Will Astoria and other Windows Bridges save Windows 10 Mobile?

[yanpaulo]

I'm very hopeful that this is going to happen, specially because these bridges seem to work very well.

But no matter how much I think, I have no idea if Windows will finally be a widely used mobile platform (and therefore not being at risk of dying). Any thoughts?

 

[rhapdog]

For us to know the answer, we will probably need to wait at least another year for the bridges to be both available and to start being used. Only time will tell.

 

[Steve Adams]

I am thinking that they (the "projects"), will be available by the end of the year, and about 6 months for them to really gain traction.

 

[prasanna moholkar]

I think we can install side loaded .apk file directly in windows10 mobile so chill.

 

[a5cent]

I think we can install side loaded .apk file directly in windows10 mobile so chill.

We already know that will not be the case. Most apps will not function fully or "as advertised" on WP without the developer getting involved. Then there are the legal issues which also require developer involvement.

The bridges are for developers only. They aren't for end users.

 

[anon(3463402)]

Windows Mobile doesn't need to be saved as it's much better than Android or iOS.

Better questions is: Can they save users from switching to Windows devices.

 

[FearL0rd]

no more. Astoria was removed from the OS

 

[Mad Cabbie]

We already know that will not be the case. Most apps will not function fully or "as advertised" on WP without the developer getting involved. Then there are the legal issues which also require developer involvement.

The bridges are for developers only. They aren't for end users.

Talking of legal issues, has anyone actually sat down and gone through Playstore / apple store.. How many different versions of apps are there? Just look at a few of the 'game' apps. I'll kick off with one of my favourite time killers. 2048. I always used the original, but there are a plethora of blatant imitations of it. I counted 12 the other week, when I found it on windows store, no not 12 in windows store (lol). How many different defence / strategy games are just blatant copies of others?? It's OK for Google and Co to say they have the most apps, but statistically, when removing the blatant imitations of an original, how many do they really have??

Surely, from a 'legal' standpoint, this must amount to theft of a devs intellectual rights?? Or, as usual, are google immune from this type of behaviour, just like their tax evasion practices. Strange really, I should like droid, being a fanatic linux user and a rom cooker, but I just fell out of love with it. Clunky, little integration with Fedora, Opensus, windows etc. Linux was OK for cooking but android always seemed to be a standalone platform. Even Chromebooks had limited integration with it.

As for windows 10 mobile, I don't think the long game involves us social users. The 950 / 950xl are obviously aimed at the enterprise market, and I guess that's where MS is heading, especially with the abundance of users of W10. The only budget device that was 'unveiled', albeit it very briefly, was probably an attempt to 'let Google and Apple know they were still around'. What could be interesting is if MS developed the linux system they have been working on.

Anyways, sorry for going off topic there...

 

[yanpaulo]

Windows Mobile doesn't need to be saved as it's much better than Android or iOS.

Better questions is: Can they save users from switching to Windows devices.

Yes, sorry, that's what I meant. Just used bad words
I think Windows is much better than Android, and maybe iOS (never used it, and that's why the "maybe").
By "save" I mean saving its existence, because it's not much likely for na OS to exist and be supported if much people don't use it.

 

[Steve Adams]

no more. Astoria was removed from the OS

No, its not. I was NEVER in the OS. That was a test program that was in the OS. Astoria and the others are separate programs desgined to give developers assistance to port their apps into the windows ecosystem.

 

[bemiquel]

I think Astoria and Islandwood are really key to making W10M succesful. I have been using Windows Phone since 2012 with WP8. Even though all this time there were not that many apps in the store, most of the essential apps and funcionalities were covered by Microsoft's and specially Nokia's apps (all the Lumia collection).

But Microsoft removed and quit support for many of them, I guess because they were being pressured by other OEMs, and now we are really lacking MANY quality apps in the platform. I don't feel like since the release of the preview of W10M nine months ago we have seen many apps coming to the platform.

So these two projects really are the last hope for us who wanna stay with Windows. They were announced in April and we haven't seen almost any progress yet. I really hope that Microsoft haven't dropped even partly the bridges, and I wish they were not so slow and missing their internal deadlines all the time.

Honestly I wish we could just freely run Android apps on our phones. I think Windows (desktop) has always been known as a platform in which you could freely run anything you wanted without much restrictions. I understand that people might not want bad-quality Android apps coming to the platform but it is their choice not to use them. The ONLY but BIG drawback of Windows 10 Mobile is the lack of apps.

 

[anon(3463402)]

Yes, sorry, that's what I meant. Just used bad words
I think Windows is much better than Android, and maybe iOS (never used it, and that's why the "maybe").
By "save" I mean saving its existence, because it's not much likely for na OS to exist and be supported if much people don't use it.

Microsoft is very serious here. They are working very hard on Windows Mobile, more than ever before.
Microsoft is committed to Windows phone (they just have a hard time showing it) | Windows Central

 

[Asskickulater]

I think Astoria and Islandwood are really key to making W10M succesful. I have been using Windows Phone since 2012 with WP8. Even though all this time there were not that many apps in the store, most of the essential apps and funcionalities were covered by Microsoft's and specially Nokia's apps (all the Lumia collection).

But Microsoft removed and quit support for many of them, I guess because they were being pressured by other OEMs, and now we are really lacking MANY quality apps in the platform. I don't feel like since the release of the preview of W10M nine months ago we have seen many apps coming to the platform.

So these two projects really are the last hope for us who wanna stay with Windows. They were announced in April and we haven't seen almost any progress yet. I really hope that Microsoft haven't dropped even partly the bridges, and I wish they were not so slow and missing their internal deadlines all the time.

Honestly I wish we could just freely run Android apps on our phones. I think Windows (desktop) has always been known as a platform in which you could freely run anything you wanted without much restrictions. I understand that people might not want bad-quality Android apps coming to the platform but it is their choice not to use them. The ONLY but BIG drawback of Windows 10 Mobile is the lack of apps.

It's much much bigger than "I understand that people might not want bad-quality Android apps coming to the platform but it is their choice not to use them" The issue laying with in this, and what people fear, is what happened to black berry, if Microsoft just allows android apps on WP, then devs are just gonna be like "well, if my app already works on it, then what's the point in making a native app for it" BB tried this, and it pretty much damned them, destroyed what little app market they had left, and forced them to rely solely on the android support.

 

[mnsiw]

I'm very hopeful that this is going to happen, specially because these bridges seem to work very well.

But no matter how much I think, I have no idea if Windows will finally be a widely used mobile platform (and therefore not being at risk of dying). Any thoughts?

Don't know about it but app gap is serious problem with WM, like my bank, my telecom and other utility companies have apps for Android and iOS but not for WM, I can not login to internet banking on Edge or UC on WM but it works on Droid Mini (DM) in Chrome. I can stream audio from Mac to DM using Airfoil server / speaker, on WM tried many DLNA / UPnP apps but no luck so far. Copying / Moving photos, music or video DM to Mac or Mac to DM is simple using Android File Transfer, but no proper way to do this with WM.

Even available apps on WM are not as polished as their Android versions. So they need to address this issue to gain market share. Let's see if Project Astoria improve this situation.

 

[yanpaulo]

It's much much bigger than "I understand that people might not want bad-quality Android apps coming to the platform but it is their choice not to use them" The issue laying with in this, and what people fear, is what happened to black berry, if Microsoft just allows android apps on WP, then devs are just gonna be like "well, if my app already works on it, then what's the point in making a native app for it" BB tried this, and it pretty much damned them, destroyed what little app market they had left, and forced them to rely solely on the android support.

Actually, Project Islandwood isn't a way to run iOS apps on Windows.
It works by actually making a port of the iOS app, building a full featured Universal Windows App, able to run on desktop, Xbox, Mobile, etc.

Astoria in the other hand runs Android apps, yes. But it also provides an SDK for the developer to implement Windows-specific stuff, like Live Tiles, Notifications, Microsoft services, etc. It is far different than an emulator. It's much bigger (and better) than that.

Windows Bridges are incredible Technologies, and I have very high hopes for what they'll do for Windows. Guess I'm just gonna have to wait :/

 

[bemiquel]

So apparently Astoria has been put on hold (and I think cancelled).

 

[yanpaulo]

So apparently Astoria has been put on hold (and I think cancelled).

I don't think so, since there's a whole tool/SDK for Astoria. Also, it seems to be one of the keys for Windows' strategy next year.

 

[elindalyne]

I don't think so, since there's a whole tool/SDK for Astoria. Also, it seems to be one of the keys for Windows' strategy next year.

Article on the front page :/

 

[seb_r]

Article on the front page :/

Not really new. MSFT has a long tradition in abandoning support for devices or software rather quickly, sometimes even before officially released.
I wouldn't be surprised if in next months we see more former features of W10M being canceled cos resources are limited andW10M is still a mess in latest build.

 

[Asskickulater]

Actually, Project Islandwood isn't a way to run iOS apps on Windows.
It works by actually making a port of the iOS app, building a full featured Universal Windows App, able to run on desktop, Xbox, Mobile, etc.

Astoria in the other hand runs Android apps, yes. But it also provides an SDK for the developer to implement Windows-specific stuff, like Live Tiles, Notifications, Microsoft services, etc. It is far different than an emulator. It's much bigger (and better) than that.

Windows Bridges are incredible Technologies, and I have very high hopes for what they'll do for Windows. Guess I'm just gonna have to wait :/

My comment was referring to Astoria, all the other bridges are godly things that can only help the platform, Astoria on the other hand, its cool, and I enjoyed using android apps on my phone, but its a gamble using it, I believe that windows 10 can build its own ecosystem and doesn't need to fall back on emulation