After announcing improved emulation for Windows on ARM that would rival macOS’ Rosetta 2, Microsoft seems to be working on a number of software solutions. It wants to create a unified OS that can run anything and everything. The latest rumor mill around Windows 10 suggests that Microsoft is internally working on Project Latte that would allow you to run Android apps on Windows 10. While that’s just the tip of the iceberg, there is a lot to unpack here. So if you want to learn about Project Latte on Windows 10 in detail then follow along.
Everything You Need to Know About Project Latte (December 2020)
Here we have covered everything about Project Latte, its pros, the roadblock, and when to expect the feature to arrive on Windows 10. You can click on the link below to move to the relevant section easily.
What is Project Latte?
Let me put this straight to you. Project Latte is Microsoft’s renewed effort to bring Android apps on Windows 10. How the company plans to bring the functionality and when we can expect the feature is little known, but we shall try to dissect Project Latte from whatever information is available in the public domain.
It can very well happen that Project Latte never sees the light of the day, just like Astoria, Microsoft’s earlier attempt at bringing Android apps on Windows 10. However, things seem to be moving in the right direction this time as Microsoft is going to deploy a WSL-like subsystem for Android. Basically, it won’t run like an emulator but similar to a native Windows app.
We all know Microsoft is bringing GUI Linux app support on Windows 10 through WSL 2. You can in fact run GUI Linux apps on Windows 10 right now using third-party desktop server applications. Taking a leaf out of the same concept, the Redmond-giant plans to launch Android apps on Windows 10.
Since Android already runs on a Linux kernel, it might be easier for Microsoft to implement this concept. According to Windows Central, Microsoft is aiming to use its MSIX package tool to repackage Android apps without having to make major changes to the source code. Developers will be able to package their Android apps through MSIX to make it compatible with Windows 10 and can submit the app on Microsoft Store.
As you can observe, you will be able to directly install an Android app right from Microsoft Store, just like native Win32 and UWP apps. Unlike screen mirroring through Your Phone app and running Android apps through emulation, this solution will be native with support for GPU acceleration.
Again, how optimized Microsoft’s software solution will be is a question worth asking. In addition, at this point, we have no knowledge about the technicalities of the implementation. Apart from that, there is one big issue that Microsoft still needs to solve with Project Latte and that is Google Play Services.
Project Latte: The Roadblock
While Project Latte on Windows 10 is quite ambitious, there is something that you must take into account to temper your expectations. Google does not officially allow Play Services to be installed on emulators and Android-based desktop OSes. What it entails is that Project Latte won’t be certified by Google and Windows 10 is unlikely to ship with Google Play Services, out of the box.
This brings us to the broken Android experience on Windows 10 as apps largely rely on Google Play Services APIs to offer notifications, updates, and more. In addition, many of the Google apps and services that we mostly use won’t work as intended. So apps dependent on Google Play Services will have to remove such code and need to repackage with another background service, which I assume is a big ask from developers.
The reason Apple Mac M1 is able to run iOS and iPadOS apps on macOS is that developers don’t have to make considerable changes to their source code. Unless Microsoft brings that seamless experience and extra incentives, I am not seeing Android developers flocking to Windows 10. This is one of the significant issues with Project Latte on Windows 10 and we are not sure how Microsoft aims to fix it.
When is Project Latte on Windows 10 Arriving?
Speculations are rife that Project Latte might be coming to Windows 10 as soon as next year, perhaps with the October 2021 update. However, we will have to wait and see if Microsoft drops any hint at Microsoft Build which will take place in May 2021.
Run Android Apps on Windows 10 with Project Latte
So that was all about Project Latte and how Microsoft aims to bring Android apps on Windows 10. It’s clear that Microsoft wants to make Windows 10 an all-encompassing OS where you can run anything and everything, be it Win32, UWP, Linux, PWA, or Android apps.
It will be interesting to see how Microsoft pulls it off. Anyway, that is all from us. If you are excited about running Android apps on Windows 10 then let us know your favorite apps in the comment section below.
Abubakar Mohammed
