Microsoft Launches Early Version of Windows Bridge for Porting iOS Apps to Windows

[Alenore]

And that's exactly the problem they have. No one will switch if there are no apps but no one will make apps if there are no people.

This offering isn't going to bring much in the way of developers to the platform. You aren't suddenly going to have Netflix and the big names making apps for Windows Phone. This changes little to nothing. The entire developer community has done nothing but laugh about this announcement from Microsoft.

Hence why easing the process to make apps would be a good bridge.

Thanks for telling me i'm not in the develop community with 15 years behind me

 

[TWSS37]

Have you dealt with Microsoft? what they're most likely to do is drop this project, let it sit around for a few years, then shoot it in the head.

I haven't outside of just using their products, but I believe the consensus is that the direction post-Ballmer would indicate that past occurrences do not necessarily predict future results.

 

[sracer]

I haven't outside of just using their products, but I believe the consensus is that the direction post-Ballmer would indicate that past occurrences do not necessarily predict future results.

That is a reasonable conclusion to draw... if an ingrained culture could be changed so quickly by a single person.

 

[Mullerman]

Microsoft today announced the release of an early version of its Windows Bridge software, which is designed to let software developers quickly port iOS, Android, and web apps to the Windows platform.

As of today, Windows Bridge for iOS is available as an open-source project under the MIT license and can be downloaded on GitHub. With Windows Bridge, iOS developers can begin testing the software that will let them convert iOS apps built for x86 and x64 processor architectures to a format that will run on Windows 10 and Windows 8.1.

As outlined by Microsoft, Windows Bridge for iOS includes four components to construct Windows apps using existing Objective-C code: an Objective-C compiler, Objective-C runtime, iOS API headers/libs, and Visual Studio IDE integration.Microsoft first announced its plans for Windows Bridge at its April BUILD conference for developers, demonstrating an iPad app that had been converted to a Windows 10 app. Tools designed to help developers create Windows apps from their iOS apps could be a huge boon for Microsoft, as app availability has always been one of the major downsides to Microsoft's Windows mobile devices.

Both Google Play and the iOS App Store have always had far more apps than are available on Windows, so Microsoft is hoping its new tools will encourage developers to spend time creating Windows apps, heavily boosting the number of available Windows apps. As of July, there were 1.6 million Google Play apps, 1.5 million App Store Apps, 400,000 Amazon Appstore apps, and 340,000 Windows Phone Store apps.

Microsoft plans to release a completed version of Windows Bridge in the fall. Windows Bridge for web apps became available alongside the launch of Windows 10, and Windows Bridge for Android is available as a technical preview by invitation only.

Article Link: Microsoft Launches Early Version of Windows Bridge for Porting iOS Apps to Windows

 

[Mullerman]

Good, as that's all that's missing from the Windows phones, certain Apps, overall my experience is that the Nokia build and overall Microsoft 8.1 OS is excellent value for money, just no stand out feature phone in the range.