The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Android?

LumiaWorld

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

Nope. I think Microsoft is just doing such so that Android and iOS users will not be feeling overwhelmed when they will be making the switch to Windows 10...
 

gordonfink

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

I am really trying hard to figure out what the point of this thread is.
 

Camden Krupala

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

I would go as far to say that seasoning Windows with some Android style design might help convert people over. I really like the way WP currently looks but there are a lot of people who won't use it simply because they think it is ugly, maybe they will change their minds?
 

Praxius

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

Windows 10 Mobile isn't going to be an Android like device. It doesn't look like it and it doesn't operate like it.

The Hamburger buttons/menu is an Android thing?

So sick of hearing this and have no idea what this actually means.

The button with three lines rather than three dots??

Anybody with Cortana on their phone, open it up and look around. There's a hamburger button there and it's been there from the start as far as I remember. And now people are complaining that there's a hamburger button in Cortana on Windows 10? It's nothing new and not anything Microsoft threw out as a surprise to anybody paying attention.

The concept apps and UI for Windows 10 Mobile are the same as they always were in 7.5/7.8/8/8.1 but with some updated features.... Updated features people in the community have been asking for for a long time.

Now they added those things in and suddenly they're still doing something wrong and people still find something to complain about.

The hamburger buttons, the hamburger menus, the icons, the start menu, the start screen, the lack of transparency effects, the new settings menu.... People complained about Windows 8/8.1 (I didn't) and then complain that Windows 10 isn't like Windows 8/8.1
 

Yazen

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

They could be implementing an Android layer within WP OS
 

Yazen

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

Windows 10 Mobile isn't going to be an Android like device. It doesn't look like it and it doesn't operate like it.

The Hamburger buttons/menu is an Android thing?

So sick of hearing this and have no idea what this actually means.

The button with three lines rather than three dots??

Anybody with Cortana on their phone, open it up and look around. There's a hamburger button there and it's been there from the start as far as I remember. And now people are complaining that there's a hamburger button in Cortana on Windows 10? It's nothing new and not anything Microsoft threw out as a surprise to anybody paying attention.

The concept apps and UI for Windows 10 Mobile are the same as they always were in 7.5/7.8/8/8.1 but with some updated features.... Updated features people in the community have been asking for for a long time.

Now they added those things in and suddenly they're still doing something wrong and people still find something to complain about.

The hamburger buttons, the hamburger menus, the icons, the start menu, the start screen, the lack of transparency effects, the new settings menu.... People complained about Windows 8/8.1 (I didn't) and then complain that Windows 10 isn't like Windows 8/8.1

Compare apps between WP8 and W10.

On WP8 every app followed a consistent and predictable design. W10 does not look to have the same coherency.

Final release is not going to be drastically different either.

Maybe it will grow on the Metro fans. I just hope W10 doesn't feel like a poor quality clone of Android..
 

Visa Declined

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

If CM wins, Google would have to move more code into AOSP or risk losing users or hampering developers' abilities in Android.

What on earth are you talking about. This makes zero sense, at all.
 

Jas00555

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What on earth are you talking about. This makes zero sense, at all.

Perhaps you haven't been paying attention to Google's strategy over the past few years. On one of the podcasts I watch (This Week in Google on Twit, although Android Central has touched on it too if you want to stay in Mobile Nations), the topic of how Google is trying to lock down and control Android has come up frequently.

The way it was originally suppose to work, Google would continue to update AOSP, then anyone could fork that and make their own version of Android OS or use Google's version. The idea is that its all mostly equal. Over the past few years, Google has been deprecating APIs and slowly abandoning AOSP in favor of their own proprietary GMS. This has made it increasingly harder for people like Amazon or CM to compete, as you basically have to write for Google's version of Android (Snap chat is proof of this. In theory, Snap chat should be just like a lot of social media, but they require proprietary APIs that Google has put into GMS and left out of AOSP).

Google has also tried this (albeit with rather limited success) with Android One, where they offer pure, skinless Android. Not related to AO, but just look at how pure Androidish Samsung has become. It use to be overly skinned and touchwized to hell, but Google has been locking things down. It sorta makes sense why they would want to, but that's beside the point.

CM (and clearly many others including Microsoft) have noted this. CM is currently on 5% of Android devices and growing quickly. Their plan is to take that power away from Google and make it open. Many have interpreted this as somehow *they'll * be the next GMS, but (according to them anyways), they'll just want to make it open again, not to take down Google. It's obvious why that would hurt Google and why Microsoft would want it, but I'm not going to be the judge of what should/shouldn't happen.

Frankly, I've seen many of your comments in the articles, so you'll probably dismiss then, then insult me for not preferring your preferred tech company (if you don't, I'll be impressed).
 
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JamesDax

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

The UI is strikingly similar to Android, so similar that the first thing I thought of when i saw the UI was that Windows 10 has to be a transitionary placeholder before Microsoft makes the full move to their own flavor of android. Not just the hamburger menu, but everything functions like android would.... What would be the point of making an OS when it looks and functions like another major OS? wheres the "windows selling points" of Hubs and Live tiles and what not? hubs dont exist anymore, live tiles arent saving the OS and can be replicated in an android fork (plus apps like the music app no longer has a live tile that it did before), major apps are jumping ship and other major apps are left in indefinate beta (instagram)...theres no difference in UI between android and windows other than the homescreen now, and the homescreen can be replicated in android if microsoft wanted to make their own fork....Also, at the Windows 10 event, they barely touched on the phone interface and features, as if its not a priority.

Nokia X was the beginning experiments to see public sentiment. The recent investment in CyanogenMod makes me think this even more. Microsoft cares about selling services now more than selling "OSs" or even devices.

Another thing i thought of is that Microsoft can do what they did with the xbox, they can run 3 operating systems on each phone/device... Windows for the services, Android for the apps, and a hypervisor to connect both... it can be seemless and the user would never notice, especially since the UIs are melded together now. my point here is that there are ways microsoft can go about this.

The main reason i think they can move to android is for the apps of course. with all these companies jumping ship, and microsoft continuing to invest all their resources in iOS and Android apps before windows apps, it would be interesting to see if this becomes right. microsoft wants to sell services, so it wouldnt matter if the phone runs iOS or android, as long as youre subscribed to office and music and everything else.

Troll harder.
 

Visa Declined

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

Let me start off again with the original quote:

If CM wins, Google would have to move more code into AOSP or risk losing users or hampering developers' abilities in Android.

The "code" that Google leaves out of AOSP is stuff like Play Services, the store, Chrome, etc. This is Google's stuff, and would never be included in AOSP to begin with. When you said "Google would have to move more code into AOSP".. exactly which "code" are you talking about? The Google apps and the back end that runs them is not part of AOSP.

There is a group called the Open Handset Alliance, it is comprised of 84 different technology companies, and it works together in unison to manage and improve AOSP. Members of the group can use Google's proprietary "stuff" on their phones, but if they do, they have to pretty much use all of it. Not only that, but Google's apps have to have prominent placement on the home screen(s) of the device.

Here's a snippet of what Google requires:

The phone manufacturer must place “Google's Search and the Android Market Client icon [Google Play] ... at least on the panel immediately adjacent to the Default Home Screen,” with "all other Google Applications ... no more than one level below the Phone Top

The phone manufacturer must set “Google Search ... as the default search provider for all Web search access points.” See MADA Section 3.4(4).

Google's Network Location Provider service must be preloaded and the default.

These are the things that people rebel against, they can't simply use one or two Google apps, and they MUST place everything exactly where Google wants them.

Nobody is expecting them to "add their stuff" to AOSP, which is what I'm assuming what you are talking about. Handset makers can take AOSP and do whatever they want with it without Google apps(except dual boot with Windows) or they can play by Google's rules and include the crown jewels.

*edit
Maybe AOSP WOULD be allowed to dual boot with Windows, but the Google version of Android has been barred from doing so in the past.
 
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Sidharth N Iyer

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

I don't think so. But there is only some common features. In action centre we can add more toggle by expanding it... Also we can change the position of the keyboard which is integrated with Cortana... That's a good feature which is commonly found in android devices.
 

Jazmac

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

I don't care. I think this cynogen adoption into our phones is the shot in the arm this platform needs. If Cynogen can help this platform to gain a foothold into mobile let it be so. Just as long as we don't have to deal with scroogle in the process, I'm good with Cynogenmod in our platform. My only fight would be to maintain our design language.
 

Visa Declined

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

I don't care. I think this cynogen adoption into our phones is the shot in the arm this platform needs. If Cynogen can help this platform to gain a foothold into mobile let it be so. Just as long as we don't have to deal with scroogle in the process, I'm good with Cynogenmod in our platform. My only fight would be to maintain our design language.

Look, this is all speculation, and we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. But lets just say for a minute that Microsoft came out with a phone that ran Android, but had MS apps instead of Google's. Would you buy it? Did you buy a Nokia X phone? were you excited about those devices?

A Microsoft phone that ran CyanogenMod would be a shining alter of everything you guys hate. We've seen this happen already. It would not be a Windows device, it would be Android.

For all we know, Microsoft could have zero interest in doing something like this(probably) and they might simply be negotiating to get their apps included in the CyanogenMod OS.(most likely)

When you say "if CyanogenMod can help this platform gain a foothold," exactly which platform are you speaking of? Windows Phone? CyanogenMod can't help WP with anything, at least not anything that I can foresee. Maybe someone else could chime in here.
 

srikanth reddy4

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

the difference here is with OEMs that might choose to use CyanogenMod instead of google android

yes your absolutely right.The real motto of Microsoft is clear they are helping in the development of CyanogenMod so that many OEMs choose CyanogenMod rom instead of google's and also this can give a more market for Microsoft's android apps.
 

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

The real motto of Microsoft is clear they are helping in the development of CyanogenMod so that many OEMs choose CyanogenMod rom instead of google's

Look, saying this is going make me even more unpopular than I already am, but an Android phone without Google apps is going to flop. OEM's know this, which is why they put up with Google's bs.
 

white_Shadoww

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

No one has actually seen the W10 for phone UI yet...

A few blurry screenshots and a few Office 10 and OneDrive shots from the video presentation do not mean anything. Of course the 'knee jerk' crowd have drawn a massive conclusion and that is that as far as they are concerned.

Until we actually see the finished product, any conclusions are moot!!!


What are you going to say when Windows 10 for phones is revealed and when we are right? What more do you want to see? They showed Office apps, new dialer, new gallery. Isn't it enough to draw a conclusion?
 

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Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro

What are you going to say when Windows 10 for phones is revealed and when we are right? What more do you want to see? They showed Office apps, new dialer, new gallery. Isn't it enough to draw a conclusion?

If I may add in here, from what I've seen of Windows 10 on phone so far, it's a drastic change. and I agree that it has "other" influence. As long as they keep the Live Tiles though idgaf, the big spaces and spaced out wording isn't very attractive to me.
 

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