Why doesn't Microsoft allow WP user to install Android apk files?

[WanderingTraveler]

The Windows Phone OS already takes up more than 3GB on my 630.

Android app support will add to that.

You're saying that you're fine with shafting users of phones with 4GB storage?

 

[xandros9]

The Windows Phone OS already takes up more than 3GB on my 630.

Android app support will add to that.

You're saying that you're fine with shafting users of phones with 4GB storage?

You look like you support 4 GB devices. Are you saying we should not upgrade Windows Phone and all revert to Portico?

 

[salmanahmad]

I certainly do understand people switching platforms out of frustration, although to switch to a different platform such as blackberry os 10 and above or android; the option for manually updating and installing apk is still an option regardless of the switch. I also do understand that there are a handful of phone users that simply do not have time or are not willing to put effort into manual updating.

You know why manually updating will become frustrating? Because:

? You'll have to update it every now and then

? You'll have to find a site to download the .apk from, also a fuss.

? If an update breaks the app on your phone, tough luck.

People will realize more and more that they truly do need Android apps more than Windows Phone apps, and they wouldn't be able to deal with the ones that crash so often and eventually they'll move to a platform with more apps; be it Android or iOS.

Getting an App Store may alleviate some of these problems, but I would still recommend against a decision like this.

The Windows Phone OS already takes up more than 3GB on my 630.

Android app support will add to that.

You're saying that you're fine with shafting users of phones with 4GB storage?

It's not like Android apps will come pre-installed on your phone, so storage shouldn't be a problem.

I've also found that a lot of apps on Android are smaller in size than the iOS and Windows Phone counterparts.

 

[Majstr]

What am I reading here! It is not problem in manually installation and updating. It is problem that WP is totaly diferent platform than Android. You can not run or even install android app (or any other platform app) on WP. App must be compiled (programing thing) for specific platform. Android app are mostly written in Java and run on ART (now), Dalvik (then) runtime enviroment. WP doesn't support Java and doesn't even have ART. WP apps are written in C# and use completely different runtime enviroment. You could write App in native language (C++) but there are problema with APIs and platform specific things.

Forget the idea of having Android Apps on WP. It is imposible!

 

[Karthik Naik]

What we are missing are :
Snapchat
Official YouTube
Candy Crush
Clash of clans and then I think that's the most needed apps done already. WP has come a really long way.

official youtube for what?so google can track our data and so we can waste our data plan on adverts?
i dont use the official youtube app on any of the other platform phones/tablets which i have

jasmine(ios),metrotube and youtube hd(wp) are wayy better than the official app

 

[Karthik Naik]

@ op the idea is that windows phone is piracy free and malware free
on android malware and piracy are very very prevailent and are common unlike ios,bb10,wp
i agree they should perhaps give an option to run apks like BB10 so we get apps which may never reach BB10 or get delayed but the piracy issue would come to wp then
i guess the best thing would be a compiler like the early days of QNX and BB10 where .apks had to be converted to .bar and signed by the dev to be submitted to the app world

 

[Aryan Salooja]

At this point of time, I really need Real Racing 3 on WP.... That's it. Or if Real Racing 2 gets free and enables the support for 512 ram phones I'll be more than happy. I agree Asphalt 8 : Airborne is a great alternative to it but, if Real Racing 3 comes then we'll have a variety of good racing on WP. Other than that, I don't even give a damn to other apps on Android. However, if Amazon Store comes to WP, I'll be more than satisfied.

 

[salmanahmad]

official youtube for what?so google can track our data and so we can waste our data plan on adverts?
i dont use the official youtube app on any of the other platform phones/tablets which i have

jasmine(ios),metrotube and youtube hd(wp) are wayy better than the official app

If Google truly wanted to track your data plan it can do it regardless of whatever client you use, because in the end they all use YouTube.

Advertisements aren't so that Google the evil company earns tons of money from you innocent customers.


Advertisements are a way with which content creators on YouTube can earn money to support their channels, advertisements are optional for video creators and watching a few seconds of ads every now and then won't hurt your budget, but it will help the video maker that you are watching.

And also another consideration is that the YouTube APIs can change overnight, leaving the third party clients useless until the developer updates the app, which can take hours or days, making the official YouTube app more reliable.

Add to that, YouTube on Android also gives me notifications when my favourite channel uploads a video, you've got yourself arguably the best YouTube app ever.

Windows Phone could use a few Android apps, YouTube is definitely one of them.

@ op the idea is that windows phone is piracy free and malware free
on android malware and piracy are very very prevailent and are common unlike ios,bb10,wp
i agree they should perhaps give an option to run apks like BB10 so we get apps which may never reach BB10 or get delayed but the piracy issue would come to wp then
i guess the best thing would be a compiler like the early days of QNX and BB10 where .apks had to be converted to .bar and signed by the dev to be submitted to the app world

Allowing .apks and piracy are different things, Windows Phone wouldn't be malware and piracy filled just because .apks would be available.

But my solution would be possibly getting an App Store like Amazon instead of manually installing .apks, but Microsoft has probably already researched on this and thought that Android .apks weren't the way to go.

However bashing Android won't help, if Android we're as piracy filled and malware filled I would like to ask two questions:

? Why do developers still make more money on Android than Windows Phone despite the OS being "piracy ridden"?

? If Android we're as "malware ridden" as you call it why hasn't everyone moved to another OS? Why does Android continue to grow?

But I suppose this isn't the thread for those questions, and nor is it the thread to bash Android and Google, so stop it already.

 

[Karthik Naik]

^^dont kid
people publish apps on android because they want money by displaying ads
android is malware ridden but its not growing as you like to think,its saturated and at a standstill
if you see carefully the thread title mentions android and apk,so yeah android bashing should be expected
you should go to androidcentral if you dont like others pointing out issues in your beloved android
about youtube- are you saying google doesnt earn by displaying ads? you are seriously misinformed

allowing .apk installs = piracy ,i bet nearly all youngsters have pirated apps on android
many devs dont develop for android because it has alot of piracy
my own apps on android dont offer a pro version and display ads etc on android because my team thinks alot of people will pirate it anyway(we havent released the apps yet,they are snapchat like IM clients)
we are developing and releasing it on BB10 ,WP and ios before rolling it out to android so we can recover costs

 

[Karthik Naik]

about android malware and piracy-
Dear Android: a 9:1 piracy rate for games is not good enough (Wired UK)

https://www.google.co.in/webhp?sour...7IN0537&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=phone malware

http://www.slashgear.com/95-android-game-piracy-experience-highlights-app-theft-challenge-15282064/

http://www.slashgear.com/unbelievab...ced-free-app-decision-says-game-dev-23239758/
sorry for going OT but heres proof

 

[salmanahmad]

^^dont kid
people publish apps on android because they want money by displaying ads
android is malware ridden but its not growing as you like to think,its saturated and at a standstill
if you see carefully the thread title mentions android and apk,so yeah android bashing should be expected
you should go to androidcentral if you dont like others pointing out issues in your beloved android
about youtube- are you saying google doesnt earn by displaying ads? you are seriously misinformed

allowing .apk installs = piracy ,i bet nearly all youngsters have pirated apps on android
many devs dont develop for android because it has alot of piracy
my own apps on android dont offer a pro version and display ads etc on android because my team thinks alot of people will pirate it anyway(we havent released the apps yet,they are snapchat like IM clients)
we are developing and releasing it on BB10 ,WP and ios before rolling it out to android so we can recover costs

First and foremost good luck with the application that you are planning to develop. I hope it is a massive success, I know the time and effort and frustration that goes into learning how to code and making an app, I hope your efforts are worthwhile.

The thread mentions Android as a means to help Windows Phone, bashing Android won't help the case being discussed and you'll start a flame war leading to the thread being inevitably closed.

No OS is without it's faults and flaws, Android is is no exception but you say that developers "don't" develop for Android because of piracy, that is simply wrong. While yes developers prefer iOS, they do make an Android port of their app and if they didn't it would be career suicide.

Piracy is a totally different issue and my solution was that Microsoft should maybe instead of giving users a free hand to install .apks, give an App Store like Amazon instead.

And as far as YouTube and Google go. Yes Google maybe Google also makes money from the ads that are displayed, but you should also realise that the person who makes the videos is also benefitted a lot too.

But Windows Phone is deficit of a lot of applications.

about android malware and piracy-
Dear Android: a 9:1 piracy rate for games is not good enough (Wired UK)

https://www.google.co.in/webhp?sour...7IN0537&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=phone malware

http://www.slashgear.com/95-android-game-piracy-experience-highlights-app-theft-challenge-15282064/

http://www.slashgear.com/unbelievab...ced-free-app-decision-says-game-dev-23239758/
sorry for going OT but heres proof

I never denied that Android had piracy and malware, but it's not as big of a deal as you make it out to be. Also it has nothing to do with the issue being discussed.

 

[astraith]

Because it's a horrible idea. Did It help BlackBerry?

 

[tgp]

Because it's a horrible idea. Did It help BlackBerry?

We don't know. It might have helped. BlackBerry might be even worse off without Android apps.

Sent from whatever device I happen to be using today using Tapatalk

 

[pgg101]

Because it's a horrible idea. Did It help BlackBerry?

For this BlackBerry user it did. Google Maps, and Showbox are my major Android needs, and runs perfectly on the 4.3 Android runtime (BB10.3).

Posted via the Windows Phone Central App for Android on a BlackBerry Z30

 

[Karthik Naik]

same with my Z10,lovely phone!! i use it alongside my 720

 

[KhawarNadeem]

In what world does the concept of running inefficient Java-coded apps, which don't even follow the platform design language, on top of yet another inefficient mandatory sandbox VM seem like a good idea?

 

[neo158]

In what world does the concept of running inefficient Java-coded apps, which don't even follow the platform design language, on top of yet another inefficient mandatory sandbox VM seem like a good idea?

Windows Phone isn't inefficient and runs apps natively but in a sandbox, no VM involved.

 

[KhawarNadeem]

Windows Phone isn't inefficient and runs apps natively but in a sandbox, no VM involved.

Dude, seriously?

I am not calling WP inefficient. It's one of the most (if not THE) most efficient mobile OS out there.
I said: Java is inefficient. Much more so compared to C# and especially C++ in which MS recommends users to write the more hardcore applications.

I also said: Those apks running on WP would have to run in a VM which would compound the Java inefficiency.

 

[neo158]

Dude, seriously?

I am not calling WP inefficient. It's one of the most (if not THE) most efficient mobile OS out there.
I said: Java is inefficient. Much more so compared to C# and especially C++ in which MS recommends users to write the more hardcore applications.

I also said: Those apks running on WP would have to run in a VM which would compound the Java inefficiency.

Then re read your post and you'll see why I posted that!!!

 

[ShinraCorp]

Then re read your post and you'll see why I posted that!!!

Actually Windows Phone would need to run a VM if it wants to run on JAVA. Just like Blackberry. He said that JAVA is inefficient not Windows Phone.