A recently discovered patent application filed by Microsoft back in November 2010 suggests the firm may have been looking to deliver an app discovery tool to bring Android and iOS owners over to Windows Phone.

The tool, as detailed by Unwired View, would be designed to examine apps users have on their existing handset before recommending equivalents or alternatives published on the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Making the move

Said 'mobile application migration service' could even give users a taste of Windows Phone by simulating the OS through a virtual machine environment – something Microsoft has already experimented with via an HTML5-based web app for iOS.

Those users who made the leap to the platform could then migrate their data and install the recommended replacement apps with just a single tap.

The idea was seemingly born from Microsoft's realisation that app attachment makes many users hesitant to switch operating systems.

Flirting with Windows Phone

As the patent filing itself explains, devices are often "customised with highly useful and/or often used applications" and consumers might not feel confident Windows Phone's comparatively smaller library of apps can provide them with equivalent functionality.

It's worth noting, of course, that the existence of a patent doesn't necessarily suggest the existence of this service, but it does suggest that Microsoft is actively pursuing ways of luring longterm Android and iOS users across to Windows Phone.

At last count, Nokia revealed Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace boasts a total of 80,000 apps, with app submissions having jumped 300 percent since the launch of the first Lumia device.

[source: Unwired View]