Closing the WP app gap with Android apps and Windows 10 frustrations
I understand the desire from WP owners and perhaps even from Microsoft to try and close the app gap by allowing Android apps to run on Windows Phone. But I think this is a bad move on so many levels.
Lets start with access. This CLEARLY would not be able to use the Google Play store. I think most people hailing such a move are overlooking this and what it means. Even Android variants are blocked from access to that and most of those variants fail. So, Windows Phone has no chance in hell. And even if it had a chance, Google is more or less explicitly targeting Microsoft with their hate cannons. This means 3rd party Android store or side-loading. As mentioned, no one has been particularly successful here. So, no reason to think it would start being successful now and for Microsoft.
Put another way; If they make the platform able to run Android apps, it actually wouldn't solve the app gap directly or immediately. Those clamouring for Android apps have no guarantee that they would even get the apps they wanted.
App quality would be another concern. Android apps aren't the most stable to begin with. Now slap them into an emulator and run that emulator across a range of hardware and things won't get better. There also isn't feature parity in the SDK's... so some apps wouldn't run or wouldn't run ideally simply because there is no way to emulate what they do within the current WP SDK. Entire concepts don't even exist... like Android widgets. Granted, this is where the 3rd party app store actually helps more hinders. But, it furthers my point that this move may not be able to bring you the apps you want.
The other side of app quality is native experience. Android apps will look like Android apps. Not like Windows Phone apps. They won't be able to take proper advantage of native features of the OS like toast notifications, participate in the notification center, etc... And while the above points on quality won't be Microsoft's fault, people will blame them for it nonetheless.
Lastly is probably the least of their problems for now, but the greatest hurdle for future viability; Who will write Windows Phone apps when they can just write an Android App with some minor consideration for WP? Requiring apps be built for your platform puts up a barrier, but once people have invested in getting over that barrier they are more likely to want to get use of the effort spent. And getting people building Windows Store apps rather than Android apps that run on Windows is important. The best apps make appropriate use of OS specific features.
So, my final thoughts on that topic are simple. They shouldn't let Android apps run on Windows (Phone). Leave that to 3rd party companies like BlueStacks and move on. I think the points above are well understood though, so I think rumours is all this is. MS may even be considering it... but much like the disc-less Xbox One, not actually making it beyond the conceptual phase. Why do people think that everything solution a company tables actually has a viable chance of seeing the light of day?
The other note I wanted to cover here is how Windows 10 is hurting Windows Phone but with potential reason. Microsoft never released publicly the API for controlling the WP8.1 lock screen. And at this point I don't think that they will. The platform is also being seen as an after though in other efforts in the company like Office. Ignoring your own platform in favour of others and reneging on "promises" sounds like a bad move. But, what I suspect is happening is that these things are being done because of Windows 10.
If they publicly release the lock screen API now, there will be more devs and users to worry about wanting/needing compatibility. That is less of an issue if the next version of the OS is only running on phones, but that isn't the case. With the same OS being used across a wider range of devices, more consideration may be needed in the API if they decide to continue it going forward at all. I hope that they do release such an API for Windows 10 that enables such capabilities across all platforms that support lock screens.
A similar problem exists for Office and other apps. The platform is going away and all current gen devices are upgradeable to the new OS... so why invest in a dying platform? If they release now and people refuse to upgrade, then they have an extra version that they want to orphan but need to support. If they wait until Windows 10, they make life simpler for everyone. Ignoring Windows Phone 8.x actually makes a ton of sense from Microsoft's perspective.
The problem here is, all of this puts additional strain on Windows 10 to be a winner. Especially on non-traditional Windows platforms. If MS screws up Windows 10 they could stand to lose everything. But, the flipside is, done right it could be the key to getting back on top.
My prediction here: Microsoft will get roughly half of the things it should have done right, and screw up half catastrophically. They will also royally screw up all PR efforts. Basing this on past performance. Product-wise, MS tends to make weird moves including axing or changing features that show well in early betas or when hinted at. They also appear to have the worst marketing department on the planet. Back when I still had cable, I would see probably 5:1 if not more Apple ads to each Windows ad. And while most Android ads come via OEM's it was probably closer to 100:1. Sure, WP had problems elsewhere with sales people forcing Android and iPhones onto people asking for Windows Phones... but with the lack of direct advertising, there were very few that actually asked as well.
Lets start with access. This CLEARLY would not be able to use the Google Play store. I think most people hailing such a move are overlooking this and what it means. Even Android variants are blocked from access to that and most of those variants fail. So, Windows Phone has no chance in hell. And even if it had a chance, Google is more or less explicitly targeting Microsoft with their hate cannons. This means 3rd party Android store or side-loading. As mentioned, no one has been particularly successful here. So, no reason to think it would start being successful now and for Microsoft.
Put another way; If they make the platform able to run Android apps, it actually wouldn't solve the app gap directly or immediately. Those clamouring for Android apps have no guarantee that they would even get the apps they wanted.
App quality would be another concern. Android apps aren't the most stable to begin with. Now slap them into an emulator and run that emulator across a range of hardware and things won't get better. There also isn't feature parity in the SDK's... so some apps wouldn't run or wouldn't run ideally simply because there is no way to emulate what they do within the current WP SDK. Entire concepts don't even exist... like Android widgets. Granted, this is where the 3rd party app store actually helps more hinders. But, it furthers my point that this move may not be able to bring you the apps you want.
The other side of app quality is native experience. Android apps will look like Android apps. Not like Windows Phone apps. They won't be able to take proper advantage of native features of the OS like toast notifications, participate in the notification center, etc... And while the above points on quality won't be Microsoft's fault, people will blame them for it nonetheless.
Lastly is probably the least of their problems for now, but the greatest hurdle for future viability; Who will write Windows Phone apps when they can just write an Android App with some minor consideration for WP? Requiring apps be built for your platform puts up a barrier, but once people have invested in getting over that barrier they are more likely to want to get use of the effort spent. And getting people building Windows Store apps rather than Android apps that run on Windows is important. The best apps make appropriate use of OS specific features.
So, my final thoughts on that topic are simple. They shouldn't let Android apps run on Windows (Phone). Leave that to 3rd party companies like BlueStacks and move on. I think the points above are well understood though, so I think rumours is all this is. MS may even be considering it... but much like the disc-less Xbox One, not actually making it beyond the conceptual phase. Why do people think that everything solution a company tables actually has a viable chance of seeing the light of day?
The other note I wanted to cover here is how Windows 10 is hurting Windows Phone but with potential reason. Microsoft never released publicly the API for controlling the WP8.1 lock screen. And at this point I don't think that they will. The platform is also being seen as an after though in other efforts in the company like Office. Ignoring your own platform in favour of others and reneging on "promises" sounds like a bad move. But, what I suspect is happening is that these things are being done because of Windows 10.
If they publicly release the lock screen API now, there will be more devs and users to worry about wanting/needing compatibility. That is less of an issue if the next version of the OS is only running on phones, but that isn't the case. With the same OS being used across a wider range of devices, more consideration may be needed in the API if they decide to continue it going forward at all. I hope that they do release such an API for Windows 10 that enables such capabilities across all platforms that support lock screens.
A similar problem exists for Office and other apps. The platform is going away and all current gen devices are upgradeable to the new OS... so why invest in a dying platform? If they release now and people refuse to upgrade, then they have an extra version that they want to orphan but need to support. If they wait until Windows 10, they make life simpler for everyone. Ignoring Windows Phone 8.x actually makes a ton of sense from Microsoft's perspective.
The problem here is, all of this puts additional strain on Windows 10 to be a winner. Especially on non-traditional Windows platforms. If MS screws up Windows 10 they could stand to lose everything. But, the flipside is, done right it could be the key to getting back on top.
My prediction here: Microsoft will get roughly half of the things it should have done right, and screw up half catastrophically. They will also royally screw up all PR efforts. Basing this on past performance. Product-wise, MS tends to make weird moves including axing or changing features that show well in early betas or when hinted at. They also appear to have the worst marketing department on the planet. Back when I still had cable, I would see probably 5:1 if not more Apple ads to each Windows ad. And while most Android ads come via OEM's it was probably closer to 100:1. Sure, WP had problems elsewhere with sales people forcing Android and iPhones onto people asking for Windows Phones... but with the lack of direct advertising, there were very few that actually asked as well.
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