to support Android as it could unleash a new malware and virus source inside the Windows ecosystem.
 
wonder if any part of iOS apps are more likely to be paid vs ad supported?

MS wants their 30% just like everyone else.

This is why I think universal apps it will ultimately fail.

Not only the cost of hosting apps in the MS store but also limitations like no driver support etc. Lots of companies do lots of goofy things and the appx format probably won't like any of them.

Just my opinion but MS would have been better off standardizing x86 installs sort of like how steam does it. They could even have the resources come from the vendor instead of their servers (with proper cert/hash of course) AND that would give a framework for enterprises to merge their deployment systems with the MS store in one UI.

Right now "windows store for business" sorta sucks, you can have your purchasing people use the store to buy licenses (cool but no competition) but you generally still have to "side load" apps via your separate deployment system. This means it will be difficult for enterprises to even entertain making the MS store available to their users.
 
I can't think of any android exclusive apps (other than the google apps) that are must haves and I've been running android phones since android 1.5

MS actually has a decent chance of getting me to switch in a year or two if they make significant improvements to continuum and get hearthstone on their phones.
 
To reiterate what was said in a different way. iOS apps require a recompile for them to work. That means a developer has to specifically target WP for it to work. For Android it is emulating a java stack and simply running the precompiled apps. One would require source code, the other anyone could submit an app to the store regardless if they actually owned the rights. (Not saying it would get approved, but it's possible)

People have tried it and it works, but there has been several reasons why it isn't necessarily in the best interest. (IE. people could start dumping poor apps into the Windows store and not even bother to verify if they work)
 
Gunnerwolf said:
Another rumor is that the Android ports actually worked too well and undercut the need to use Microsoft's own development platform.
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It's more that developers didn't like it because it was a straight up emulator. You could sideload apps and it would work. Since there wasn't really any way to verify the app, it could have lead to easy piracy.

It's also is a matter of resources, up to 80 people are working on Astoria, while only 5 was needed for Islandwood.
 
They want Apples Customers, who like to carry around buckets of cash to blow on peceived 'status'.
 
jpm100 said:
They want Apples Customers, who like to carry around buckets of cash to blow on peceived 'status'.
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Microsoft is in desperate need for apps for its own customers and products. Lack of tablet apps is one of the biggest weaknesses in 2 in 1 devices like the Surface line.
 
Love all these goofball theories about why MS cancelled Astoria. According to Thurrott's source at MS, it was "internal politics".

As for Apple apps, don't hold your breath. If it gets far enough along I can't see Apple not putting up a fight and blocking with a lawsuit.

Then there's the issue most people overlook which is a lot of iOS developers simply will not care if a code generator becomes available for reducing steps to creating a metro App. People assume it's technical reasons people aren't building Metro apps when they're often just fundamentally not interested in doing anything for Microsoft.
 
DPI said:
As for Apple apps, don't hold your breath. If it gets far enough along I can't see Apple not putting up a fight and blocking with a lawsuit.
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Apple open sourced their iOS development languages. I'm not sure what grounds they would have to sue.
 
Been running Windows 10 for a while now, and from what I have seen very few quality apps from the Windows Store. To me its not even near the level of what Google Play has to offer.As of now many apps still have not been updated for Windows 10, many still crash or are just very spartan in design. Even Microsoft's own apps such as MSN sports or news crash half the time. They have had this Windows Store since Windows 8 and while there has been some improvement its a far cry from google or apple.
 
windows app store is a mess with shit and shit apps with fake reviews to boost the apps up. it is really bad....
 
I have to admit I haven't looked in the Windows app store since the Windows 8 beta. I have several 8.1 and 10 machines but the app store is superfluous to me. Apps on a full blown OS just appears odd to me.

I want...proper software!
 
There are a couple that are good but other then that I don't use them, I just go through the browser.;)
 
Ordeith said:
Apple open sourced their iOS development languages. I'm not sure what grounds they would have to sue.
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Because Apple attorneys. If they don't like something I'm sure they'd find an angle of attack.

In any case this code generator is only for x86 anyway, so it's not the magic bullet MS is desperate for turning around the sad state of Windows Phone and it's apps.

No mere tool is going to save the platform anyway, only an incredible innovation on the platform where consumers see it and immediately go "oooh, that's better than what I already have, I want that". A best case scenario of some me-too apps isn't going to do that.

And then there's the issue that many iOS developers invested in the Apple brand simply don't like Microsoft and so a code generator isn't going to motivate them to creating Metro apps.
 
I guess Microsoft's huge market share on the mobile front affords them the opportunity to pass up Android apps...
 
daglesj said:
How many core apps that are missing from Windows Store are just doubled up on both iOS and Android?

So probably a bit of a waste of resources getting both at this stage. Just go for the one. Maybe add Android later if required.

Makes sense to me.
Click to expand...

Exactly and I believe it was non native android apps, which is the only thing I would be interested in from Android.
 
DPI said:
In any case this code generator is only for x86 anyway, so it's not the magic bullet MS is desperate for turning around the sad state of Windows Phone and it's apps.
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Why do you keep incorrectly making that assertion? There are a few Windows Phone apps in the market place right now that were published through Islandwood.
 
grayfox2 said:
I guess Microsoft's huge market share on the mobile front affords them the opportunity to pass up Android apps...
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I don't think they had a choice. Expecting consumers to sideload APK's in their windows phone wouldn't exactly have been user friendly. And I suspect that all but the two newest Lumia 650 phones would've been too weak and with too little memory to run the Android subsystem required to run the apps anyway. They were trying to square peg into round hole.

Blackberry running Android apps never made any diff, only now that Blackberry phones are coming out running Android natively is there any interest, from people invested in the Android ecosystem but with a nostalgia for the physical keyboard.

Microsoft should've gone Android OS on their phones a long time ago, but pride and arrogance left them in the 2% market position we see here today.
 
Ordeith said:
Why do you keep incorrectly making that assertion? There are a few Windows Phone apps in the market place right now that were published through Islandwood.
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I don't think this has actually been confirmed though rumored. The new Windows 10 Facebook has been rumored to use this Islandwood I believe.
 
Ordeith said:
Why do you keep incorrectly making that assertion? There are a few Windows Phone apps in the market place right now that were published through Islandwood.
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Name them. And don't say candy crush since MS had to moneyhat them to even bother. I am aware project centennial supposedly has a few "select developers" with access to the ARM code generator, but it's not generally available and therefore doesn't change my statement.
 
jpm100 said:
They want Apples Customers, who like to carry around buckets of cash to blow on peceived 'status'.
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NO ONE uses Apple products (save maybe for the watch, which hardly anyone bought anyway) as a status symbol. You Android folk keep saying that wishing it were true. And, on top of that, Android people look down on iOS people more than iOS people ever looked down on anyone.

So, don't fall from your high horse.
 
DPI said:
Name them. And don't say candy crush since MS had to moneyhat them to even bother. I am aware project centennial supposedly has a few "select developers" with access to the ARM code generator, but it's not generally available and therefore doesn't change my statement.
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Candy Crush is a perfectly acceptable example. Regardless of their motivations it is an example of an App that is published through islandwood and is available on ARM AND X86 platforms. You betrayed your own insolence by making a false statement and subsequently proving that you knew better.
 
You stated "there are a few apps in the marketplace right now" . So what are they.

Candy Crush I disregarded since MS had to pay them a boatload of money and did most of the work for them. Unless MS is ready to do that for every dev that wants to port an iOS app, then surely you can see why maybe it's not a shining example.
 
DPI said:
Candy Crush I disregarded since MS had to pay them a boatload of money and did most of the work for them. Unless MS is ready to do that for every dev that wants to port an iOS app, then surely you can see why maybe it's not a shining example.
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Candy Crush you disregarded because it doesn't support your idiotic narrative.
 
Candy Crush was written as a native universal app I believe and doesn't employ either of the emulation technologies.
 
Ordeith said:
Candy Crush you disregarded because it doesn't support your idiotic narrative.
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Whether or not the narrative is idiotic depends on your ability to provide other examples of apps that Islandwood has produced. Still waiting.

Let me give you some insight: the exception doesn't disprove the rule. Do you think maybe there's a reason Microsoft is installing candy crush by default in the latest Windows 10 update? A huge deal was made between the two companies. Again, if MS is willing to bribe more developers then godspeed, but they've been here before circa Windows 8 - pledged to pay devs to create Metro apps but then reversed the policy later because it set a precedent and looked desperate.

My point stands that ARM code generation for Islandwood is not something available to the public. Maybe that'll change. But for now, iOS app developers don't have this available to them.
 
DPI said:
My point stands that ARM code generation for Islandwood is not something available to the public. Maybe that'll change. But for now, iOS app developers don't have this available to them.
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Your point never stood. Universal code generation is what is available through Islandwood. Universal Code is abstracted enough not to care about the instruction set of the processors that are in the machine.

It only takes one example to show what a dumbass you are, and that was an example you were already aware of. So I guess in a way you just doubled down on stupid.
 
DPI said:
Love all these goofball theories about why MS cancelled Astoria. According to Thurrott's source at MS, it was "internal politics".
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Article? because the post on his site is actually written by Brad Sams and internal politics is not in the article at all.
 
Ryokurin said:
Article? because the post on his site is actually written by Brad Sams and internal politics is not in the article at all.
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Paul broke this a couple days ago, not sure why Brad is rehashing on the same site, but then he's just a kid that's usually a little clueless.

https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/62252/thurrott-daily-november-14

UPDATE: A source in Windows phone tells me that Astoria has been killed, and that it was killed for political reasons. –Paul
Click to expand...
 
OEM said:
NO ONE uses Apple products (save maybe for the watch, which hardly anyone bought anyway) as a status symbol.
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You just go right on telling yourself that, maybe it will be true.... someday.

It's funny how most the technical people (developers, support, QA) at my office use android, while the people who are most concerned about trends/image (marketing) are 100% Apple.
Even with management, it's easy to tell which ones use Apple, because they are the ones driving the most trendy/popular/new cars, while the Android users tend to just have nice cars they like that are a few years old.
 
nutzo said:
You just go right on telling yourself that, maybe it will be true.... someday.

It's funny how most the technical people (developers, support, QA) at my office use android, while the people who are most concerned about trends/image (marketing) are 100% Apple.
Even with management, it's easy to tell which ones use Apple, because they are the ones driving the most trendy/popular/new cars, while the Android users tend to just have nice cars they like that are a few years old.
Click to expand...

I been through many tech company in silicon valley, including the one I am with now, none of them support what you just said. For engineers, almost all computer that they used are MacBook, and phones are iPhone, even some android developers are using iPhone as their primary phone.

And no, no one here buy iPhone for status. Not sure why Apple hater keeps having that in mind for.
 
As a Windows Phone user, I will be happy to see at least one of the options work. While there are not many, there are some apps that I can't use on my phone. Fallout Shelter is one. At least I can use my phone as a in game pip boy replacement like everyone else.
 
Exavior said:
As a Windows Phone user, I will be happy to see at least one of the options work. While there are not many, there are some apps that I can't use on my phone. Fallout Shelter is one. At least I can use my phone as a in game pip boy replacement like everyone else.
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Apps like Fallout Shelter are the kind sorely missing from the Windows Mobile ecosystem.
 
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