Microsoft brings smartphone apps on the desktop

Dec 15, 2014 12:22 GMT  ·  By

As we've reported to you earlier today, an early version of a new Windows Store reveals that Windows Phone apps could soon be available for desktop users, but until that happens, Microsoft is working on something that's very similar to this plan.

It appears that Redmond wants to make some of its Windows Phone apps available on the desktop as well, so the recently leaked build 9901 makes the first step in this regard.

Windows 10 build 9901 users are provided with the Lumia Camera app, which has until now been available on smartphones exclusively, and which now offers pretty much the same feature lineup on the desktop as well.

Lumia Camera can be used by Windows 10 testers to take photos with their built-in cameras, so it's pretty clear that such a feature comes in handy to those with tablets, 2-in-1s, and laptops that are featuring integrated webcams.

At this point, only a bunch of settings are offered, so you can take photos or record a video, adjust exposure, and change the aspect ratio.

Otherwise, Lumia Camera is a rather basic app on Windows 10, so don't expect too many new features to be provided to you after installing Windows 10 build 9901, but this could change until the final version of the new operating system hits the market in early fall 2015.

Lumia Camera on Windows 10 (7 Images)

Lumia Camera settings on Windows 10
Lumia Camera launching on Windows 10Lumia Camera UI on Windows 10
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