It’s been quite some time since we’ve heard about Microsoft’s rumored “Andromeda” mobile device, but it seems the project may be still alive and kicking, or at least some new info has surfaced. Today, Aggiornamenti Lumia claims to have found more information about Andromeda in Language Packs that have been created for the device.
As you may know, Language Packs are now available on the Microsoft Store as .appx files, and the packages that the Italian blog managed to find include mentions of “AndromedaOS” as well as various phone-related capabilities. A screenshot showing some information about what could be the Andromeda Shell components also mentions something about “flipping the device over to answer “Please text me”.
Another screenshot published today reveals some information about an “Andromeda Composer Control.” This documents suggests the existence of different states for the foldable mobile device, with a left and right screens that can be turned on an off, and an “External screen” is also mentioned. Andromeda will also reportedly support gestures to take a screenshot, as well as Windows 10 features and apps like Timeline, Sticky Notes and 3D Viewer (formerly Mixed Reality Viewer).
According to previous rumors, Microsoft had put its Andromeda project on hold as OS components got cut from the Redstone 5 update. Moreover, the company was reportedly still concerned about the lack of apps on the Microsoft Store: This is still very much a problem today, especially after Microsoft announced that its Office Mobile UWP apps were now on hiatus. Even Microsoft’s big push to get Progressive Web Apps on the Microsoft Store didn’t get significant results so far, with Twitter being the rare exception.
Despite all the leaks, Microsoft has never confirmed the existence of an Andromeda OS, and the company may not discuss it until it’s convinced that a foldable mobile device running a Microsoft OS is something consumers might want. It now seems very hard to challenge the excellent iOS and Android smartphones in the market today, but Microsoft probably remains the only company capable of creating a compelling alternative.
