Android Question Run B4A apps on Windows-10?

[Rick Harris]

Microsoft has recently announced that it is planning to enable Android Apps to run on Windows-10.
How this will be realized is at present unclear. Is Erel preparing for this future development? What would be needed to make Android apps that are created with B4A to run under Windows-10?

The same question also applies to iOS apps which Microsoft also wishes to run (in a shielded environment) on Windows machines.

 

[Cableguy]

There's already a discussion going on on the chitchat sub-forum (if I'm not mistaken), you should take a peek to...

 

[NJDude]

B4X or Erel has nothing to do with that, Windows 10 will have a "virtualized" environment, sort of "XP Mode", it's Microsoft's responsibility to make those apps to work on Windows, not the other way around.

 

[Rick Harris]

There is talk about the need for an SDK to port Android apps to Windows.
Yes, I agree that Microsoft should not create barriers. I am just wondering (if not worried) that some Android functions that depend on Google technology will not be portable or will lead to licensing wars between Google and Microsoft.
For example I am thinking of Google Voice, Google TTS, Google Now etc.

Also I am wondering what it will mean for Microsoft's future. Since I ran into B4A and Android nearly three years ago, I have almost entirely abandoned VB6 development for Windows (25 years of experience...).
B4A is a breath of fresh air. If an app missbehaves then 9 times out of 10 it is my fault. In Windows 9 times out of 10 problems are caused by unexplainable, unpredictable phenomenons due to nearly 20+ years of piled-up "mess". I am afraid I am not the only software developer with similar experience and a growing antipathy towards developing software for Windows. Hooray for Microsoft opening a door to Android!

 

[Rick Harris]

There's already a discussion going on on the chitchat sub-forum (if I'm not mistaken), you should take a peek to...

Pity these discussions are not in the main forum and that you haven't provided a link to this ongoing discussion.

 

[NJDude]

... I am just wondering (if not worried) that some Android functions that depend on Google technology will not be portable or will lead to licensing wars between Google and Microsoft.

Microsoft will develop an "emulator" that's all, so, of course, there will be limitations, just like any other emulator out there.

...Also I am wondering what it will mean for Microsoft's future.

Nothing, Microsoft will be always Microsoft, and perhaps this step will increase Microsoft's penetration into other environments. It is not going anywhere but expanding its reach.

 

[Cableguy]

Pity these discussions are not in the main forum and that you haven't provided a link to this ongoing discussion.

I might as well do an app for you, no? Following my post, all you needed to do was to use the search box provided in this forum, too much work, right?
This discussion has nothing to do with B4a IDE development, so it was started in a general topics sub-forum, witch in my opinion is the right place.

 

[Rick Harris]

I might as well do an app for you, no? Following my post, all you needed to do was to use the search box provided in this forum, too much work, right?
This discussion has nothing to do with B4a IDE development, so it was started in a general topics sub-forum, witch in my opinion is the right place.

What do you think I did before starting this question in the forum and following your response?! I don't like Wild Goose chases.
My question has everything to do with B4A, especially if particular issues will need to be resolved in the near future in order to run Android apps in Windows-10.

 

[Cableguy]

it may have been "not so kind", but so was your remark about me not providing a link to the ongoing discussion... I might as well not had responded to it, so you would not know such a discussion already existed... so, sorry for trying to point you into a "better" place for this.

 

[Rick Harris]

Thank you for your reply. Some (active) forum members (like me) don't normally search in chat rooms.
Next time I will phrase my question differently, like "Can you please provide me with the link to that discussion..."
Let's stop this nagging (first time in 3 years that this has happened to me) and concentrate on technical issues, which still is at the heart of my original question.
I was hoping to get some more feed back from forum members about the added value (or not) of running Android apps under Windows-10 plus in particular the technical implications. I am trying to draw some conclusions for myself whether Microsoft opening the door to Android (and iOS) has advantages and what it will mean more generally to the global computer scene (and future) with Apple, Microsoft and Google as the dominant players.

 

[Cableguy]

I am a member of this community since 2007 ( yeah, it existed already ), and in every Forum version EREL installed, there has always been places (sub-forums) where we could talk about just anything else, being it or not computer related. You should check it out sometime... Most 'Active' forums members have topics there with some interesting insights just about anything.

 

[Rick Harris]

I am a member of this community since 2007 ( yeah, it existed already ), and in every Forum version EREL installed, there has always been places (sub-forums) where we could talk about just anything else, being it or not computer related. You should check it out sometime... Most 'Active' forums members have topics there with some interesting insights just about anything.

OK. Nevertheless I still have not found the "Chit Chat" sub-forum or chat room, or whatever it may be (searched for nearly an hour).

 

[Cableguy]

Since you so nicely asked for it, Here you go...

 

[Rick Harris]

Since you so nicely asked for it, Here you go...

Thank you very much. The first thing I read on one of the links there is: "While it sounds simple, the actual process will be a little more complicated than just pushing a few buttons to recompile apps". So it seems that Android apps will not run in Windows-10 without some adaptation. That was precisely my point: I have the feeling that this adaptation will also involve some rework on B4A, unless I am mistaken. B4A makes native Android code. The conversion to Java is done behind the scenes by Erel's great software. I don't see how B4A users like me will be able to tweek the javacode or make other necessary adaptations.
The question that remains a riddle to me is what the needed SDK will involve. So far I did not find an answer to this question in the sub-forum, nor outside the B4A community.
The only proper way would be to create an environment in which an APK file would run just like EXE files would do in Windows, i.e. not via an emulator or such but via true Android-alike O.S. code. However, knowing how complicated Microsoft loves to make things, that logical approach will probably belong in Utopia...

 

[Troberg]

I would guess that this is a typical Microsoft "Divide and conquer" tactic. By providing a half-hearted Android support, they intend to make Android look bad and to make Android development more expensive. They are certainly not doing it because they believe it will be good for Android...

 

[LucaMs]

I would guess that this is a typical Microsoft "Divide and conquer" tactic. By providing a half-hearted Android support, they intend to make Android look bad and to make Android development more expensive. They are certainly not doing it because they believe it will be good for Android...

I guess it will be a flop

 

[Peter Simpson]

Hiya, lately I've just been running Android apps through Google Chrome Browser by using the browser extension Arc Welder https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/arc-welder/emfinbmielocnlhgmfkkmkngdoccbadn

 

[Cableguy]

I would guess that this is a typical Microsoft "Divide and conquer" tactic. By providing a half-hearted Android support, they intend to make Android look bad and to make Android development more expensive. They are certainly not doing it because they believe it will be good for Android...

The 1 star ratings will go off the roof just because some feature is not properly managed by win10