The company announced Windows 10 for Phones will include an “Android subset” that will render it capable of running Android apps natively written in Java and C++.
Microsoft will provide the tools required for Android developers to convert their apps to Windows formats. The majority of the Android code base will be retained but can be expanded with the Windows APIs to utilize the unique features of Microsoft’s platform.
Windows 10 will also be able to run apps in Objective-C, the language used to write iOS apps. Visual Studio has been expanded to include built-in support for Objective-C editing. While Terry Myerson showed this off on stage, he couldn’t resist a dig at Apple, noting how Visual Studio’s syntax highlighting for Objective-C works “despite its weirdness.”
The company has already been working with several developers to get this technology working. Unknown to consumers, an app built in this way is already available in the Windows Phone store.
World-renowned game Candy Crush Saga from publisher King was published to the store a few months ago. Its origins have now been revealed as being a successful port from the app’s iOS origins.
The technology is exciting and means that developers now have much more freedom to make apps for Windows. With easy porting from both rival operating systems, developers should be inspired to put in some more effort when considering whether to bring an app to Windows.
In the short term, this can only be a good thing. But in the long term, it may deter developers from making unique apps for Windows when they can just port from the dominant mobile platforms instead. I’ll be exploring this much more in a detailed report in the next few days but it is something that Microsoft should keep in mind when considering how to promote the new methods of creating Windows 10 apps.
