What you need to know
- A discovery made by Mr. Mobile on YouTube highlighted an app called Launcher 10 that can turn an Android phone into a Windows Phone OS.
- Users will have an "authentic taste" of what it used to be, outfitted with the boxy, rectangular tiles that the Windows Phone software featured.
- Microsoft discontinued Windows Phone in 2017 and even ended service support for its Surface Duo 2 in October 2024.
Remember the old Microsoft Windows Phone software? Well, another person does, too, and there's a program that can get it done.
As spotted by our friends at Windows Central, YouTuber MrMobile, AKA Michael Fisher, discovered a way to turn an Android phone into a Windows Phone. MrMobile found an app on the Play Store called Launcher 10, which gives users a "very authentic taste" of what once was for Microsoft's smartphone. If you remember the aesthetic of this phone — and Windows 8 by extension — then you know what you're in for.
Launcher 10 brings back those boxy, square, rectangular icons or "tiles." The app, when selected to be put to use within your settings, turns everything into what the Windows Phone OS used to be.
Interestingly enough, most of the apps that you're likely to have on your device like Gmail, Spotify, Google Calendar, Photos, and more appear properly through Launcher 10. Some of the app icons on the tiles take on Android's "Themed Icon," which is just an outline of the logo within it filled in with color. Others, like Chrome, feature a colored background with a recognizable logo in the center.
Another aspect that is very Windows Phone is the notifications. MrMobile gave a brief glimpse at a notification, which retained that Windows flair.
If you're interested, you can watch MrMobiles' full glimpse at Launcher 10. Additionally, the video highlights the app's multitude of customization options to get the right theme. However, MrMobiles delivers a warning to those who will want to go that extra mile with Launcher 10.
For those looking for a bit of nostalgia, Launcher 10 might be the best gift of the season. Microsoft discontinued its Windows Phone OS in 2017. It didn't come without a heavy heart as the company's CEO Satya Nadella told Business Insider in 2023 "the decision I think a lot of people talk about – and one of the most difficult decisions I made when I became CEO — was our exit of what I'll call the mobile phone as defined then" (via IGN).
The Windows Phone OS was in response to what Apple had done with iOS and Google with Android, but it didn't catch on.
As such, Microsoft bowed out of the software side of mobile phones, but it still had its a phone: the Surface Duo and the Surface Duo 2 foldables. Neither of those devices lasted particularly long as Microsoft detailed the end of service for the Surface Duo 2 this year in October. The device only received one update that took it from Android 11 to Android 12L.
It seemed that Microsoft was more interested in "streamlining" its Surface ecosystem and there are no plans to return the Duo.
Despite Microsoft's rocky smartphone and phone OS history, the company has taken strides to improve its computer relationship with Android phones. In August, Windows' latest features for Phone Link for OS 10 and 11 rivaled Apple's AirDrop with quicker file sharing between PC and Android. Additionally, the dedicated app makes this even easier (and faster).
Elsewhere, Microsoft even improved its Link to Windows mirroring experience for Galaxy devices with One UI 6.1.1 that same month.
