WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.320 The common latte is typically a bit of a pricey choice down at the coffee shop, 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:07.600 but now there's a kind of latte you won't have to pay for. 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:11.440 And no, I'm not talking about having someone give you a Starbucks gift card, 00:00:11.440 --> 00:00:14.720 which sounds like kind of a weird situation. Please buy me a gift card. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:18.720 That's right, I'm talking about Project Latte, a Microsoft endeavor designed to get 00:00:18.720 --> 00:00:24.880 Android apps to run on Windows. But hold on a minute, isn't it already possible to do that? 00:00:24.880 --> 00:00:28.800 Well, sort of. Some apps can be emulated with third-party programs, 00:00:28.880 --> 00:00:32.800 while others might have an equivalent in the Windows store that were specifically coded for 00:00:32.800 --> 00:00:38.080 Windows. Facebook Messenger is a great example of this. But built-in support from Microsoft is a 00:00:38.080 --> 00:00:41.920 welcome change if you have apps you're always using that don't have a Windows edition, 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:46.720 and should be more reliable than outside emulators. But how does it work? And what can you expect? 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:51.280 That's what we're here for. It turns out that Windows already has a feature built-in 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:57.760 called Windows Subsystems for Linux, or WSL. WSL allows users to run a Linux environment within 00:00:57.760 --> 00:01:02.480 Windows, and although it's primarily targeted at developers, it looks like Project Latte is 00:01:02.480 --> 00:01:07.760 going to be built on top of WSL, as Android is a Linux-based operating system. In fact, 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:12.640 Microsoft has already used WSL to add Windows support for GUI-based Linux programs, 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.880 so giving users the ability to do more than just punch things in at a command line 00:01:16.880 --> 00:01:21.040 is a hurdle Microsoft has already cleared. They've been training a long time. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:25.680 This would mean that instead of having to significantly recode apps for Windows instead 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:29.920 of Android, developers could just port their apps over to Windows without having to change 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:33.680 them much at all. Hopefully this will mean that we'll see a lot of popular apps popping up on 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:38.720 Windows soon after Project Latte drops, and will almost definitely mean an experience less clunky 00:01:38.720 --> 00:01:45.760 than tethering to your PC with that temperamental your phone app. No, your phone! However, there's 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:50.880 one major caveat to all this. Running an Android app properly isn't just a matter of supporting 00:01:50.880 --> 00:01:56.320 Linux. A huge number of apps also rely on a set of APIs called Google Play Services, 00:01:56.320 --> 00:02:00.160 which you may have seen updating on your phone every now and then. No, your phone! 00:02:00.160 --> 00:02:04.480 And wondered, what the heck is that? Play services hook into apps in many different ways. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:09.200 For example, an app can ask Play Services to handle sign-in, retrieve save games, 00:02:09.200 --> 00:02:13.440 issue notifications through the Android OS, get app updates, access Google Maps, 00:02:13.440 --> 00:02:19.280 make payments, cast video to TV, and much more. Basically, if an app talks to Google services 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:24.640 in any way, it goes through Play Services in order to do it. And unfortunately, Microsoft can't 00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:31.120 just slap Play Services onto Project Latte unilaterally. As for now, Google restricts 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:36.000 Play Services to devices running Chrome OS or Android. And even though Project Latte might be 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:41.200 an Android-like layer sitting on top of Windows, it doesn't make your PC an Android device, 00:02:41.200 --> 00:02:45.600 according to Google anyway. Of course, this doesn't mean that Project Latte is suddenly 00:02:45.600 --> 00:02:51.680 just dead in the water. Or coffee, as it were. I don't like that one. 00:02:53.040 --> 00:02:57.680 There are apps that don't rely on Play Services that should, in theory, work just fine from the 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:02.240 get-go. And it's not out of the realm of possibility that Google will allow Microsoft to port Play 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:06.400 Services to Windows at some point. App developers could also tweak their apps to run in a way that 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:10.720 doesn't rely on Google services, which will probably be less tedious than rewriting the 00:03:10.720 --> 00:03:16.240 whole app for an x86 platform. But when exactly might we expect to see Project Latte on our machines 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:20.480 for better or for worse? The current rumor is that we could see it as part of a major Windows 00:03:20.480 --> 00:03:27.840 update in fall 2021. Until then, keep on swiping. And remember, not to spill an actual Latte on 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:34.480 your keyboard. Keyboards don't drink coffees. That's it for this video, guys! Thanks for watching! 00:03:34.480 --> 00:03:38.400 Like the video if you liked it, dislike it if you did that, check out our other videos, 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:43.520 and comment below with video suggestions. Who knows, maybe we might even do your video idea. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:45.440 Also subscribe and follow.