This year the support of Android applications may be deployed in Windows 10
In recent years we have seen Microsoft's interest in Android, and Project Latte is probably the clearest consummation of these plans. And although the objective of this project may seem too ambitious and complex, the reality is that it could be much closer than we thought at the end of last year, when we began to hear about it. This, of course, makes us think that the Redmond people have actually been working on it for quite some time. And, according to Gizchina, Project Latte could debut at some point this year.
If you do not know it, you should know that Project Latte intends to bring Android apps to Windows 10, but that unlike what we have seen so far, that is, through emulators or with stream from an Android device, this time we would be speaking of native support, that is, the Microsoft operating system would be able to run Android apps without the need for devices and without layers of an emulation layer in which to run an Android instance.
Project Latte's proposal is that application developers package and distribute their applications in MSIX format, Microsoft's great bet to unify the different installation systems that currently exist and, incidentally, attract more developers to take their creations to Windows 10. And although the ecosystem of apps for Windows is still huge, in recent years the interest of developers has in this order iOS, Android and web. And the best example of this we have in the "scarce" offer that we can find in the Microsoft Store.
To make this possible, Project Latte is based on the development of an Android subsystem that, in turn, would be based on the Linux subsystem already present in Windows 10 for some time. And, in this way, developers would not have to apply practically any changes to their apps to be able to package them as MSIX and, in this way, make them reach Windows, as well as Android, obviously.
The only problem for Project Latte, yes, and that can be a hindrance, is that some Android apps are dependent on some Google services (since these are taken for granted on Android devices), which obviously will not be present in Windows . Thus, app developers who want to take their apps to Windows should take this limitation into account, either to give up some function or to look for alternatives that are available in Windows.
Another aspect that is still not too clear is whether the versions of Android apps that reach Windows 10 thanks to Project Latte will necessarily have to do so through the Microsoft Store or, on the contrary, they can be downloaded from any source, such as it already happens with the other formats of installers compatible with the Microsoft operating system. And, if those from Redmond decide to channel all the Android apps that come to Windows 10 through the app store, this can be a boost to the online Windows application store.
