Filed in November 2010, this patent application for app migration service aims to solve one of the biggest problems faced by the consumers while migrating between smart-devices with different operating systems like Android to Windows Phone.
According to the patent application, this service will have multiple layers of functionality. First it will analyse the apps installed on the old device (say Android), followed by searching them in the Windows Marketplace. The service will then list out suggested apps that are a direct match, allowing the consumers to install them with a single tap. The service will also suggest highest rated approximate matches, or similar apps, in case there are no corresponding apps in the Windows Marketplace.
This is not all, if there are no apps in Marketplace corresponding to consumers' installs on Android device then the service will make a note of it and will notify in the future if similar apps pop up. Microsoft is imagining that this service will also be able to transfer app data between devices but that seems far-fetched as there might be permission issues. Consumers will have to give access to their entire phone in-order for this service to work, which might make raise some privacy concerns.
Even without the app-data transfer available to consumers, it still sounds like a reasonable service for prospective consumers if it ever sees the light of day.
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