Last year Microsoft launched the Next Android lockscreen, showing that despite them having their own mobile platform that they recognize how important developing for Android is as well. Oddly enough it would seem that Microsoft has acquired another Android app, this time in the form of Echo.
Why odd, you ask? For those unfamiliar with Echo, it is basically the same time as Next, or at the very least they share some very similar features. It is also an Android lockscreen app which basically means that Microsoft will have two Android lockscreen apps now. Wouldn’t that be a bit redundant?
Apparently not. According to Microsoft chief experience officer Julie Larson-Green, she claims that it’s about taking your productivity to the next level and keeping you in the moment. What this also means is that current users of the Echo app can expect to keep using it as Microsoft will not be shutting it down.
Larson-Green also points out that by releasing standalone apps such as Next or acquiring an established one like Echo, it allows Microsoft to ensure that if such features make their way into Windows 10 in the future, it will not be a half-baked one. It is unclear if eventually Microsoft will somehow merge the two apps in the future, but for now it will be business as usual.