I want a decently priced tablet that has the least amount of incompatible apps so I can avoid the frustrations of not being able to use certain apps due to being listed as incompatible with the device.
I am willing to pay amounts from really cheap $20 and up to $100 or so as max for specifically a tablet,NOT a phone.
A tablet like this may also have to be capable of using Android O so that apps under that OS are also listed.
I am sick of running into the problem of not being able to use an app from Google Play to the point where side-loading doesn't solve the issue for stuff like paid apps and other features restricted to the origin device used to install the app.
This thread could help others curious about this concept,I wished Google would have statistics of the device with the most apps available to it to save the trouble.
Related
Has anyone else noticed that the Amazon AppStore seems to be cheaper than the Android (Google) Market? Apart from offering a free paid app every day, some apps seem to be less expensive. Another advantage that I noticed is that it's all in US$ and not converted from € or £; this is great because then I don't have to pay foreign transaction fees!
Only disadvantage is that you have to keep an eye on two different market places...
Shame it's not available in the UK - We can view but can't even get the free app of the day - says theservice is not available in your country...
shadeygeezer said:
Shame it's not available in the UK - We can view but can't even get the free app of the day - says theservice is not available in your country...
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I know that the MarketEnabler app works for the standard android market (for root devices), but does it also work for Amazon's store? or does it pull country ID a different way?
On the Amazon AppStore, Amazon gets to adjust an app's price around. App developers are guaranteed a minimum amount of money (so when one of the apps are free for a day, Amazon is literally just paying the developer for each download!) for paid apps, but Amazon reserves more control.
Personally, I like the AppStore FAR more than the Android Market... I've never once had an issue with stuff from the AppStore totally ignoring you when you tell it to install/update something (unlike what the Market does for me somewhere from 50-90% of the time).
McSqueeb said:
I know that the MarketEnabler app works for the standard android market (for root devices), but does it also works on Amazon's store? or does it pull country ID a different way?
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Click to collapse
My Transformer is not rooted - I don't intend to root it... not for some time - it's new so I'm "bedding it in" - see if any problems popup..
Just a shame that a company as large as amazon has not expanded the Android market into all regions yet.. and yet Kindle it appears has taken over the world. LOL
My problem with Amazon:
1. Can't turn off one-click purchase. I have purchased apps accidentally.
2. The only way to "diasble" one-click is to de-authorize the device on Amazon's website
3. Once you de-authorize a device or if you uninstall the Amazon App Store app, you can no longer use the app.
Basically, if you buy an app and then decide down the road that you don't like the amazon appstore (for whatever reason). You pretty much can't uninstall it unless you don't want access to the apps you purchased anymore. I don't think the andorid marketplace functions this way.
I am unsure if the apps even function if you don't have a wireless connection. Maybe someone can clarify this.
Also, if there is a way around this, I'd like to hear it.
As is stands now, I have about 6 paid Amazon apps and have now decided that I don't want to use the amazon appstore due to their no-refunds/can't-turn-off-one-click policy(s). So what do I do now? I am forced to leave the amazon appstore app on my device.
el_brio said:
My problem with Amazon:
1. Can't turn off one-click purchase. I have purchased apps accidentally.
2. The only way to "diasble" one-click is to de-authorize the device on Amazon's website
3. Once you de-authorize a device or if you uninstall the Amazon App Store app, you can no longer use the app.
Basically, if you buy an app and then decide down the road that you don't like the amazon appstore (for whatever reason). You pretty much can't uninstall it unless you don't want access to the apps you purchased anymore. I don't think the andorid marketplace functions this way.
I am unsure if the apps even function if you don't have a wireless connection. Maybe someone can clarify this.
Also, if there is a way around this, I'd like to hear it.
As is stands now, I have about 6 paid Amazon apps and have now decided that I don't want to use the amazon appstore due to their no-refunds/can't-turn-off-one-click policy(s). So what do I do now? I am forced to leave the amazon appstore app on my device.
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Click to collapse
I understand what you are saying but it is exactly the same with Google Market; it's just not that obvious! Your device is linked to your google account and your market account is basically identical with (or part of) your google account. So if you decide you don't want to go with google anymore (which is impossible btw) you would lose all your apps as well. Does that make sense?
Ignore me, I obviously didn't read the first post.....
Hmmm. I was just shocked to see that some apps are also more expensive at amazon... Guess at the end of the day it will be very similar after all.
Often when I buy or install an app for my phone I see that the same app is not available for my tablet. If it was just few things I wouldn't care, but it seems disproportionately high.
Is my market screwed up or does everyone have that?
If it is everyone, what gives? I can see some games limiting resolution for performance reasons but there are a lot of other apps I see prohibited that don't make sense.
I know, it's highly annoying. Most developers haven't updated their list of compatible devices in months, except to add the S3. It's a simple thing to do, but they just don't care. I have a ton of supposed 'not compatible' apps that run just fine, but can't be installed through the market because they're too lazy to change their list of devices. Morons...
You can sideload most apps and games. (Install on phone and copy the data to your tablet manually. The process is explained on the forum here somewhere.)
They're forcing us to consider alternate methods of acquiring the apps, especially when you don't have a second Android device. (like me..) We don't want to download, but they're not exactly giving us much of a choice... >.<
I noticed that most EA games not available. Sucks because I bought Dead space and Mass effect on phone and they are great games but wanted to play on a big screen.
Also Flipboard I use. I did sideload it and its working quite well.Some problems occur but still very usable.
I don't think it is just the whole updating the compatibility list, with many apps - It's b/c there are things that simply do not work on tablets for whatever reason, and so they ahve not been made to show compatibility for tablets.
I have found at least 15-20 apps from my BIONIC that I cannot install on my tablet, one of them being the Amazon App Store - which sucks b/c I got OpenOffice Pro free through Amazon and now cannot install it on my tablet without sideloading it.
Hey. I am planning to get an Android phone and have a question about Google Play behaviour regarding different regions.
How do regions work in Google Play? I know each region get different apps/books/etc and prices but there are several things I'm curious about (all things are compared with itunes because atm I own an iphone):
If you buy an app at the German (example) store will it be easily updateable/installable when I switch back to the UK store? On iTunes it's a huge ****ing pain in the ass dealing with apps from different countries. You can't update them without wasting 10 minutes at least.
Are ratings and reviews separate as well? I have to use the US itunes store just so I can read more opinions and see larger rating vote counts.
Unlike itunes google play determines your location automatically which is bad for me. Is it alright if I'm going to use a proxy to fool the Play store and install apps from 'another country'?
Sorry if it's in the wrong section.
That can be an issue, but if you plan to root your phone you can flash things that will enable you to view anything from any region. Being in the US I don't run into this issue, but it's something to look at depending on the phone.
Also, most apps you can download the APK (for free apps) or contact the developer on how to find the app.
There is an app " market enabler" aka "market unlocker".
Needs root.
Works for apps only.
You can get any apps, specific to a region by changing the location in the app.
Or as said above, you can get the apks
LIFE! Live it to the best!
Lifehacker7 said:
There is an app " market enabler" aka "market unlocker".
Needs root.
Works for apps only.
You can get any apps, specific to a region by changing the location in the app.
Or as said above, you can get the apks
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Click to collapse
Well looking for and downloading apks every time some app is updated would be annoying. Is there a software which manages android phones like itunes? I'm having tons of problems with itunes and its handling of apps purchased in different countries, hope to avoid this with android.
Al Gore said:
Well looking for and downloading apks every time some app is updated would be annoying. Is there a software which manages android phones like itunes? I'm having tons of problems with itunes and its handling of apps purchased in different countries, hope to avoid this with android.
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I don't think " buying it from another country" thing is an issue.
Once you have paid and downloaded, there shouldn't be any issue.
Unless the app is region specific and wouldn't work outside that country.
LIFE! Live it to the best!
Al Gore said:
Well looking for and downloading apks every time some app is updated would be annoying. Is there a software which manages android phones like itunes? I'm having tons of problems with itunes and its handling of apps purchased in different countries, hope to avoid this with android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you can access the Play Store online and download stuff just like iTunes does for iOS devices, then you can manage the apps on the phone.
https://play.google.com/store/apps?feature=corpus_selector
You can also use that Market Enabler app to see all regions from the Play Store app, but you must be rooted.
BACKGROUND:
I have purchased 5 Nextbook Premium 7 tablets, model NX007HD, for my children to use.
The table is google certified and comes with Google Play pre-installed, but many apps report that they are not compatible with the device (for examples: Angry Birds, Temple Run, Fruit Ninja Free, the list just goes on and on). Sideloading the same apps or installing via an alternate marketplace such as Amazon proves that these apps are totally compatible with the device and run just fine.
I could not understand why it should be such a problem when a much less expensive ($39) 4" tablet installs and plays these games fine directly from Google Play.
Using the "Android System Info" app and after some analysis it appears that the device is reporting its OpenGL capabilities incorrectly as Version 0.0 - I believe the tablet actually supports 2.0 as demonstrated by the fact that these applications run just fine if they are side-loaded.
I believe I can gain root access to these tablets very easily, but they are rather generic and as a newb I don't really want to build a custom ROM or flash the entire nand if i can help it.
I have searched on these forums and haven't seen anything that comes close to this issue.
QUESTION:
Is there an "easy" way to alter the OpenGL capabilities reported by the device without completely replacing the ROM?
Am I missing details?
If there are any other details I can provide please let me know. I'm working with the distributor and they are submitting a bug report to the manufacturer but it seems like it will take a long time to get it fixed through these channels.
I'm also open to suggestions on other forums or sites where it might be more appropriate to ask this question.
Hi everyone,
I have been researching and I've compiled a list of all the options available to use an Android device with Cyanogenmod without a Google account and I was wondering if anyone has a better solution considering the options I've found are all lacking.
Here is what I found including the issues for each option:
- Amazon web store (Not every app is available)
- Third party repositories, like apkmirror (Security implications of running apk that anyone can upload)
- F-Droid (Not every app is available)
- Getting the apps I need from the play store once and then backup the apks with a file manager (No updates) or I am going to need a different phone with a Google account and the play store.
Moral of the story, it's not easy to run an android phone without a google account.
Ps. A solution that I think could work (but I wasn't able to find a project that works) is an open source apk downloader (maybe on github) that get the apps straight from google via command line but all the projects I've seen are either out of date or not working...
Any suggestion is really appreciated! Thank you all!
Keep an android device with google play installed, then move the apks of things i really want, or bought already.
But honestly, after some choices I've made (running my own dropbox-like service on my server) I could definitely live with just F-Droid. Of course I'm not using some stuff like facebook or snapchat, so my needs in terms of apps isn't as extensive as others. Sometimes it does feel like i'm hamstrung when the next new fad comes and goes, but I'll live without them.
surfinpika said:
Keep an android device with google play installed, then move the apks of things i really want, or bought already.
But honestly, after some choices I've made (running my own dropbox-like service on my server) I could definitely live with just F-Droid. Of course I'm not using some stuff like facebook or snapchat, so my needs in terms of apps isn't as extensive as others. Sometimes it does feel like i'm hamstrung when the next new fad comes and goes, but I'll live without them.
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Click to collapse
Hi surfinpika,
thanks for your input, I am starting to feel like your solution (of having a separate device with just the google account setup) is the cleanest option.
I am not into facebook or snapchat or the next fad either... but f-droid wouldn't cut it for me, stuff like keepass2android or some of the other apps I use are definitely not there. I wonder what are the security implications of using F-Droid compared to getting the apks from apkmirror. Considering my level of paranoia I wouldn't feel safe with either option.
_polymar said:
Hi surfinpika,
thanks for your input, I am starting to feel like your solution (of having a separate device with just the google account setup) is the cleanest option.
I am not into facebook or snapchat or the next fad either... but f-droid wouldn't cut it for me, stuff like keepass2android or some of the other apps I use are definitely not there. I wonder what are the security implications of using F-Droid compared to getting the apks from apkmirror. Considering my level of paranoia I wouldn't feel safe with either option.
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Click to collapse
One issue I can think of with this approach is that both the device with google play store and the device where the apps are going to be installed will require the same CPU architecture.
Won't be able to download the apk on a cheap android (most likely ARM) and install it on ARM64...
_polymar said:
One issue I can think of with this approach is that both the device with google play store and the device where the apps are going to be installed will require the same CPU architecture.
Won't be able to download the apk on a cheap android (most likely ARM) and install it on ARM64...
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Click to collapse
Yeah, luckily my back up is the same architecture as my non-gapps phone.
And there are also ways of getting some of the apks straight from the sources, like keepass2android from the project's website. but even if it is google, they sort of give a sense of security in that the apk won't be messed with.
It's such a mess though otherwise, hard to separate the google from the android, and no other viable OSs are any better. hope some competition at least makes a nice little niche to get away from the big G.