The chorus of “the app gap” gets old for those following Microsoft. It likely is even more irritating for those working at Microsoft because they’re trying fix it. Despite Microsoft developing an app like Facebook themselves, pushing their universal app platform, and trying to entice developers with bridging tools, the app gap persists. In this week’s poll, we ask “What will close the app gap the most?”
The tool for porting Android apps (project Astoria) to the Windows platform is at minimum unconscious, at most dead. That doesn’t mean there aren’t promising bridges and tools remaining. Project Islandwood for using iOS code to make apps as well as bridges for Win32 programs (project Centennial) and web apps (project Westminster) are in development and on the way.
Apart from all the bridges is the universal app model. Microsoft proudly announced their Windows 10 download numbers and those have only continued to climb. Microsoft hopes that over 120 million users will convince developers to make Windows apps that scale to any device rather than porting code. This has seen some success and developers such as FitBit and Twitter have jumped on board but Slack said the platform wasn’t universal enough because apps don’t run on Windows 7.
Since some of these tools are still in development and it takes time for developers to adopt things, most of this discussion is speculation. We discussed this last week during the WinBeta Podcast and now we want to hear your thoughts. Let us know which tool you think will help close the app gap the most by voting and explain your reasoning in the comments below.
Further reading: Apps, Microsoft, poll, Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile
