14 DAY TRIAL // As rumored in the last few months, Microsoft announced today at BUILD 2015 that Android apps would run on devices powered by its very own Windows Phone mobile operating system.
With this implementation, Microsoft is aiming to address the lack of apps in Windows Phone, thus offering support for one of the largest stores right on its devices.
Basically, with Windows 10, Microsoft will implement what it calls an Android subsystem in Windows Phone, so the new operating system would be able to run Android apps easily.
Developers should be able to bring their apps from Android to Windows 10 with a minimum of tweaks, so phones wouldn't encounter any difficulty in running any Android app that's available in the Play store.
Microsoft hasn't provided more details on how exactly users would be able to get access to Android apps, but developers would have to port their apps to work on Windows 10 for phones. Basically, Android developers can reuse their code to bring apps on Windows 10 handsets, with more details to be provided during BUILD 2015 Day 2 in a dedicated session.
Needless to say, this is a smart move for Microsoft because the company still has a hard time tackling the lack of apps for both Windows and Windows Phone.
Windows 10 is projected to launch during the summer with all these changes, but the phone version could arrive shortly after that, most likely before the end of the back-to-school shopping season. New flagships running Windows 10 are also expected.