Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
In 2022, Windows PCs will be invaded by the world of Android. Microsoft is working on a public release of Windows 11 and 50 apps from the Amazon Appstore. Next year will see the launch of the Google Play Games on PCs.
You'll find support for the Android app on Chromebooks, and in the year 2021, it's claimed that the engagement of the app increased by 50%. The gap on Apple's massive advantage in-app sales will be closed by game studios piggybacking on PCs' much larger market share for greater revenue.
That sounds great in theory. Especially for people working from home who want to play their favorite games on a larger screen, or for people who prefer to buy cheap phones and use their superior PCs for better benchmarking.
There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical. The selection of apps and the performance of the operating system will determine the success of the operating system. Both Microsoft and Google's offerings could face some challenges on their way to success.
There is a PC potential for theANDROID.
Our colleagues at Windows Central were impressed with the initial features of the phone. You can use snap layouts, pin apps to the Taskbar, and generally enjoy apps any way you want. It's similar to using apps in DeX mode on the tablets.
If you don't have enough RAM, just a few apps open at the same time could task your PC to capacity if you don't have enough. It's quite promising.
The Windows 11-Android integration uses the Amazon Appstore because neither Microsoft nor Google wanted to play ball with one another.
Only a few household-name apps, like Comixology, are available through this Amazon Appstore, and you'll have to sideload other apps on Windows 11 to get the most popular ones. Most people will give up on an app if it doesn't show up in search results.
Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
There are apps on the Play Store. These keep apps updated with the latest security and privacy tools, while also giving access to specific Google services. It means that the second version of the app for Fire and Windows must be built by the developers. Many developers don't have the resources or financial incentive to port their mobile-based software to larger screens.
Fire tablets get away with limited app availability because they're cheap and people buy them for streaming. Windows 11 can't allow that. Not being able to access your favorite apps on a thousand-dollar screen will have most people ignoring the app store in favor of browsers and bookmarks.
Microsoft and Amazon will want to make this service succeed so that they can make their own profits on it. Incentives may be provided for big-name devs to work with them.
Many developers are making their apps responsive to different screen sizes in order to be ready for the new version of the phone. With 12L for tablets/foldables and Android for Windows arriving at the same time, more developers may make the leap to make their apps compatible with DeX mode.
If people can enjoy faster app performance on their laptops than on their budget phones, that's something worth looking forward to.
There are a lot of PC gaming games.
Daniel Rubino is from Windows Central.
We've compared Play Pass and Apple Arcade before, but it's not apples to oranges. Play Pass gives you 800 games and apps, partnering with popular mobile devs for some excellent Play Pass games and offering ad-free access to tons of apps. There are about 180 games on Apple Arcade, which are mostly exclusive to Arcade.
The best of the Android and Google Play games will be available on Windows PCs. You can use the same save file on both your MacBook and iPhone, just like Apple Arcade. It'll have both PC and emulated Android apps.
It's not clear if you'll need to own apps or if this is a subscription. It's reasonable to ask how many games it will have at launch, how much a subscription will cost, and whether it will use Stadia-backed cloud streaming.
How will the games on PC compare to the games on the XBOX? Is it possible that Stadia offers access to actual games instead of mobile ones? Or against the major PC stores, like Steam and the Epic Games Store, which have a lot of free-to-play games and major sales on popular titles?
It has to compete against a free app that streams over 200 games from the cloud.
The Play Store monopoly is not the only area where the company is stepping outside its comfort zone. It's fair to be skeptical about Play Games' chances of making an impression with its history of killed-by-Google projects and Stadia's terrible launch.
The source is Apple.
Apple Arcade isn't a competitor because it's exclusive to Apple products. Apple has advantages for this type of service.
Apple controls the design and production of its devices so it can improve performance without relying on more than one device. In Apple Arcade's case, it's possible to improve its exclusives for M1 and Bionic AX chips. The fact that the Apple App Store is more profitable than the Play Store for developers makes Arcade an attractive way to gain traction.
The app will have to work across the entire PC platform, from the low end to the high end. It has its work cut out to make Play Games run smoothly across a wide range of PCs, whether it's using an emulator like Bluestacks or Stadia, or a compiler like Intel Bridge.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
The source is Microsoft.
I thought that the news of the Windows/Android could make our tech purchases more focused. Windows could be similar to M1 MacBooks and iPhones in that it could bring the two platforms closer together.
That could happen in 2022. The impact of the system will be limited by which of the best apps come to Windows, which games jump from Play Pass to Play Games, and how well Microsoft and Google market and support their respective services.
The growth of the PC space could give the apps a boost. This could be a niche service that doesn't make much of a difference. Next year, we'll see if Microsoft and Google are up to the task.
