Android apps may soon be coming to Windows Phone

Yesterday we heard that Microsoft is working on a new Lumia Android smartphone, the company recently released a new Android smartphone the Nokia X2, which is the first Android device under Microsoft’s ownership. The Nokia Lumia smartphones have previously been Windows Phone only devices, and we did wonder why Microsoft would think of releasing an Android device under their Lumia brand, especially considering how much Microsoft paid for Nokia’s mobile phone division and the Lumia brand. It could all be part of Microsoft’s overall strategy to get Windows Phone more widely adopted, by getting Android users to use Lumia devices, in the hope that they may try out a Windows Phone handset. Now according to Tom Warren from the Verge, Microsoft may have another strategy to entice Android users to their Windows Phone platform, Android Apps.

One of the disadvantages of the Windows Phone platform is that it does not have as many apps compared to iOS or Android. Sure, some have made the case as to why anyone would need to have a million apps to choose from, but we guess some people like the idea of having a wide variety of apps to choose from. Now one of the ways BlackBerry has managed to compensate for their lack of apps was to allow Android apps to run on their BlackBerry 10 platform, and according to a recent tweet by The Verge’s Tom Warren, he has suggested that similar functionality could be making its way onto the Windows Phone platform too. As it stands, there are some who are still a little confused as to why Microsoft/Nokia has bothered with the low-end Nokia X lineup of Android handsets. According to Warren, “I also think Nokia X is a long play that will become more clear once Windows Phone / RT gets Android apps.” Based on some of the other tweets, it seems that not many are particularly thrilled at the idea of Android apps arriving on Windows Phone. Sure, it would help close the gap, but at the same time it might dissuade customers from buying a Windows Phone. After all if I wanted Android apps, wouldn’t I be better off buying an Android phone instead? Take it with a grain of salt for now, but what do you guys think?