This would be an interesting development: "Microsoft is working on a software solution that would allow app developers to bring their Android apps to Windows 10 with little to no code changes by packaging them as an MSIX and allowing developers to submit them to the Microsoft Store." A major challenge though would be that these apps would not have access to Google Play services, which would necessitate a bit of a rewrite for some apps, e.g. those that use embedded Google Maps functionality, and iirc a whole host of other services. Still, more apps on Win10=better. Microsoft's 'Project Latte' aims to bring Android apps to Windows 10 | Windows Central Edit: Ars Technica weighs in: The Windows Subsystem for Linux might soon include Android support, too | Ars Technica
I was just thinking to myself, 'this is great news!' and scrolling through the (generally positive) comments until I found this one by HeyCori: "I'm not usually a Debbie Downer but I'm not expecting much from "Project Latte." There's always a new project every few years. There's been Project Centennial, Project Astoria, Project Islandwood, and probably a few I'm forgetting. Fans get their hopes up assuming that eventually one of these projects will allow UWP/Store apps to gain some traction. Yet here we are years later still waiting for one of these projects to bear fruit. My guess is that Latte will yield an insignificant number of apps and will eventually be forgotten." And suddenly I wasn't feeling so positive...
, it would be nice and I actually see this having some chance on success (even if it is only some apps that get uploaded to the Store). However I would actually prefer more to be able to run UWP apps on Android phones (even if it is only Samsung phones or Surface phones).
I'm ready for @desertlap (or @Marty) throwing some iced latte on this, but... with Android app support in Win10, it becomes possible to build a WOA device that actually has apps. Could we finally get a ... Surface Phone??
Come on, Islandwood is how Candy Crush got force installed on literally every Windows 10 computer though. Astoria actually worked well, but there were some issues with translating APIs from the Google Store to Microsoft's. It sounds like the goal here is instead to get developers to just do the remaining 5% of work to submit it to the store. Still, I'll believe that when I see it (to the point above, that's exactly what Islandwood did too). Honestly, I don't consider Centennial in the same league as those two though since it's what a lot of Microsoft's recent plans for UWP are built on.
