The Latte Project hopes that Android applications can run directly on Windows 10, which means we don’t need to cooperate with Android phones to get it done.
The problem is that this idea requires Microsoft to build a virtual machine or emulator, and Microsoft may also choose to integrate the Android subsystem directly in Windows 10.
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At present, the Windows 10 system has been directly integrated with the Linux system to turn this system into a subsystem, which is also known as WSL and WSL 2 versions.
Isn't it normal for Microsoft to integrate the open-source Android system into Windows 10? So although it's a bit surprising, it's reasonable.
This project is called Project Latte internally at Microsoft, but it is not clear whether to develop the Android emulator or directly the Android subsystem.
Either way, it means that Windows 10 can directly execute Android applications locally, just like the M1 chip MacBook can run iOS applications.
Although we are unsure whether Apple-inspired Microsoft to have this whimsical idea, this new feature should be fascinating for users.
Can this succeed without Google support?
It is not the first time Microsoft has done this for Windows to run Android applications. Windows Phone tried to integrate Android converters five years ago.
At that time, the development progress should be speedy and close to completion, but later it was rumored that Google opposed Microsoft to do so, so Microsoft stopped the project. After all, many things on the Android site Google is the ultimate copyright holder.
The Latte plan did not reveal that Google was involved in the project, so it can be said that the entire Latte plan should have nothing to do with Google and no support from Google.
Due to licensing issues, foreign media reported running Android applications on Windows 10 will definitely not support Google Mobile Services (GMS).
Because Google does not allow Google mobile services to be deployed on non-Android or Chrome OS devices, it is unlikely that even Microsoft will make an exception from Google.
Therefore, developers may need to maintain the API interface by themselves to run better on Windows 10. Otherwise, it may not be available on the Microsoft Store.
User experience may be the biggest problem:
From a technical perspective, it is not difficult for Microsoft to develop an Android virtual machine or Android subsystem. It is not a problem for Microsoft to even delete the Google series of interfaces.
Perhaps the biggest problem with the Windows 10 Android subsystem is the user experience. After all, these are two different operating systems, and they are desktop and mobile.
Microsoft uses Microsoft's fluent design system in Windows 10, while Android apps mostly use Google Material Language. The two different design styles have different experiences.
In particular, how applications designed and developed for mobile devices can run and interact better on the desktop may require developers to adapt to the desktop actively.