Windows Phone Makes Android App Porting Easier
Written by Alan Thursday, 9 June 2011 01:48
Microsoft recently release some tools to help developers port their iOS apps over to Windows Phone. Now, they are doing the same for Android developers. There is an obvious advantage for Microsoft courting iOS and Android because the more apps that they can get on their mobile platform the better they can compete in the mobile market. There’s also a monetary advantage for developers since they will be able to sell their apps to a much wider market.
While you can’t just magically port an app between the two platforms, Microsoft has released two tools which will make the process a whole lot easier to walk through.
- Android to Windows Phone API mapping tool
see details below - “Windows Phone 7 Guide for Android Application Developers” white paper,
90+ pages organized in 7 chapters
In addition to adding Android to the Windows Phone API mapping tool, Microsoft is also offering help to developers in the person of the “app guy”. This means that WP team members are watching the forums and answering questions – free tech support for developers. That’s on top of the free 90 page guide they are offering.
It’s clear that Microsoft is serious about their commitment to the new mobile OS, as well they should be given that mobile seems to be the future of computing. We can also expect further additions to these tools to keep coming on a regular basis.
