Microsoft pronounces Project Astoria dead, pushing efforts toward Project Islandwood instead.
For the uninitiated, Project Astoria is a set of Bridge tools that allows developers to port Android software to the Windows 10 Mobile. On the other hand, Project Islandwood is the iOS equivalent of that.
According to Microsoft, it received plenty of feedback that stated how "unnecessary" it was to have these two Bridge technologies, and it added those comments to the equation, deciding to go with just one in the end.
"We have carefully considered this feedback and decided that we would focus our efforts on the Windows Bridge for iOS and make it the single Bridge option for bringing mobile code to all Windows 10 devices, including Xbox and PCs," Kevin Gallo of Microsoft says.
To anyone who has been keeping tabs on Project Astoria, the news shouldn't come as a big surprise. Considering the delays and signs that point to a cancelled program before this development came about, this official announcement is more or less expected.
Also, it should be noted that the company treated Project Islandwood better in terms of promotion. To put that into perspective, it has practically stopped giving out updates regarding the Android Bridge since October last year.
More to the point, the departure of Project Astoria is arguably a good thing. The tool only covers Android software with Windows 10 wrapping paper, making the apps a bit out of place in the environment. If anyone really wanted to take advantage of Android apps, then they would be better off getting a device that runs them natively.
Nevertheless, the Android Bridge could've brought an option to the table for more apps on the Windows 10 Mobile, but Project Islandwood seems to be more than enough to handle that front.
That's not all that Microsoft has in store, though. Just recently, the company acquired Xamarin. That means there's a possibility that developers will soon be able to build apps via C# and deliver them across the three platforms.
With that said, Gallo encourages developers who have been showing interest in Project Astoria to give Project Islandwood and Xamarin a shot, referring to them as "great solutions."
