Why fight if you can use your rival for your own benefit?

[Younes Mirzaie]

If there's one company that can create flawless emulators, it's Microsoft. They've proven them selves with Xbox 360 on One and Windows 10 on ARM. So why not creating a built-in emulator for android or ask Bluestacks developers to build one for Surface? If this device is a Windows PC then it can easily handle the current Bluestacks app for Windows with no problem. However a built-in version is always better for performance. With this simple solution app gap will no longer be a problem. Who doesn't love a pocket sized PC that can run APKs like any other android device?

 

[xandros9]

Ahh this question again!

Basically, Android apps on Windows on a phone sounds great right? Well if you want Android apps you might as well get an Android phone because that invariably happens is the compatibility layer is imperfect.

It won't have Google Play Services, ruling out the vast majority of apps that users care for because they often rely on Play Services. (see: BlackBerry 10, Sailfish)
It won't work 100% 100% of the time, if you want Android you might as well get Android.
I think MS will find that people use different software on their PC and on their phone and Android apps on a desktop doesn't bring much benefit and vice versa. (I know you're talking about a phone)
And it's been done before, and those platforms are either stalled or dead so...

 

[Guytronic]

Well if you want Android apps you might as well get an Android phone because that invariably happens is the compatibility layer is imperfect.

I agree.
Still not understanding the quest for Android apps on Windows devices when simply obtaining a device designed for Android removes all complexity.

 

[beman39]

I might be the only one who thinks this, or maybe not, but I would never want Android on my Windows phone, and if you want android so badly then buy an android phone, it's that simple. I never understood these types of questions or "wants" for Windows phones... might be shocking but I want my Windows phone and luv my Windows phone just the way it is... or maybe I would change a couple of things and it has nothing to do with the Windows phone per say, but the devs actually, I just wish they would be more favorable towards windows mobile...

 

[Thomas Wall]

I think what people really want when they say this is they want a few key apps, some Google ones come to mind

 

[MobileWorldUnited]

I think it's very important that they put back the emulator windows phone had throughout windows! At the end of the day no matter how many windows fans complain or give reason why it shouldn't be done its give windows a big chance to compete in the app market or get more native apps for windows! Microsoft should allow google play apps in the windows store and let devs decide if they want to upload a native app on a good day or upload a google play app on a good day! As the end consumer wouldn't care what some windows fan boy has to say so long as the market device has apps and they don't have to leave windows devices to the scrap yard to play angry birds.....

The consumer doesn't care all they care about is the app selection not an imperfect layer.....thats what you care about and if microsoft doesn't do it cause of that windows mobile will stay dead! So I say they have to do it!

All the consumer cares about is app selection, android has them if that brings people to the windows community not bringing android apps will only hold back windows!

 

[ashram]

Microsoft did this already.... When windows 10 mobile/phone was still in beta, some of they earlier builds had an android emulator. Now it was a basic emulator with almost no ability to interact with some of the phone hardware. So no bluetooth, camera, gps, etc and it didn't work with most apps AND you had to sideload all the apps. The apps that did work, worked decently. I was able to use most of my bank's app (minus the camera for check deposits). But many apps and games just crashed.

 

[MobileWorldUnited]

Okay well at the end of the day 99.99 percent of the consumer market doesn't care about that all they care about is more apps..... app selection get it through your thick head Microsoft should improve the emulator not leave it broken maybe they can now with xbox emulators getting better by day with updates!

Look your 15000 comments about how windows doesn't need android apps won't bring consumers to a dying platform only app selection via an android emulator will......

It's even on android people want apps so much they have alternatives to google play apps ilegal apps even on the iphone the consumer only cares about apps not a useless operating system with perfection.....people will hack ios devices to add illegal app stores or sideload android phones with apps from websites not available on official stores at the end of the day it is right for android apps to come to windows people already download blue stacks and a million other emulators for android apps and game including other emulators for anything windows gets its user market from having the operating system that could run anything remove that and microsoft will be done this website would really have to find some other bull**** to post.....

 

[Podster16]

the lack off apps is making Chromebooks look very inviting, I hoping to find one in the black Friday sales and ditch my windows laptop.
I'm not waiting any longer for apps to return 8.1 had more apps, windows will eventually just be for business the way it's going

 

[MobileWorldUnited]

Yup chrome book is looking good and runs smoothly will be update you are right im switching my heavy laptop to chrome book android wins again!

 

[Chris Hodges2]

If there's one company that can create flawless emulators, it's Microsoft. They've proven them selves with Xbox 360 on One and Windows 10 on ARM. So why not creating a built-in emulator for android or ask Bluestacks developers to build one for Surface? If this device is a Windows PC then it can easily handle the current Bluestacks app for Windows with no problem. However a built-in version is always better for performance. With this simple solution app gap will no longer be a problem. Who doesn't love a pocket sized PC that can run APKs like any other android device?

They should work with VMWare to make a virtual machine environment, like parallels on mac.

 

[MobileWorldUnited]

Look if Microsoft doesn't succeed they will go enterprize they won't care about windows community....

 

[ikinal]

I am one of those die hard fans from whom you would have to pry my Windows Phone from my hands - I refuse to use anything else. Personally, I thought Project Astoria was one of the best things that almost happened to Windows Phone. For those few builds where it was available, I was able to use several apps on my phone that were very useful to me, and I miss that terribly. I was very disappointed when that project was scrapped.

 

[tofferne]

I don't like the Microsoft launcher on my Samsung 7 Edge, it's terrible. It's a release to delete it and use the Microsoft apps. But I have two 950 XL back, I love them. Windows is really good, and I do need a lot of apps. I use my 7 Edge if I need a special app, two times in a year.
I don't like Android very much, it's nothing special. But Windows 10 and access to Android apps could be nice for a lot of people. In the same times I would like to make my choice - the tiles to be round / a circle or quadratic. A lot of people dont like these old tiles and the desktop.

 

[Hanley Gibbons]

Absolutely not. Emulating a more popular platform removes any incentive to develop UWP which is key to Windows' OneCore future. Not to mention it'd have bugs which would sour people's opinion of Windows even further

 

[MobileWorldUnited]

People won't develop uwps anyway.....period lmao

The launcher doesn't even work I wonder why they are still developing it....

Well keep that phone forever

 

[realwarder]

What they actually need to do is make UWP apps run on Android and iOS. So developers have a reason to write in UWP. I.e. generate universal apps*.

They tried the Android emulator route before in mobile but likely found performance and definitely the lack of Google Play services to be a show stopper to usefulness.

* edit: And I know Microsoft has Xamarin... we use that at work as well as UWP, and currently use Xamarin more because it is more universal! For UWP to succeed it needs a reason to exist. HoloLens without Android/iOS is not a reason. It has to be truly universal.

 

[slepr]

I will expose my lack of knowledge of OS's but now that MS has announced the maintenance status of W10M, and have turned to supporting Android devices, why couldn't MS make a forked version of Android (kind of like Cyanogen) where they can deeply integrate things like Cortana into the OS? I personally hate Android and iOS interfaces and will continue to use my X3 until the end of W10M but with a highly customized version of Android by MS they could at least bring some of the beauty of the W10M interface to a phone that has no app gap.

 

[Thomas Henry2]

dude no one in their right mind wants android....its just a solution to a problem and nothing more

 

[gamo62]

Let it go already. If MS didn't support their own mobile OS, then why would they support others to run on a dead hardware platform.
Let it go. It's ok. There are other battles. This isn't one.