Missing Apps On Windows Phone? Bluestacks To The Rescue!

The ecosystem around mobile devices is increasingly becoming more important than the devices themselves. You may create an extraordinary operating system, but you will not be able to convince users to turn to it unless you convince developers to make thousands of apps for it. With around 700,000 apps each, Android and iOS are making it almost impossible for other companies to match their ecosystem.

What would a new entrant like Windows Phone do in that case? The operating system launched with about 20,000 apps only and as much as Microsoft tries, developers aren’t flocking towards the new platform. Less developers equals fewer consumers, and the platform is stuck in an endless vicious cycle. A new software tool called Bluestacks is now trying to remedy that situation.

Bluestacks can be downloaded on any Windows Phone device and can be used to install Android apps from various markets. This gives Windows Phone users access to several important apps like Pandora, Instagram and Flipboard that are not available on Windows Phone. However, Bluestacks is still in its beta version and it comes with too many frustrations and challenges. On many atom-based Windows Phone devices, it refuses to work at all. Users are stuck staring at a black screen with a loading sign. The app store does not let you see a description for any app, so you have to individually browse to Google Play, 1 Mobile Market, Amazon Appstore and Get Jar if you want to learn about the Android apps you are downloading.

App developers usually have the end device in mind when they are programming for an app. Since the end device here is an Android phone, using a Windows Phone device with a wider screen or different specifications will mean that the app does not function correctly. For example, Google Drive and Apps look inappropriately blown up on Windows Phone tablets. This is also because Bluestacks only supports older versions of Android apps, which are designed for Android 2.3. The PC emulator version of the same software works better, but does freeze up when certain apps are being downloaded.

In theory, emulator software like Bluestacks is a good idea as people have more operating systems to choose from. It levels the ecosystem field and allows new entries. However, the execution still needs significant amount of additional work and resources before users can actually be satisfied with it.