MS phones could soon be able to run Win32 apps

Nov 19, 2015 06:19 GMT  ·  By

Continuum is one of the key features that Microsoft brought in Windows 10 Mobile, and although it'll be at first available only on two flagship models, namely Lumia 950 and 950 XL, Redmond's pushing to promote it as much as possible these days.

At the same time, the software giant's also looking into ways to improve it, and one way to do this is to bring support for Win32 apps, according to a company employee.

Continuum is a feature that allows Windows 10 Mobile devices to become fully featured PCs by plugging into a dedicated adapter external devices such as a monitors, USB mice and keyboards, which lets you work just like you do on a computer screen.

The phone's Start screen is mirrored on the monitor and becomes your desktop, with all the apps running there being powered by your handset. But for the moment, these apps must be universal in order to be used with Continuum.

Project Centennial

Basically, what Microsoft's trying to do is allow users to run Win32 apps on their Windows phones when connected to Continuum. This would clearly be a major addition to this new feature, given the fact that the majority of apps out there are still Win32, but there are obviously many challenges to be addressed before this thing becomes real.

According to a tweet posted by Ginny Caughney today, Microsoft's Kevin Gallo has revealed at the Connect() 2015 conference that the company is at least looking into ways to bring Win32 apps on Windows 10 Mobile devices with Continuum, but no specifics have been provided.

This isn't the first time when Microsoft's thinking about such a feature, as the company revealed earlier this year at BUILD that tools to bring Win32 apps on Windows 10 Mobile devices were being developed as part of Project Centennial. This is a new set of solutions supposed to help software developers bring their Win32 apps in the Windows Store and thus create new opportunities for the whole ecosystem.

Little is known at this point about how the project has advanced in the last few months, but more information should be provided when Windows 10 Mobile officially hits the shelves in just a few weeks.