Microsoft releases SDK and Surface Duo Emulator
Developers may have a first idea of what their applications will look like on the two screens of Surface Duo, the dual-screen smartphone that should debut later this year.
During 2020, Microsoft will release two devices belonging to new market paradigms: Surface Duo and Surface Neo. The first will be based on Android, while Surface Duo will use a new version of Windows called Windows 10X. Both are dual-screen devices, and Microsoft has repeatedly released information on how it intends to proceed with the development of new products.
In the past few hours, the company has announced other innovations: the arrival of the first SDK in a preview version, and the emulator (link to the official announcement). These are both useful tools for developers, who can start developing for Surface Duo and see how their creations will be reproduced on the dual-screen format. The emulator also allows the curious to have a preview of what the user interface will look like and how the device will work.
The choice to use Android Studio, and not Visual Studio (which still has an integrated Android emulator) is somewhat surprising. There are no news instead regarding SDK and emulators for Windows 10X: Microsoft has stated that the current plan is to deliver a preview of what will be called Microsoft Emulator. On the same date, it will announce news related to the new specific APIs for dual-screen devices, combined with new documentation.
By default, the apps will use a single screen, the user will have the possibility to expand the view to both to have a wider overview. The developer will also be able to enable the use of the full-screen mode in some circumstances and for certain intended uses, and Microsoft will dictate some guidelines on the types of apps that will benefit most markedly from the new form factor.
