Microsoft has revealed more details about its Windows universal apps and
has also talked about how the Windows 10 universal app platform will
work. Additionally, the company has announced its upcoming Build
conference will be held from April 29 to May 1. Further universal app
platform technical details will be announced at the
Build Conference in
San Francisco.
Microsoft's Kevin Gallo, technical lead for Windows
universal apps, in a blog post
titled "A first look at the Windows 10 universal app platform" gave
some insights of the universal app platform.
Explaining the need
of consumer's needs, Gallo stressed that "mobile experiences" have
evolved. "Until now, mobile experiences have largely meant app and web
experiences built for mobile devices - most often defined by the phone
you carry with you," he adds. Gallo goes on to suggest that the new
"world of mobile experiences" requires support of number of screen sizes
alongside flexibility in interaction. He gave an example of a user who
works across various devices supporting touch gestures (in case of
mobiles and tablets) to keyboard and mouse (on desktop), and to bridge
such a gap devices such as 2-in-1 are launched.
"As we built the
universal app platform, we set out to ensure that all Windows developers
would equally benefit from this one core. The platform enables a new
class of Windows universal apps - apps that are truly written once, with
one set of business logic and one UI. Apps that are delivered to one
Store within one package. Apps that are able to reach every Windows 10
device the developer wants to reach. Apps that feels consistent and
familiar to the customer on all devices, while also contextually
appropriate to each device's input model and screen size. The new
universal app platform completes our developer platform convergence by
providing you with the ability to finally create one app that can run on
mobile, desktop, console, holographic, and even IoT devices," blog
notes.
Gallo further explained "adaptive user experience" that
will allow app UI to "fluidly adapt at runtime based on how the customer
is interacting with your app." Microsoft also stressed that Windows 10
will make it easy for developers to "incorporate natural user inputs
into your app."
"Because Windows handles all of these inputs, we
free you from needing to worry about how to parse the input for meaning -
you only need to worry about which inputs are appropriate for your app
and we'll determine if they are present and parse the intent for you,"
he adds.
In the blog, the company confirmed that Windows 10 has
been designed to support existing Windows and desktop apps. Microsoft
goes on to suggest that the same design frame will maintained through
devices including the HoloLens, Surface Hub, and IoT devices like the
Raspberry Pi 2. The company confirmed more details will be shared at the
Build conference in April.
The company announced Universal
Windows apps, a move that claimed to bring a new common Windows runtime
to PCs, phones, and tablets (and the Xbox One) at last year's Build
conference. With the launch of Windows 10 in September, Microsoft came closer to its vision of universal apps that will
allow apps to work across a variety of devices (from phones to tablet to
gaming consoles).
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