This article is from WeChat official account:APPSO(ID: appsolution),The original title “Let Windows run Android applications? Microsoft is not the first time to do that, “the authors: Li Chen, from the title figure: Vision China

On November 25th, Twitter user Zac Bowden made a big news that Microsoft might make native Android apps run on Windows next year.

Although no more details were given, this news has attracted a lot of attention. Because the whistleblower Zac Bowden is actually the author of Windows Central. He has been tracking Windows related news for many years. There have been some accurate revelations before, so the credibility of the content is still relatively high.

Two days later, more of the project was exposed. According to sources, Microsoft is creating a “Latte” project. The specific plan is to allow developers to package Android applications into Windows-run applications and submit them to the MicroSoft Store without changing the code.

Windows running Android applications? This is not the first time for Microsoft

The idea of ​​letting Windows run Android applications makes people think that some time ago, Apple launched the MacBook equipped with M1 chip, which can run iOS applications directly on the desktop environment of the computer, thus forming a unified ecological environment.

But for Microsoft, it does not have the strong ecological control of Apple, and its own cross-system ecological UWP has not been able to do it. At this time, the announcement of compatibility with the Android project is very unfavorable news for UWP applications. It can even be said that If the plan to run Android applications is perfect, the more UWP applications will be sentenced to death.

On the other hand, Android applications have not become a popular tablet or desktop application environment. The effect of most applications on large screens is still doubtful. Like the previous RemixOS, Phoenix OS and today’s TNT, many magical changes have been made to the system in order to make Android run on the big screen.

Another key question is how much Android developers can benefit from submitting to the MicroSoft Store, which really relates to whether the developers are motivated to do this.

In addition, seeing that Microsoft wants to run Android applications on Windows, my first feeling is…the tears of the times. Because this is not the first time Microsoft has had similar ideas.

Project Astoria. Picture from: Prime Inspiration

Back to April 2015, Microsoft officially announced the Project Astoria project at the Build conference. The purpose of the project is to allow developers to easily modify Android applications to easily port them to Windows Phone.

Although this project received some controversy when it was announced, it can be used as a rescue method for the Windows Phone platform that lacks applications.

In August of the same year, Windows Phone, which had already released a preview version of Windows 10 Mobile at that time, was still the third force in the market besides iOS and Android. But at that time Windows Phone was already on the decline, and Windows 10 Mobile could be regarded as bringing a new glimmer of hope, among which many Windows Phone users have always dreamed of-“compatible with Android, run Android applications directly.”

Windows Phone and Android. Picture from: Windows Latest

At that time, some developers discovered from the preview version of Win 10 Mobile 10240 that MicrosoftA complete Android 4.4.4 system and Linux compatibility library are built into Windows 10 Mobile.

At that time, the method of converting Android APK files into Windows 10 Mobile APPX applications has been exposed on Windows 10 Mobile. Then there even appeared a method to install APK directly without conversion.

The developers are rushing to run Android, and it seems to be thriving.

However, the idea of ​​running Android applications was finally rejected by Microsoft. On September 28, 2015, two weeks before the official release of Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft blocked the “technical loopholes” in private Android running.

Windows 10 Mobile

In February 2016, Project Astoria, which had not survived for a few months, was officially abandoned due to various poor experience issues, and the attempt to “marry” with Android ended.

It’s hard to say that such a result is a pity or a pity, because at that time Windows Phone had too many problems to be solved from the hardware to the system. Running Android applications is at best a beautiful fantasy, not a one. The real “life-saving straw”.

Most Android-compatible ones have no “good end”

Thinking of Android as a “life-saving straw” or “enhanced ecology” is not only the microSoft, the former BlackBerry, the more niche Sailfsih, and even Google’s own desktop system ChromeOS have all announced direct compatibility with Android applications or launched similar plans.

BlackBerry, which has now retired from the stage of smartphone history, has also tried to make its own system compatible with Android applications before turning to the native Android system.

BB10 is compatible with Android applications. Picture from: CrackBerry

At the time, BlackBerry was still using the BlackBerry 10 system. This system was a self-developed operating system for BlackBerry. When the early version was called QNX, it was used on BlackBerry’s tablet device PlayBook, and the official name was BlackBerry 10 system when it landed on the phone.

I myself bought a Passport, the last classic BlackBerry model. This phone runs the BB10 system and can run a considerable number of Android applications. It’s just that it can’t compare to native applications in terms of operating efficiency, and even lighter applications can’t run particularly smoothly.

We have all witnessed the situation after BlackBerry. After the self-developed system did not improve, BlackBerry switched to the Android system directly, but did not find its own living space and positioning among many Android manufacturers. After selling the brand license to TCL, several mobile phones launched have only lingered for a while. After this year’s agreement with TCL expires, we should no longer see BlackBerry phones.

ChromeOS runs Android. Picture from: XDA Forums-XDA Developers

Look at Google again. At Google I/O on May 20, 2014, Google officially announced that it would bring Android applications to ChromeOS. Now ChromeOS can run Google Play Store and can run most of the above application. For ChromeOS, which lacks native applications, it can be considered to have improved the ecology to a certain extent, and the effect is quite good at present.

Although there are so many systems on the market that are compatible with Android applications, they cannot save the declining trend or further enhance the competitiveness of the system.

The most direct point, let’s look at the direct purpose of doing this. Unlike Apple’s desire to create a unified ecosystem, the direct purpose of most systems compatible with Android applications is to try to save the increasingly declining system.

When the system inherently has a lot of problems and lags behind the opponent, compatible applications will only make the platform less attractive to developers. Perhaps this approach is not a “good medicine” but a “poison”, but accelerates The death of the platform.

Fortunately, Windows 10 is not a dying platform now. As the most mainstream operating system, Microsoft has a lot of room for trial and error on the “combination” of Windows and Android. exceptWith Project Astoria, Microsoft has previously cooperated with Samsung mobile phones to run Android applications on the phone on the computer through the Your Phone function. In the current situation of UWP, even if it is directly abandoned, it will not really harm Windows itself, but may have a real spark with Android.

It’s still too early to say whether this plan can proceed smoothly, but we can still see an overall trend in today’s Internet world-Mobile and desktop are no longer dichotomy or distinct. Instead, The ecological boundary is becoming increasingly blurred.

In my previous article on macOS Big Sur, I once said that this is “a big victory for the mobile end versus the desktop.” Now it seems that this may be another victory.

This article is from WeChat official account:APPSO(ID: appsolution), author: Li Chen