Follow-up report of "Project Latte" that makes it easier to port Android applications to Windows 10

There were rumors the other day that Microsoft was preparing a solution that would allow Android apps to run on Windows 10, but more detailed follow-up reports have been reported.

The company is working on a way for app developers to package Android apps in MSIX format and submit them to the Microsoft store with few code changes, according to an anonymous source at Windows Central. About. The project is codenamed "Latte" and is said to be released as early as 2021.

In the past, MS announced a toolkit "Windows Bridge" (title image) that facilitates the porting of applications for various platforms in order to solve the software shortage of Windows 10 Mobile. The Android environment development project "Project Astoria" never saw the light of day (it seems that there were problems with security and piracy), but Project Latte is aiming for a similar environment. It is speculated that Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is probably the means of implementation.

However, Google does not allow Play Services to be installed on anything other than native Android devices and Chrome OS, so it is unlikely that Play Services will be supported. In other words, apps that require the Play Services API must be updated to remove that dependency before being published for Windows 10, and cannot be published as is.

I have the impression that it is similar to the approach of Apple's Project Catalyst in the sense of "transforming mobile apps into desktop apps". And just as it was said that Catalyst needs to be adjusted between platforms with different screen sizes, porting may not be so easy.

In recent years, MS has recommended switching to iOS or Android even when support for Windows 10 Mobile ends, regardless of its own platform. If Project Latte is realized, PWA, UWP, and Win32 apps on Windows 10 and Android-derived apps on Linux (via WSL) will be able to run, and it is likely to become even more convenient.

Source: Windows Central

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