Can I get some WP phone advice?

[Windows Central Question]

WP phone advice needed.

Hi all. I'm currently using Android on a Galaxy s4.
I'm considering changing my phone, and a friend of mine suggested getting a WP, with the majority of them being not as expensive as Android/iOS, and offering average if not high productivity and battery life.
My main concern is regarding apps - the store lacks some apps that I'm using, or the WP version is worse/with less options compared to the other OSs.
With BlackBerry you can run Android apps on the devices, even if not officially.
I heard conflicting version about this regarding WPs - some said that all you needed to do was to download the apk on a SD card and then install the app from there, others said that you needed the xap file format and without that you could never download it.
I'd like to clarify this matter before buying a phone that would be completely useless for me if I'm not able to run the apps I want on it.
(By the way, I don't know if this changes anything but I'm using a Macbook as my laptop, not a Windows one).

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: WP phone advice needed.

Hi all. I'm currently using Android on a Galaxy s4.
I'm considering changing my phone, and a friend of mine suggested getting a WP, with the majority of them being not as expensive as Android/iOS, and offering average if not high productivity and battery life.
My main concern is regarding apps - the store lacks some apps that I'm using, or the WP version is worse/with less options compared to the other OSs.
With BlackBerry you can run Android apps on the devices, even if not officially.
I heard conflicting version about this regarding WPs - some said that all you needed to do was to download the apk on a SD card and then install the app from there, others said that you needed the xap file format and without that you could never download it.
I'd like to clarify this matter before buying a phone that would be completely useless for me if I'm not able to run the apps I want on it.
(By the way, I don't know if this changes anything but I'm using a Macbook as my laptop, not a Windows one).

Welcome to Windows Central.

As for the .apk method, no, that simply will not work. .apk is written in a format that an Android OS can interpret, not the Windows Phone OS. If this worked, Windows Phone users won't be complaining as much about the "lack" of apps in Windows Phones.

As for the .xap method, yes, this will work but only if you registered your phone as a developer phone. This is different from the simple "Preview for developers program". Check out this link for more information about how you can register your phone as a developer phone. With a developer-unlocked phone, you can install apps directly by "deploying" the .xap file by using the XAP deployment software in your PC to your phone*. However, you will be limited to only three apps without having to bypass any legal terms and conditions.

You may want to create a Windows Central account so you could track and respond to this thread easily.

*- Copying the .xap file by directly connecting your SD Card to your PC may not work.

 

[xandros9]

Re: WP phone advice needed.

We don't have the ability to run Android apps on Windows Phone.

It's worth looking at some Blackberries too though