During Microsoft's Build conference earlier this year the company announced their software Bridges for developers. Now the future of one of those bridges is uncertain. These tools were to help developers port their software to Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile and were broken down into four projects, including: Project Westminster - For porting Web apps

Project Centennial - For porting Classic Win32 apps

Project Islandwood - For porting iOS apps

Project Astoria - For emulating Android apps The idea behind the bridges is to aid in closing the so-called 'app gap' on Windows and Windows Phone. However, while consumers would reap the benefits, Windows developers were not at all pleased with the announcement. The reason comes down to Project Astoria, which was the most controversial due to its implementation.

Astoria was never released to developers openly. Instead, they had to apply to test out the tools, which were still under development. Developer feedback and their experiences would be gathered in a closed forum found at bridgeforandroid.windows.com. At the time of this report, the Astoria landing page to apply was still active. Project Astoria was a brute-force solution to a persistent problem for Windows and Windows Phone. However, it may have been too brazen even for Microsoft. Astoria status – 'Not going as planned' Windows Central is now hearing from multiple sources that Project Astoria is on hold indefinitely, and maybe even shelved completely. Although Microsoft is not publicly — even privately — stating Astoria is cancelled, they are not openly talking about it anymore, or even privately discussing it with developers. One source has told us that "the Android app porting is not going as planned." The interpretation by others familiar with the matter is that Astoria is not happening anytime soon and Microsoft has yet to find a way to announce the news publicly. Indeed, while the news will be welcomed by Windows developers, it could come across as a failure by the company to execute on a publicly announced strategy.