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Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

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Re: Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

#51

Post by Nullabillity »

0xFFC wrote: post #32
jjuhl wrote: post #26

If this makes more people ignore Windows phone as a platform and just develop Android apps I'm all for it. Anything that hurts MS and their platforms gets a plus in my book. This looks like a nice step in the right (non-ms) direction.

As GNU lover I cannot understand this much of hate toward Microsoft , Why ? Microsoft is the only not spying on you , Google and NSA and every other big name does too.So if you want blame someone there is more name's applicable to blame ( like NSA , Government , Google and etc ) to blame than Microsoft.

Assuming you don't use Play Services you can run an Android application under any fork of the AOSP, or anything with a compatibility layer for it (like Jolla or now Win10). You can run Windows applications under, uhh, Windows.

Re: Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

#52

Post by aeturnum »

I'm disappointed to see Microsoft give up the UX control on their platform. I bought a Windows Phone because I like the WP UX better than Android or iOS. I'm also skeptical of the returns for Microsoft. How many users want the apps on Android or iOS but don't want an Android or iOS phone?

I can see how Microsoft wants to make the software play. They want to have all the apps available on their phone so they turn away as few people as possible. However, I think phones are still too focused on platform for this to work. The experience already varies widely across devices on the same OS (low end v.s. high end), I have difficulty seeing how it would be acceptable cross-compiled to windows phone.

Re: Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

#53

Post by on_and_off »

That's one very interesting move.

We already have BlackBerry and Amazon AppStore flavors for our apps (without google login, cast, or anything else from the play services lib). So it should be trivial to add one more for Windows.

I wonder about the UX of such a port though. Windows apps don't really look like android ones (or iOS's for that matter). Sure, it should bring more app but I can't help but worry for the general experience of the platform.

Re: Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

#54

Post by mark_l_watson »

aeturnum wrote: post #52

I'm disappointed to see Microsoft give up the UX control on their platform. I bought a Windows Phone because I like the WP UX better than Android or iOS. I'm also skeptical of the returns for Microsoft. How many users want the apps on Android or iOS but don't want an Android or iOS phone? I can see how Microsoft wants to make the software play. They want to have all the apps available on their phone so they turn away…

It is the platform not the device. It is also about having our data securely hosted in the cloud for use on all of our devices. I think this is a brilliant strategy.

Off topic: I am volunteering to help with computer classes at the library in my small town. This morning we talked about training people to view devices as not being so important, instead keeping their digital lives on one of the two cloud platforms we will probably support: Google (drive, docs, pictures) and Microsoft Office 365. I think that we are suggesting the right choice for people who are just learning to use computers and the Internet.

Re: Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

#55

Post by magsafe »

I'm a full-time iOS developer and want to share my perspective on this news. The developers who create those amazing apps on iOS are not going to fall for this. I'm one of those developers, who pays very close attention to detail to make pixel perfect apps that I'm proud to put my signature on. I will not accept my brand being introduced on Windows or any other platform using a glorified code generator. If I want to bring an app to Windows, I would learn the platform, go "all in" and make my app as perfect on Windows as it is on iOS. This would require me to dig into all the SDK docs, understand the platform capabilities, learn the native APIs, deal with the challenges of supporting different form factors, and a lot more. There is simply no shortcut to a great app, and a developer who is proud of his app would not release something that a machine generates. A great app is not one that has been thrown together using abstracted APIs and a code generator. A great app is one in which the developer has written and/or analyzed every line of code to maximize the aesthetics and performance on the platform it is running on. Windows' code conversion isn't going to encourage the really good apps to migrate, although it might entice some cheap knockoffs or poorly designed apps to ship an equally poorly designed experience on Windows. So bottomline, I don't expect apps like Instagram to suddenly appear on Windows because of this.

Also, developers don't avoid Windows because it lacked a code conversion tool. If all it involved was learning a new language or porting some code, developers would do it, just like they learned to go from Objective C to Swift, or all the evolution of Cocoa Touch through the years.

Developers avoid Windows for far more complex, intangible reasons that go way beyond a code converter. There are all kinds of perceptions about Windows and Windows users that simply will not change because of this tool. The iOS developers I know will shrug off this announcement, and continue shipping their apps on iOS. I admire Microsoft for overcoming the technical challenges of creating this tool, but sadly they have not overcome the perception and mindset challenges of a dieing platform.

Re: Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

#56

Post by LokiSnake »

dublinben wrote: post #47
bargl wrote: post #2

This is a brilliant move to make Windows 10 much more relevant. I really like some of my Android apps, but I want a Windows phone. Hopefully this will encourage apps like Automatic to move to Windows phone. I also wonder if this will affect Xamarin in a negative way.

>but I want a Windows phone Why?

Because it's got a nice, clean UI with interesting ideas?

It's not a bad platform, save for the lack of apps.

Re: Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

#57

Post by pavlov »

magsafe wrote: post #55

I'm a full-time iOS developer and want to share my perspective on this news. The developers who create those amazing apps on iOS are not going to fall for this. I'm one of those developers, who pays very close attention to detail to make pixel perfect apps that I'm proud to put my signature on. I will not accept my brand being introduced on Windows or any other platform using a glorified code generator. If I want to…

This makes me feel old because I've heard this same speech when it was about assembly language:

"A real programmer won't use a high-level language like C or Pascal. A great program is one in which the developer has written every machine code instruction to maximize performance and minimize memory use."

(Btw, Instagram has been natively on Windows Phone for at least a year.)

Re: Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

#58

Post by rednukleus »

magsafe wrote: post #55

I'm a full-time iOS developer and want to share my perspective on this news. The developers who create those amazing apps on iOS are not going to fall for this. I'm one of those developers, who pays very close attention to detail to make pixel perfect apps that I'm proud to put my signature on. I will not accept my brand being introduced on Windows or any other platform using a glorified code generator. If I want to…

> Developers avoid Windows for far more complex, intangible reasons that go way beyond a code converter. There are all kinds of perceptions about Windows and Windows users that simply will not change because of this tool.

More developers use Windows than any other platform. Your entire comment epitomises the cultish bubble that many HN developers seem to live in, completely oblivious to the rest of the world.

Re: Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

#59

Post by [deleted] »

magsafe wrote: post #55

I'm a full-time iOS developer and want to share my perspective on this news. The developers who create those amazing apps on iOS are not going to fall for this. I'm one of those developers, who pays very close attention to detail to make pixel perfect apps that I'm proud to put my signature on. I will not accept my brand being introduced on Windows or any other platform using a glorified code generator. If I want to…

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft Makes It Easier to Bring Android and iOS Apps to Windows 10

#60

Post by WorldWideWayne »

magsafe wrote: post #55

I'm a full-time iOS developer and want to share my perspective on this news. The developers who create those amazing apps on iOS are not going to fall for this. I'm one of those developers, who pays very close attention to detail to make pixel perfect apps that I'm proud to put my signature on. I will not accept my brand being introduced on Windows or any other platform using a glorified code generator. If I want to…

> I will not accept my brand being introduced on Windows or any other platform using a glorified code generator...

Where did you get the idea that this is a glorified code generator?

> Developers avoid Windows for far more complex, intangible reasons...

Maybe mobile developers do, but outside of that there are whole industries that are centered around Windows. I see a lot of workers using Windows on little devices now too. Just yesterday a guy came to my house to inspect our lease return vehicle. When he was done, he whipped out this tiny little laptop with a touch screen that I had to sign with a stylus (which worked perfectly). It was running Windows 8 and that was probably the tenth time I've seen something similar in the past year.

> ...sadly they have not overcome the perception and mindset challenges of a dieing platform.

Bullshit. Windows is better than ever. More people use it than any other desktop OS. There are millions of IT departments around the world that would laugh and laugh and laugh if you suggested that they use OS X or Linux instead of Windows.

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