Windows 10 must allow access to Android Apps to be successful on Tablets and Phones

[xandros9]

Besides everything already outlined, Android applications are designed differently (ok fine, maybe games are an exception) and would likely wreck any consistency with the mish mash of material, holo, modern design etc.

Also performance and battery would almost definitely be sub par.
(see: Bluestacks)

Etc etc, and i think any other point I'd bring up has already been brought up.

 

[jomarr]

Love love Android but no.

I like Live Tiles better than Widgets but I do love the optimization of Android apps. I recently downloaded the MSN Health and Fitness app on Android and it's leagues better than the one on Windows Phone. The Windows Phone app takes forever to load and sometimes I need to restart the app to keep it running.

The reason why I don't think Android app compatibility on WP is the answer is because we don't really lack apps anymore. Majority of the major apps are already on WP. Recently, we got Candy Crush and Minecraft, two of the biggest games right now.

The problem is quality for the most part. Microsoft needs to give these developers motivation to work on their Windows Phone apps. I just hope MS gets it right with W10. But for the record, most people will enjoy Windows Phone. My mom LOVES her 735. She actually wanted my 920 but it broke like a week after I gave it to her and then we replaced it with a 735 and she loves it.

Also, Spotify please let me scrobble my played tracks to Last FM!

 

[gMaesterUK]

In terms of game porting, Unity have made it incredibly easy to port games to windows, so any game developed on unity have no excuse.

MS are merging their app stores, I believe the final merge will take place ready for Win10 when all apps will be universal apps.

I agree with most that I would prefer quality over quantity. Regards HSBC they didn't provide an app nor customer service so I moved to Barclays who do provide an app that is actually very good.

I don't see how MS can make it any easier to develop an app when they provide so many resources on msdn and other MS sites. It's more down to user numbers, if apple gets the most apps and its numbers are very low teens then MS don't have to go too far especially in Europe to have parity. Also users themselves have a voice to hassle the developer.

G.

 

[Avik Biswas]

WOW, everyone is seem to put up the quality vs quantity argument, let's be honest windows 8.1 or windows phone 8.1 lacks both quality and quantity of apps, how much quality apps are there on windows phone or windows 8.1, if you search through the market, you will see tons of fake or web wrapper apps, even first party company tends to deliver a web wrapper.

And besides apps, windows phone has tons of performance issue, like slow music app, resuming screen, no customizable lockscreen!, limited store payment option, and ofc the windows UI is horrible in some way.

People are complaining about apps, and blame devs or companies. But the core problem is MS itself, MS has a great history of making major changes to the OS, and that requires rewrite the app from ground again. Epic Games said the same thing in relate to their UE4 for windows phone or windows 8.1 app market, they wanna see what is the final form of the OS, No company wants to invest in a app and after few months they find out that they have to rewrite the whole thing again!!

And as for Android apps on WP, NO WAY!!!! The day windows phone can run android apps, most of windows phone supporter including me will sell their WP and choose Cyanogenmod.

I think the app gap will close when windows 10 will release. As developer will know that the are dealing with the real OS change, and not gonna change soon and break their apps. But i think ms should have less restriction regarding os, and gives the dev more access(ofc trusted devs), And more of all MS needs to prioritize their own platform.

 

[TechFreak1]

To add to what has already been said:
After the android apps have been added, what next?

People will most likely start complaining that the said apps do not follow the Modern (metro) design language, is buggy or why are devs focused on the android port instead of making a native windows phone app.

So in short, NO windows 10 for mobile or tablet does not need Android Apps to be successful - case in point did having access to android apps help Blackberry?

 

[gMaesterUK]

EDITED to remove rant.

I can honestly say I hate android with a passion, I had a tablet last year that was crap. My tablet is now an iPad air 2. Only cause I couldn't afford the surface 3. I have a Lumia phone right now, have since last year.

I've always promoted windows phone to anyone who asks my advice. If anything I tell people that if not windows then apple but never android.

And yes I did move banks. Where I live they are within a few mins walk of each other, interest rates on current accounts are crap and Barclays have customer service in the UK unlike HSBC. And the Barclays app is very good.

G.

 

[gadgetebz]

So lets see I have Mortgages, Loans and numerous accounts with HSBC and a 30 year relationship so probably not going to change my bank...

 

[RichardBurt]

RichardBurt I think you need to reread the whole post, at no point have I said android apps should be on windows, in fact I argued the opposite. I even had a post about the technical side.

I can honestly say I hate android with a passion, I had a tablet last year that was crap. My tablet is now an iPad air 2. Only cause I couldn't afford the surface 3. I have a Lumia phone right now, have since last year.

I've always promoted windows phone to anyone who asks my advice. If anything I tell people that if not windows then apple but never android.

And yes I did move banks. Where I live they are within a few mins walk of each other, interest rates on current accounts are crap and Barclays have customer service in the UK unlike HSBC. And the Barclays app is very good.

I can only assume you were too quick to type without reading the facts.

G.

So sorry gMaesterUK, I misread your name for the OP's.

Please accept my apologies.

 

[KarmaEcrivain94]

Sure. Brilliant idea. Let's dump this BS:
onto here:
Doesn't it go well together?



Seriously, strap this idea on a rocket to the sun.

 

[Visa Declined]

Sure. Brilliant idea. Let's dump this BS:

Next time you search the internet for what something looks like on Android, make sure the image you select isn't old as dirt.

This is what Gmail looks like, right now.

 

[neo158]

Next time you search the internet for what something looks like on Android, make sure the image you select isn't old as dirt.

This is what Gmail looks like, right now.

http://i.imgur.com/9wBr8iQ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/E9pZX1y.jpg

Makes no difference to me, why would anyone want Android apps on WP?

 

[KarmaEcrivain94]

Next time you search the internet for what something looks like on Android, make sure the image you select isn't old as dirt.

This is what Gmail looks like, right now.

http://i.imgur.com/9wBr8iQ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/E9pZX1y.jpg

Doesn't change the fact that it's a completely different philosophy, and they still wouldn't go well together.

 

[tanya shah1]

Ask BlackBerry how Android compatibility has helped their business.

Has allowing Android apps saved Blackberry? It wouldn't be any different for Windows Phone, in my opinion.

while i do agree that apks support on windows phone should never happen,
i must say blackberry didnt fail because of android,in fact its a great feature given that BB10 lacks alot of apps which even the wp store has
blackberry failed because they didnt adapt in time
windows phone just got lucky in the nick of time and thanks to microsofts money and os and nokias creativeness and quality of hardware and exclusive apps,they are still a very viable option
im not saying BB10 is bad ,i love my Z30 and my Lumia 1520 both equally
but im starting to think its too late for blackberry unless they decide to pull a xiaomi and release dirt cheap phones for the config and that way their revenue goes up

 

[tanya shah1]

If Blackberry had acted before their customers jumped ship with a good android app support and kept a good keyboard design I would probably still be using one myself for work. Most people I work with selected Iphone over Blackberry as a company phone about 3 years ago.. They were basically too slow

Even if you combine Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 APP its still not a great selection and not enough to attract or keep people on the Windows Platform. I don`t love Android or IOS but love the APP selection.............. Even something like getting an APP to lock my Gallery, my Messages or my Email is something I cannot do on Windows Phone..If I want to shop at a Store or Restaurant the APP will be there for it.. I so want that on Windows Phone.. If Microsoft give priority to other OSes why should developers bother with Windows it`s concerning to me..

Maybe Microsoft was arrogant and basically chose the APPLE model locking everying down and thinking developers would flock to them when they should have been more open and chose the GOOGLE model which would have been a more natural progression from Windows Mobile anyway.

This sums it up for me 100% we been waiting 5 years and people are feeling things are not going to improve without something totally different. In my view Microsoft do not care any more about Windows Phone users than the do about APPLE or ANDROID users and in fact evidence is showing they care more about them!!

i nearly completely agree with you except when you said WP is locked down
i think its not locked down,its simply well balanced
see ,ios is too locked down and limited which often drives people away
android is too open and suffers from fragmentation,malware,poor performance etc
windows phone sits right in between ,it has no major issues
its both kinda open ,kinda closed, just right enough to give a great experience and no malware at the same time

 

[heickelrrx]

The thing is running apk on WP will be extremely slower than xap or appx one. I think there is no point having good apps if they run slowly lack of stability.

Don't worry about it. Next version of visual studio is an Android and WP IDE in my opinion since they work on same IDE it should make a huge jump on WP apps

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

while i do agree that apks support on windows phone should never happen,
i must say blackberry didnt fail because of android,in fact its a great feature given that BB10 lacks alot of apps which even the wp store has
blackberry failed because they didnt adapt in time
windows phone just got lucky in the nick of time and thanks to microsofts money and os and nokias creativeness and quality of hardware and exclusive apps,they are still a very viable option
im not saying BB10 is bad ,i love my Z30 and my Lumia 1520 both equally
but im starting to think its too late for blackberry unless they decide to pull a xiaomi and release dirt cheap phones for the config and that way their revenue goes up

I'm not saying they died because of it, just that it hasn't been the saving grace that some people seem to think it is. It is kind of like when some people say that Microsoft should just make an Android phone or that Nokia should have. This idea that all things Android make money is a wrong one.

 

[Toan Le]

Stop whining about that Android apps thing. I'm getting sick of it.



First: A mixture of Android apps and Windows Phone apps will turn your damn phone into a mess. Want a Start Screen with icons? Go forth, buy an Android, we prefer Start Screens with tiles.



Second: If Windows Phone supports Android apps, who will even bother making native apps for the ecosystem? Also, compatibility, compatibility, COMPATIBILITY.


Third: Wow, now you want to have some viruses, some malwares, some trash apps to get in our Store? Nah.



And fourth: Forgot BlackBerry?



So, please, stop this Android thing. I'd prefer Windows Phone to be a separate OS, with a separate Store and separate apps.

 

[rollindice]

Nope, Windows doesn't need access to no damn android to be successful, more persons just ought to try Windows on a mobile device,be shown the features compared to android and ios and that should work, many people bash Windows without even using it and know what it brings to the table.I've shown many my Lumia 1020 and many switch to Lumias not because of Lumia better camera punch but the many other great features and smoothness of the OS. The damn sales reps in shops also gotta use Windows and push it!

 

[sumton]

No just NO

 

[tanya shah1]

I'm not saying they died because of it, just that it hasn't been the saving grace that some people seem to think it is. It is kind of like when some people say that Microsoft should just make an Android phone or that Nokia should have. This idea that all things Android make money is a wrong one.

yep i totally agree with this analogy
my entire family had windows phones till my brother and dad decided to get the nexus 5 for themselves
now they regret it and want a windows phone again
all our friends etc keep acting like android or ios is the best thing ever and this often confuses my dad but my mom is pretty adament that windows phone is the best phone os,its simple to operate,has no complications etc and runs smooth

Stop whining about that Android apps thing. I'm getting sick of it.



First: A mixture of Android apps and Windows Phone apps will turn your damn phone into a mess. Want a Start Screen with icons? Go forth, buy an Android, we prefer Start Screens with tiles.



Second: If Windows Phone supports Android apps, who will even bother making native apps for the ecosystem? Also, compatibility, compatibility, COMPATIBILITY.


Third: Wow, now you want to have some viruses, some malwares, some trash apps to get in our Store? Nah.



And fourth: Forgot BlackBerry?



So, please, stop this Android thing. I'd prefer Windows Phone to be a separate OS, with a separate Store and separate apps.

yeah folks who want to turn windows phone into another android can buy an android instead of trying to ruin the windows phone experience
all we need now is apps ,more bells and whistles like USB OTG and a few more things imho and ofcourse bugfixes