SICK!, yes that’s what you’ll be thinking of this new build releasing next week. As of present, this feature is coming for the developer preview for your Windows device. According to Terry Myerson, the Vice-President of OS department in Microsoft, this new feature will define a new level of versatility for any app to run on a single platform.
Why Microsoft needed iOS and Android apps on Windows 10?
Before now, developers used to develop an app for iOS then they had to use the source code and port the app for Android platform with a little-bit of modification in the code. And when it comes to build an app for Windows mobile platform, developers had to re-develop it completely. It’s obvious that it was too hectic for them. That’s the reason it takes time for most of the apps to be released for Windows platform after their iOS and Android versions are out. Talking quantitatively, iOS is leading in app count, followed by Android and the Windows Store is 3rd.
So, you could say that Microsoft wants to change the statistics with the launch of Windows 10. The company is planning to dominate the market for sure. Both Google and Apple need to be careful now, as their mutual rival has carved out a bold strategy.
Several months ago, Microsoft was trying to find a way to run the iOS and Android app directly on Windows 10. But later it settled down for something different. Android and iOS developers can port their apps directly to the “Windows Universal App”. Reportedly, Microsoft is enabling this porting of apps with two new SDKs (software development kits). For Android platform, Microsoft is enabling developers to use Java and C++ code to port their app on Windows 10, while for iOS, developers will be able to port the Universal app with existing Objective C code.
According to Terry Myerson, this new feature will allow the developers to build those universal apps with their current skills and codes which will cut those trouble hours of rebuilding the app for Windows platform.
So, with this Windows Universal App feature, all that a developer is needed to do is, use the same code on their desired SDK and build the app for Windows devices with minimal modifications. At first, Microsoft had planned for porting only iOS apps, but seeing the popularity of Android devices in areas where iOS is not so popular, It planned to port apps from both the platform and with this any developer either iOS or Android developer can port the same app for Windows with an ease.
One thing is for sure, if the developers show their interest in porting apps, this will give a new start to the Windows OS and sooner, it will be crowned with the best versatile OS ever built. Let’s see how far Microsoft will get with this Universal App policy.