Microsoft will most likely announce this week that it will enable customers to run Android apps on their Windows 10 phones, tablets and PCs. The timing ostensibly makes sense, as the software giant’s Build conference, held this week in San Francisco, targets developers. But I wonder what message this change will send to developers and users, especially at a time when the company is also pushing a universal app strategy centered on Windows.
Note: Based on the volume of comments this article has received, I would like to clarify something. Yes, Microsoft has been working on getting Android apps running on at least Windows Phone for quite some time. But I do not know if the firm will announce such a thing at Build. (Indeed, I openly question the timing.) Like many of you, i’m passionate about this stuff and fear the impact of such a move. That’s all this is: me expressing my fear of such a feature for end users. –Paul
If true, this is the opposite of what I wanted and expected. Indeed, when Microsoft first started talking up the notion of universal apps that would run across its various platforms—Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox One, Internet of Things embedded devices, Surface Hub, and HoloLens—I opined that truly “universal” apps would in fact also run on competing devices as well. At the time, I figured this would mean Android primary, since that platform is open and Microsoft has already starting building support for Android into Visual Studio. (iOS is a harder nut to crack because Apple locks down the platform.)
