Absolutely, because Android have the user base to provide that push on the profits. But seems they are pulling the plug too early. Surface pro hardware line started picking up from Surface pro 3. Before that they built plenty of similar hardware that didn't hit off. But incase of WP10 and Surface Duo, it seems they were abandoned too quickly. And now considering AI capabilities, one would like to think is it now a good time again to penetrate the market again with AI help specifically for app gaps or may be to bring the entire UI experience to Android platform. Possibilities seems good but then again its the interest of executives.
Bring Back Windows Phone
Before you dismiss this as another useless suggestion, I would like you to read this and think about it. I, like many others, enjoyed using windows phone and would love to see it come back however there undoubtedly were flaws, this suggestion addresses them and suggests ways to economically bring back windows phone
I will start by saying that although windows phone development is dead, the community most certainly is not. a simple TikTok search will reveal that many people still use windows phone devices because they are simply so nice to use. many key aspects of windows phone, like tiles, horizontal swiping, system-wide dark mode, and themes keep people coming back because it looks so nice and it is very easy to use. people liked windows phone as they bought key information together, like in the social center and the People app from the waterdrop sounds when unlocking your phone, or the charging sound, everything about windows phone was so well thought out that people loved it. and keep coming back to it even years later after it was discontinued. if windows phone were to come back, I'm sure people would switch back.
Now its time to address the elephant in the room, app support:
the main factor in WPs demise was the lack of app support; users couldn't download their favorite apps, and developers didn't want to make them, causing a cycle that was bound for failure. there is one solution for this, bring windows phones to android. now I am well aware this is no easy feat, the windows phone kernel and software were built entirely around its hardware and existing windows software. to try to switch windows phone to android would take days of coding but I do believe there really is a market for windows phone and with the right approach, this could really be a success.
Should windows phone return, here are some things that should remain as they were beforehand:
The start screen - one of the main reasons people loved windows phone was the metro UI start screen. it looked beautiful and most people really enjoyed using it, the app launch animations were lovely, and coming back to it every time was a pleasure, although it should be reworked to allow for android gestures.
system design theme - a lot of the system was built on horizontal swiping, which made windows phones remarkably easy to use with one hand, and changing across screens was easy and sleek, not to mention that the dark mode just made everything look so much more beautiful.
sounds - almost every windows phone sound was great to hear, if you moved to android and didn't keep those sounds it would be a mistake.
animations and optimization - what makes windows phone so usable to this day is the optimized system and UI. animations were snappy and beautiful to look at especially launching into Microsoft apps.
keyboard - I hate to say it but the swift key keyboard sucks, most people would rather opt for Samsung's or google's variant to swiftkey, however, the WP keyboard sounded lovely, used swipe typing ahead of its time, and looked great
some aspects of the system should change, like the notification center, which was quite bulky and looked quite harsh, but for its time Windows Phone got a lot of things right, especially compared to IOS and Android which were lacking behind. unfortunately, the one problem with the devices killed them off so there is no hope of having its own platform now.
moving to android would have a lot of benefits for windows phone, like being able to use Microsofts apps on the play store or tying in with other Google services like youtube, not to mention that all android features would automatically be added and accounted for in the windows UI.
To finish off I'm going to say that moving windows phone to android won't only be great for the consumer, but it will also be great for Microsoft, who can start to look at the mobile market again. with the right moves, I am sure that Microsoft will succeed on the Android platform and that this will benefit everyone. i look forward to reading your opinions on this topic and i am sure that atleast someone will agree with me
Windows for home | Other | Apps
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Anonymous
2025-03-20T14:17:56+00:00 -
Anonymous
2025-03-20T14:02:44+00:00 Fortunately and unfortunately, what drives decisions is profit. Microsoft has to first and foremost survive as a company and to do that it has to make decisions that make money not friends. I was a huge fan of windows phone and had almost EVERY model including the 1510 (6.7 inch). Loved all of them, in fact I had the Zune and Zune 3D which launched the concept of Metro UI which led to Windows Phone. All that said, still doesn't mean anything if the directors of the company see more money somewhere else. Remember, Microsoft makes more money on Android IP licensing than all of windows phone did.
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Anonymous
2025-03-20T11:12:30+00:00 I was just giving example of Duo on how they abandon a project which was just starting to go there way. And for that technicality you mentioned on why same UI cannot happen on android. They actually in final years of WP10, brought portability of apps to WP from IOS platform by just converting program code of IOS. And it looked well enough integrated without matching the UI look.
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Anonymous
2025-03-19T21:57:40+00:00 Microsoft just abandoned their Surface duo line despite being so close to making a perfect dual screen device. They just have a habbit of dropping the just before the finish line. Windows Phone UI hands down was and still is best UI setup on mobile devices period. They sure can implement that on android platform but then again they seems to be lazy.
I hear you. I _loved_ the Windows Phone UI.
But no, you cannot implement that on Android. This goes down into how apps are developed, what controls (user interface elements) they can and should use and how, and how apps generally interact with the system and other apps. Those things are completely different on each platform.
Unfortunately the Surface Duo would have been an Android device. But look at the (also) abandoned Windows 10X, that looked like a nice platform too. As a desktop Windows user, I would still love to have a phone that looks and feels a bit like my desktop platform.
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Anonymous
2025-03-16T10:06:42+00:00 So true I agree with u...