Earlier this year in April Microsoft announced that it will allow developers to bring their reworked Android and iOS apps over to Windows. This was great news not only for developers but also for the millions of would-be Windows 10 users who would get a very large quantity of apps to choose from. While the company continues to work on porting tools for iOS there doesn’t appear to be much movement on the Android front and it’s now believe that Microsoft’s plan or port Android apps over to Windows has been put on hold.
Project Astoria is reportedly the codename for this plan and according to a report developer forums for this project have gone silent. Microsoft is even said to have removed the Android subsytem which allowed ported apps to run on Windows from the final version of Windows 10 Mobile. It’s said that some of the reasons that forced Microsoft to make this decision include concerns about app piracy and security as well as issues related to performance.
Microsoft’s plan to port Android apps was never really as ambitious as its plan for iOS, developers can create universal apps that run across Windows 10 PCs, tablets and smartphones, while Android apps would only be allowed to run on Windows 10-powered smartphones.
For now Microsoft isn’t confirming if it has decided to kill the Android app porting tool for Windows 10 altogether or if it’s going to bring it back at a later date when all of the concerns have been addressed. In a statement to The Verge a company spokesperson said that as the “Astoria bridge is not ready yet” developers do have access to other tools that offer great options.
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