Can I run Windows Phone apps on a Windows 8.1 Tablet

[rtv]

Hi Everyone,


I'm doing research to find out if I should purchase a Windows tablet (Dell Venue or Lenovo Ideatab Miix 8). I'm confused about what apps will run on these systems. I'm looking specifically for a golf gps program. I found a couple programs that look interesting, but they all say that they run on "Windows Phone," or "Windows 8 phone". Would these run on my full Windows 8 tablets ? All of these Windows versions are really confusing to me.


I'm looking at Windows tablets because of the current mess that Google has made of the Android operating system. Google's latest update (codename "Kit Kat") breaks access to micro-sd cards on Android tablets and phones. This change is specifically why I am strongly considering Windows tablets instead of an Android tablet. Here's a link to an article describing the problem if anyone is interested. Microsoft should use this deficiency in their advertising:


KitKat and SD cards ? what's fixed, what's broken and what's misunderstood | Android Central


If I can find a good Golf GPS program for a Windows table, I'll probably pull the trigger on one of these Windows tablets.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[newjack]

a lot of the phone apps are for the windows tablets but not 100% of them. The main difference in windows tablet are: Take for instance the surface RT and the surface pro. It simple terms, surface RT can only run aps and comes with Microsoft office. It looks like its full functioning windows 8 but its not. There's not many 3rd party software you can run outside of the windows store. You have limited on board memory but there's an SD slot and usb. I have not played with the surface pro yet but my understanding is its more like a laptop. I think you can run 3rd party progams and games just like a pc without using windows store. It has a lot more memory capabilities and is a lot faster but does not come with office.

The surface RT has longer battery life and is a lot lighter and thinner. The surface Pro is a lot heavier and bulky with shorter battery life. The surface RT is aloooot cheaper. The pro is more in Ipad price range.

 

[rtv]

Newjack,

Thanks for the reply. Yours has been the only response to my question so far. The Windows tablets that I'm looking at are full functioning Windows (I believe). Sort of like a Surface Pro with an 8 inch display, with the hardware assembled by Dell or Lenovo. That means they can run either regular windows programs or Metro (oops "Modern") apps. I have no idea if they can run apps written specifically for the RT platform (if there are any). I'm not too concerned about that part given the relative lack of popularity for RT and their associated apps.

I don't see a lot of golf related modern apps in the apps store. The whole bit about Windows phone apps is another mystery area. I did some additional research and I think the answer to my original question is: No, Windows phone apps won't run as metro apps under Windows 8.1. I haven't found any source that says that specifically, but that's kind of the impression that I get after reading a bunch of different sites.

I still believe that Microsoft has done a very good job of confusing consumers about what products with similar sounding names can actually run. Too bad really as I believe there is a great opportunity for Microsoft to be successful given Google's recent heavy-handed approach with Android.

I'm hopeful that someone else will chime in with some more thoughts about my question.

 

[OldGuyGeek]

Windows Phone Apps won't run under Windows 8, however some manufacturers have written versions for both.

To address this, Microsoft has released a unified development strategy that will allow developers to write a single program that will work under multiple systems.

Just isn't here yet.

 

[Tepid]

OldGuyGeek is correct
There are no Phone Apps that will run on a Windows Tablet at all.
But that is a misnomer.

Phone Apps are designed for the Phone, they are not transferable to Windows.
But this is the case with all platforms.

However,
MS have implemented and released the possibility to create Universal Apps
These apps have one Base Code, and multiple GUI's depending on Windows device.
However, they also consist of proper branding across all devices, so there should be no mistake that
what you are running on the Phone is in fact linked to and official to what you might be running on a tablet or PC.

What is a Universal Windows app? | Windows Phone Central

Universal apps already available in the Store ? here's how to spot them in Windows Phone 8.1 | Windows Phone Daily


Better Together | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

 

[rtv]

Thanks to both OldGuyGeek and Tepid. Your comments have cleared up a lot of my confusion. The Universal Apps links were interesting. I wish Microsoft well. They have a long long way to go. I just don't know if there's enough time for them to get apps "unified" before the market dismisses their efforts as too little, too late. We really need something other than Apple as a counter to Google's increasing influence in this space.

I'll probably have to buy an Android tablet. Current plans are to turn off automatic updating to prevent it from updating to Kit Kat. I'll eventually root it so that I can install a patch to override Google's lock down of external storage. The only thing that would prevent me from rooting immediately is that it voids the warranty.

rtv (fellow old guy)

 

[Tepid]

that is not an issue.
Windows Phones are growing market share.

Caught a Lumia 1020 in the crowd on Americas got Talent when the old guy was pulling the car with his teeth.

Windows Phones are here to stay.

I would also advise at looking closer at Win8 Pro tablets, save and spend the extra money, it is highly worth it.
Why waste money on something so limited as an Android Tablet or iPad?
Yes, I know the Androids are cheap, but that is because they are cheap.

I love my Surface Pro.
Typing on it right now, wouldn't trade it for anything other than a Surface Pro 3.

 

[livingenzyme]

OldGuyGeek is correct
There are no Phone Apps that will run on a Windows Tablet at all.
But that is a misnomer.

Phone Apps are designed for the Phone, they are not transferable to Windows.
But this is the case with all platforms.

However,
MS have implemented and released the possibility to create Universal Apps
These apps have one Base Code, and multiple GUI's depending on Windows device.
However, they also consist of proper branding across all devices, so there should be no mistake that
what you are running on the Phone is in fact linked to and official to what you might be running on a tablet or PC.

What is a Universal Windows app? | Windows Phone Central

Universal apps already available in the Store ? here's how to spot them in Windows Phone 8.1 | Windows Phone Daily


Better Together | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

MS really shouldn't have named universal apps universal apps. The reason being they are not really universal.

Case in point. I've been working on an engineering app (first and only one of its kind). Tried iOS and android before and decided to settle on windows because (1) our engineers can start working on their tablets in the field and then continue their work when they get back to their offices with their PC's and (2) native printing support.

So, when MS released the update to VS for universal apps, I was ecstatic. Then I very quickly ran into a stumbling block that prevents me from adapting this app to the windows phone.

See, in order to convince the upper epsilon engineers that this app will make everyone's work more efficient, I had to make all the data of a user sync in real time across all devices. This app uses onedrive to do this. So, an engineer can work in the field on his tablet, get back to his office, and keep working with the same data and work on his PC. No need to transfer data via usb or email. And hence the problem. Windows phone 8.1 still ain't got no folder/file picker that can access onedrive and it ain't got no equivalent of futureaccesslist.

I know this is a minor thing if you're a facebooker or blogger by profession, but something like this prevents a true productivity oriented universal app experience.

I'm still pissed that MS is more worried about bloggers and facebookers than those of us who do honest to god real work with their platform.

 

[Tepid]

I agree, the File Manager in the WP has been MIA for far too long and the one they released is kinda lacking.
Have you looked at using Azure though?I know it's an extra expense, but maybe there is some kind of better sync API's?
I don't really know, I am not a full blown programmer.

Also note, that a lot of WP stuff is still in beta. And we can't expect them to get everything done over night.

I also feel the pain of catering to the mindless blog/booking/tweeters and general lame game crowed.
But that is where the money is at right now, in order to get the acceptance that the WP needs to survive, they have to. no choice.
I guarantee, you, me and anyone else would have no other choice either on that decision. I wish it weren't the case.
But it is pretty much what killed BB.

But I also agree they should be putting more effort into the other things that would make WP even better for the work place.
There dedication to the platform though is there. Surface and WP are here to stay for a good long while.
More and more people are seeing the value in a WP and Surface Tablets.


Also note,, Android and iOS didn't get where they are in the same amount of time that MS has.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Ok, so what's the flavor of Office on my Nokia Lumia 1520 that allows me to open or create files that I can sync via OneDrive?

 

[livingenzyme]

Ok, so what's the flavor of Office on my Nokia Lumia 1520 that allows me to open or create files that I can sync via OneDrive?

Any of them will do. What you ask for is completely different and has nothing to do with what I need for my app.

 

[rtv]

that is not an issue.
Windows Phones are growing market share.

Caught a Lumia 1020 in the crowd on Americas got Talent when the old guy was pulling the car with his teeth.

Windows Phones are here to stay.

But there's the rub. I don't need or want a phone. I already have one, and it's just a phone. I don't want to pay for inflated data plans on a smart phone (whether it's Windows, Android or Apple). That's what drove me to evaluate the Dell Venue or Lenovo Ideatab Miix 8 devices which are wifi only devices. They are both at very reasonable price points ( <$300) and would have allowed me to avoid jumping through hoops to use the device the way I want to. Here's an example of one my entertainment requirements: I have ~ 50 GB of lossless recordings which I maintain on my main Windows system. When I travel, they get transferred to a micro sd card, which I then slip into the tablet to play using an inexpensive app that I bought. Doing that with the newest Android system is difficult without rooting the device. I know that I could have matched that functionality with a Windows tablet. But, some of the other things that I want to be able to do (specifically golf related apps) cannot be matched in pure Windows environments. Although I don't have a requirement to blog, facebook or Tweet I guess that using devices for entertainment probably puts me into the lame user camp.

I think the whole question about work (or more serious) applications versus purely entertainment applications is a big part of the problem that Microsoft has in this space. Their base is in the "serious" environment. Growth is in the entertainment environment. They're doing a good job of filling in the more serious environment. They are not yet there for the entertainment side of it. I'm hopeful that they will eventually, at which time I will reconsider the platform.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there

You *might* be able to get some ANDROID apps to run on the tablet. - You would need to run ANDROID as a VM on the tablet - this in theory should be "do-able" since you can run VMware player or vbox on a surface pro. Android is a very tiny OS so overhead would be very small. Note though it has to be a proper WINDOWS tablet not Windows RT.

Try this - running Android apps on VBOX. I don't have a Surface 2 although I've ordered the surface 3 pro -- I'll probably have a go at this myself later.

How to Install Android in VirtualBox

Cheers
jimbo

 

[livingenzyme]

Regarding andy, I don't know if it's because he's written in java or if they never made him right. He always seem buggy no matter what hardware he occupies.

 

[rtv]

Hi there

You *might* be able to get some ANDROID apps to run on the tablet. - You would need to run ANDROID as a VM on the tablet - this in theory should be "do-able" since you can run VMware player or vbox on a surface pro. Android is a very tiny OS so overhead would be very small. Note though it has to be a proper WINDOWS tablet not Windows RT.

Try this - running Android apps on VBOX. I don't have a Surface 2 although I've ordered the surface 3 pro -- I'll probably have a go at this myself later.

How to Install Android in VirtualBox

Cheers
jimbo

That's a great suggestion. I love playing around with those types of projects. I already have virtualbox installed on my main system, and could use it to test specific apps that I'm interested in. Sounds like fun, and it shouldn't cost me anything to set up (I'm very careful with my money) btw, the two tablets that I considered are regular windows, not RT. If the apps would run in a VM under Vista, they SHOULD run in a VM in Windows 8 on a tablet.

Thanks !

RTV

 

[rtv]

Jimbo,

I just came across the following. It's a crowd source project right now, but it's interesting.

Console OS will let you run Android on a Windows PC or tablet

The possibility of running android apps under a Windows tablet is enough to freeze my decision making at the moment. Kind of a best of both worlds environment. I'm going into research mode to learn more about the environment.

I love this stuff.

Regards,

rtv