Today we wrote that one of the Windows enthusiasts was able to install applications from Android on without any modifications or changes. Almost immediately, the author published the installation instructions, so you can try to install the APK on your Windows 10 Mobile smartphone yourself.
Warning: this procedure is intended only for advanced users who are not afraid to damage their smartphone. All actions you do at your own peril and risk, and the responsibility lies only with you.
- Nokia Lumia 920
- Nokia Lumia 925
- Nokia Lumia 929
- Nokia Lumia 830
- Nokia Lumia 930
- Nokia Lumia 1520
- Nokia Lumia 635 1 GB RAM.
- Nokia Lumia 730
- Nokia Lumia 820
- Nokia Lumia 435
- Nokia Lumia 928
Installation Procedure:
- Download and install the Android SDK ADB and Wconnect tool.
- Unzip all files in one folder.
- Open the Wconnect folder and install the IpOverUsbInstaller.msi files as well as vcredist_x86.exe
- Open the settings - update and security - for developers on your smartphone. Turn on developer mode and device discovery.
- Go to the unzipped Wconnect folder, press Shift + right mouse button - open a command prompt.
- Connect the smartphone via USB to the computer and enter wconnect.exe usb. Press Enter.
- Then enter the pairing code.
- Go to the unzipped ADB folder and run the command line in the same way. To make sure your device is paired successfully, type adb devices and press enter.
- Place the APK file in the ADB folder.
- At the command prompt, enter adb install the name of the .apk file.
- Wait for the process to complete.
What if the application requires a cache?
- Install any file manager from Android. Anyone able to work with cloud storage will do.
- Enter your repository by preloading the cache of the application or game you need.
- Now download the cache to the device and place it in the desired folder using the installed Android file manager.
- Install the APK you need and run it. If you correctly positioned the application cache, it will find the files it needs and start.
What about applications that require Google Play services?
Applications that require Google Play services to work will not work on Windows 10 Mobile, but you can try to patch them by removing the binding to the services. To do this, you need the GMaps Patcher utility. It also allows you to get the ARC file you need to install by downloading it from the Google Play store.
Do not forget that installing Android applications in this way is associated with certain risks, so you must be sure that you are not afraid to damage your device. But if you are extremely eager to launch popular applications from the "green robot" on your smartphone, now you know how to do this. We hope that in the near future Microsoft will share details about Project Astoria.
Installing Android on smartphones running Windows Phone is real. On the second-generation Lumia and Samsung ATIV S phones, the ground has already been prepared for this. Enthusiasts managed to crack their bootloaders and gain access to the drive section where the system files of the tiled operating system are stored. It remains to wait for people involved in transferring firmware with the "green robot" to various devices to create a working port for phones with mobile Windows on board. It is such that it contained correctly working drivers for all modules and sensors, and did not exist just for show.Now on the network you can find unofficial firmware with a “clean” Android 7.1 OS for Lumia 520 and 525 smartphones, as well as instructions for installing it. But it is of little interest, since the vast majority of modules - camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and others - do not work in it. In addition, the method of installing firmware with the Android system does not provide for the return to Windows Phone. It is possible that a little later, enthusiasts will figure out how to solve this problem, but at the moment things are exactly like that.
Video: Android 7.1 on Nokia Lumia 520
How to install Android applications on Windows Phone and is it possible
Since the weakest point of Windows Phone has always been an application store with a meager range of content, in 2015 Microsoft decided to open two bridges for quickly porting software from iOS and Android - Project Islandwood and Project Astoria, respectively. With their help, the company planned to significantly reduce the existing gap between the markets of leading mobile operating systems and the Windows Store, as well as increase the number of users of its tiled OS.
While Islandwood provided only code editing and recompilation of iOS applications for their further deployment on devices with Windows 10 Mobile, the Astoria project provided more advanced features - installation and launch of applications created for the "green robot" directly on devices with mobile Windows All these tricks could be cranked out thanks to the Android subsystem, which is present in the dozens for smartphones assemblies, but only with software that did not have a connection to Google Play services.
Initially, Astoria tools were handed out to a limited number of developers, but then “quite by accident” were freely available. Literally immediately after this incident, several ways to install programs from the "robot" to the mobile "Windows" appeared on the network. Everyone used them, however, only the most "hungry" experienced a special delight from this. And all because when using programs written on Android, the system significantly braked and loaded the phone. This was due to the fact that the OS gave a large amount of resources to emulate and maintain the virtual machine in working condition. Since Microsoft engineers never figured out how to fix this jamb, third-party developers refused to use Astoria to port their creations. As a result, the company had to close the project and “cut out” the Android subsystem from the Windows 10 Mobile builds later than the build number 10536. That is why now no one can install applications from APK files on Windows phones using existing methods.
From all this we can conclude that now there are no compromises for users who are not satisfied with the pace of development of Windows 10 Mobile, as well as the situation with the release and support of applications for this operating system. It is hoped that in the near future the big-headed guys will be able to come up with something and arrange a holiday for desperate users.
Many are interested in the question of how to make another on the phone from one operating system. This is possible with the help of “firmware”. Consider popular systems like Android and Windows Phone.
We make Android from Windows Phone
First, take care of backing up your device. This can be done by a function in the phone or by a special program (for example, Titanium Bekap). If something goes wrong or you want to return everything back, then such a copy will help to do this without any problems. Also, a backup copy will help you install all your important documents, photos, images, videos and other files onto a ready-made flashed smartphone. In order to check if there are backups in the phone’s memory, you need to go to the phone’s settings, in the “Backups” tab.
There are many models of Windows phones, but the principle of firmware is the same. The firmware can be performed in two ways: installing Android on a memory card and launching it directly from the Windows system and installing android in the phone’s memory.
The main files that are present in the firmware program:
- Initrd.gz - file system. Used to launch Android from a flash drive.
- Haret.exe is a system file that downloads the entire Android platform.
- Zimage is the core for Android.
- Default.txt - boot script.
- androidinstall.tar - file system.
- androidupdate.tar - file for updating the Android system.
Starting a new system with Windows Phone CP
With this method, all Android system folders are registered in one of the root folders of the Windows Phone memory card. The folder can be any. Example System Path: Memory Card / OCA. Particular attention should be paid to the default.txt file and its contents. It contains all the information for the normal launch of a new operating system.
When the Haret.exe file is launched, the smartphone loads the operating system again, thanks to the parameters of the default.txt file. this means that even though OC is copied to removable media, using native Windows is only possible after backup (restoring the state of the phone to a certain point - when the save was created). Possible problems with this installation format are restart and crash.
Starting a new system from Windows Phone memory
The file that is installed in the smartphone’s memory is .nbh. For our case, it should be called polaimg-panel1-320-17-06-10.nbh, where each part has its own meaning. The first word is the type of smartphone (manufacturer), the second is the model, the first digit is the screen resolution, the last three digits are the release date of this file. We select the firmware version ourselves, depending on personal preferences.
- Using special programs, we get root access to the smartphone. This can be done using programs such as: Framaroot, Root Genius, iRoot, RomasterSy and others.
- Download the utility necessary for the firmware. For each model of phone and tablet, it is different. If you take the most common, then for HTC these are Custom programs.
- We format the memory card using the program designed for this purpose - Fat 32. It is better to take a memory card class of 10 so that there will be no problems in the future. On it, create a folder that we call andboot. From the firmware, select the androidinstall.tar file and, if there is one, androidupdate.tar and place them in the folder created on the USB flash drive.
- Connect the device to the computer with a USB cable without a memory card! On the computer, create a folder with any name and throw the Custom program and the .nbh file into it.
- We start the program from the Custom RUU folder and follow the instructions that appear on the screen. Last you need to click the button labeled Update and wait for the progress to complete. After it restarts and hangs.
- We insert the previously prepared memory card into the device and press the volume “-” button and the power off button simultaneously (turn it on in the soft reset mode). We wait until the inscription “Hold down Volume Up or DPad center to launch installer” appears on the smartphone screen. As soon as we observe it on the screen, we press the center of the joystick button (or the “+” button at volume). The device will go to the installation menu of the new operating system.
- In the menu that appears, select Sys on NAND / Data on NAND. Below, it is necessary to highlight Install System and wait until the system is installed. If the androidupdate.tar file has been moved to the memory card, select Install Update and wait for it to return to the main menu. Next you need to click on Fix Permissions and wait.
- Next, we reboot the device again in soft reset mode. After that, the device can boot for a sufficiently long time (from 5 to 20 minutes), everything is ready!
Mandatory conditions when starting work with operating systems is a backup, a properly selected version of the firmware and installation of the system strictly according to the instructions.
Before you figure out how to install the Android application on the Windows Phone OS, we will discuss emulation in general. By emulation (another term - simulation) of software is meant the creation of conditions on the target machine that would allow it to run programs from another system and even implemented for a different type of processor.
If the processors of both systems are different, then the processor of the source machine is usually emulated on the target machine, which allows you to run any applications of this source machine. Including operating systems developed for it. If the processors of both systems are the same, then there is no need to emulate iron.
In this case, the software environment of the source machine is emulated. It also allows you to run its applications on the target platform. A specific example: the Wine toolkit, which makes it possible to use Windows programs on computers running Linux.
Microsoft took the path of further developing this idea and announced the Astoria project, the results of which we can see today. Now apk files with Aneroid can be launched directly from the mobile version of Windows. The development of this software product is aimed at overcoming difficulties with the sales of Phone.
A small number of applications for this platform reduces customer demand. In turn, the developers refuse to contact the operating system, the proportion of users of which is small there. Simulation of Android programs on Phone cuts this Gordian knot.
In any case, this is exactly what MS is counting on. Astoria is not an easy virtual machine. This is a developer toolkit designed to quickly port software from Android to Windows.
How does Astoria work?
On the forum pages w3bsit3-dns.com at http://w3bsit3-dns.com/forum/index.php?showtopic\u003d682776 you can get comprehensive information about the necessary software and the rules for its use. You will need:
- Java JDK version 1.7 or higher. You can install Java from the Oracle site.
- Android Studio app.
- Android Debug Bridge Toolkit (ADB).
Armed with all this, as well as user instructions (which is provided on the site), you can revive the android programs on your Lumia. Right here on the site you can find a list of supported smartphones. 
Case study
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That’s all wisdom. Installing Android programs on Windows turned out to be simple. True, various problems can arise in the process of adaptation. Ways to solve them are well described on the Internet. Unfortunately, we cannot please users with Astoria updates - if the build of your system has a number greater than 10536, then the subsystem on it is probably missing. Apparently, Microsoft is not going to develop its project further and does not support it anymore.
