MSFT Considering Android Apps For Windows Phones.

k0de

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In a few months since switching over to MSFT. I have spent hundreds. Perhaps thousands in support to the platform in games and apps. Not including word of mouth and other media.

If this actually happens my support will return back to Apple.

What would you do?
 
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Michael Alan Goff

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In a few months since switching over to MSFT. I have spent hundreds. Perhaps thousands in support to the platform in games and apps. Not including word of mouth and other media.

If this actually happens my support will return back to Apple.

What would you do?

I'd move to another platform. Optimized apps are why WP can have such low specs and be relevant. And porting apps over will mean they don't quite perform as well. And WP devices can't really normally have as high of specs as their Android counterparts, because WP has a license fee and Android doesn't.
 

snowmutt

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This is being reported in a lot of places, but I would not buy it until it happened.

Besides, this in itself would not push me to Apple. It surely would make me pay more attention to what happens security and quality wise, but not leave just yet.
 

k0de

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I'd move to another platform. Optimized apps are why WP can have such low specs and be relevant. And porting apps over will mean they don't quite perform as well. And WP devices can't really normally have as high of specs as their Android counterparts, because WP has a license fee and Android doesn't.

What platform would that be if not Apple?

This is being reported in a lot of places, but I would not buy it until it happened.

Besides, this in itself would not push me to Apple. It surely would make me pay more attention to what happens security and quality wise, but not leave just yet.

Why wait till it happens. What then if it happens.

Will you continue to support MSFT?

Same here.

Why would you return back to Apple?
 
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DJRedLine

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I don't think this should happen.

At present Windows Phone has its own developer base. If MSFT decides to allow android apps onto the marketplace then they will have to explain to those developers why they should continue to support Windows.

A developer could then decide to just make for android and have their apps on both markets. In my personal opinion even though the marketplace is small in comparison to others it is full of good written applications of high quality. If android apps are allowed onto it then it will be overrun with utter rubbish and malware infested applications.
 

anony_mouse

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A developer could then decide to just make for android and have their apps on both markets.

That is *exactly* the point! Why would this be bad, for either users or developers? Unless Google Play access is included (which seems unlikely), Microsoft will still get to decide which applications you can run on *your* hardware.
 

anony_mouse

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If this actually happens my support will return back to Apple.

I have no idea if this will happen or not (*), but why on earth would it make you leave Windows Phone?! How is the number of WP apps you've bought relevant? Isn't this just about increasing the number of apps available to WP users, and making life easier for developers? How is that a bad thing for anyone?

(*) In another thread, we've been discussing some of the issues with running an Android app outside of 'official' Android.
 
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Speedygi

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This would be bad if it happens, because then app design will be very uneven. Imagine the Metro UI mixed in with Android app design principles. I wouldn't want that to happen in any case.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
 

anony_mouse

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This would be bad if it happens, because then app design will be very uneven. Imagine the Metro UI mixed in with Android app design principles. I wouldn't want that to happen in any case.

Microsoft could somehow indicate in the app store whether an app is 'WP' or 'Android'. You could then avoid installing 'Android' apps, but those to want to, can do so. Would that solve your problem?
 

Speedygi

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Microsoft could somehow indicate in the app store whether an app is 'WP' or 'Android'. You could then avoid installing 'Android' apps, but those to want to, can do so. Would that solve your problem?

I personally wouldn't mind if the design is uneven as I use a Galaxy S4 currently, but I'm afraid for the entire ecosystem which could be really uneven once Android apps come into the Windows Phone space.
 

emperor_skull

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Hell no that's a bad idea, this will certainly end wp8 and make android supreme, app developers won't even think of making apps for wp8 ,they would say since they can now download the same app from Android no need making one for them, and another is that people won't see reaseons to buy a windows phone if they don't have exclusives , another reason is that blackberry tried it and were are they now? , please Microsoft should not try this , rather they should work on there SDKs and API, give developers more freedom and reasons to create apps for them, in time we will have those apps we need, ms should just work on the OS ,please and just forget this idea of allowing users to download apps to there wp
 

anony_mouse

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Hell no that's a bad idea, this will certainly end wp8 and make android supreme, app developers won't even think of making apps for wp8 ,they would say since they can now download the same app from Android no need making one for them, and another is that people won't see reaseons to buy a windows phone if they don't have exclusives , another reason is that blackberry tried it and were are they now? , please Microsoft should not try this , rather they should work on there SDKs and API, give developers more freedom and reasons to create apps for them, in time we will have those apps we need, ms should just work on the OS ,please and just forget this idea of allowing users to download apps to there wp

So you think exclusive apps are the only selling point of WP? The UI, the Microsoft services, xbox, etc are not attractive in themselves?
Genuine question: how many worthwhile exclusive apps does WP have?
Fair point about Blackberry.
 

WanderingTraveler

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That is *exactly* the point! Why would this be bad, for either users or developers? Unless Google Play access is included (which seems unlikely), Microsoft will still get to decide which applications you can run on *your* hardware.
Bad for users. We'll get half-assed ports everywhere. We're already lucky some reluctant devs are taking the time to at least make a native port, but with Android apps running on WP? Even those on the fence will go down the (Android) drain.
Take a look at BB10.

Bad for developers. Rather, the ones that don't want to exert any effort. Knowing how inefficiently Android runs, and how low-specced WPs are compared to Androids, devs would be flooded with requests to make the apps smoother, be more efficient, and other sorts of requests along this line.
WP users are already quite spoiled with the smoothness (and the design) standards set by Microsoft.
 

anony_mouse

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Bad for users. We'll get half-assed ports everywhere. We're already lucky some reluctant devs are taking the time to at least make a native port, but with Android apps running on WP? Even those on the fence will go down the (Android) drain.
Take a look at BB10.

OK - I don't necessarily Microsoft should or will do this, but I'm going to continue playing devil's advocate because I don't find the reasons against presented here convincing. I don't see why it matters to the user if the app runs in the WP runtime or the Android runtime. Users care whether the app is good quality, useful, stable, entertaining, well designed, etc, not what language it's written in or what APIs it uses.

Bad for developers. Rather, the ones that don't want to exert any effort. Knowing how inefficiently Android runs, and how low-specced WPs are compared to Androids, devs would be flooded with requests to make the apps smoother, be more efficient, and other sorts of requests along this line.
WP users are already quite spoiled with the smoothness (and the design) standards set by Microsoft.

Several points there:
- Well, bad developers will write bad apps anyway, and users will be dissatisfied with them. In reality, the market will decide what level of quality is acceptable and anyway, Microsoft will still control which apps go into the app store (assuming they don't adopt Google Play). If Android developers are flooded with requests to make apps smoother, perhaps they will do so?!
- I don't agree that Android runs inefficiently (in comparison to Windows Phone). I would agree that WP sometimes responds more quickly on cheap hardware (i.e. something happens when I touch the screen), although it varies from device to device. I don't think it's faster than Android (i.e. the action completes, e.g. an app starts up and is usable). Anyway, if there is a difference, is it down to the runtime, or the underlying OS, or the claimed 'better optimisation'? It may be that Android apps run faster on WP - could be a selling point!
- Are Windows Phones underspecced compared to Android phones? As far as I can tell, for the same price, you get similar hardware. It might be true that the average selling price of a Windows Phone is lower than an Android phone, meaning that the average performance will be less. However, users' expectations will also presumably be lower with cheap hardware, and anyway the device will run more slowly whichever kind of app it is running.
- The point about design standards is a fair one. Again, Microsoft will presumably control which apps can be run, so they could impose certain design standards on 'Android' apps. This means more work for the developer, but still much less than rewriting the app for WP (which would anyway require the design to be changed, and much more).
 

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