We've got a couple dozen GPS data collectors that are essentially ruggedized android phones. Even though about half of these are less than a year old they are all on Android 7. An app we commonly use is being upgraded and it is now requiring Android 8. I would like to see if at least out newer collectors will be able to run the updated app so we don't have to replace everything. We've got a lot of additional equipment that tied to these collectors so switching will be a major issue.
Is there a way to download an app to Android 7 that been restricted to 8 and above? I don't see anything in the developer options. I would like to test the app on one of the collectors just to see if there's any real problem.
Related
Source: HERE
AT&T: The most crippled Android experience
We try to be fair to every handset, but the are some we just can’t help but make fun of. Everyone thought Verizon was going to cripple Android, but they became friends with Google and offered the full Android experience.
AT&T is in bed with Apple and has gone to extreme measures to make sure their first Android phone, the Motorola Backflip, was under-powered and locked down. We already knew about the lack of Google search and today another limitation has surfaced.
The Backflip has no option to install applications from unknown sources (aka non-Market applications). This is important to note because every Android phone (that I know of) has included this as a default option of the Android OS.
Maybe it was done to “protect” the users, but this blocks the install of apps purchased on alternative markets and beta apps like Swype. Developers will also be unable to easily load and test their apps on the device before they release them.
Basically, AT&T is offering the same locked-in market experience that iPhone users get to enjoy put up with.
To add insult to injury, customers are also not allowed to remove the dozen or so AT&T apps that come preloaded with the device (bloatware). Android phones already struggle with limited storage space and having the carrier dictate which ones are installed on a user’s phone is a disappointment.
So to recap the AT&T Backflip:
1. Outdated Android 1.5 with Motoblur
2. No Google search (replaced by Yahoo)
3. Unable to remove AT&T bloatware apps
4. Cannot install non-market apps
Let us hope that AT&T offers a more open experience on their future devices, because this is not the Android that we know and love.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, I am SO... SO SO SO SO SO SO glad I am not on AT&T with my Android devices, nor that I waited for them to FINALLY get one, I would be PI$$ED about this!!
Well, until it was rooted and custom ROM's released... but still... seriously??
Yep, they just don't get it & continue to screw their customers!
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.
Android has a very flexible and dynamic software model but it has one critical flaw.
It is very very common for app updates to break applications and once an app is broken by an update there is no recourse. It has happened to me at least 6 times in the last 2 years.
Here is a typical scenario:
1) You have a great app that works perfectly
2) You get a notification that there is an update to this app ..... you install it
3) The app is now broken after the update either it crashes or it fails to do what it supposed to do.
4) At this point you have absolutely no recourse except email the developer or look for an apk
5) Live without the app you bought sometimes for months
This is not an acceptable situation. The Play Store and developer rules need to be changed so that users can revert to the previous version for at least one month after an update. This is a major flaw and why many people are very afraid to update any app.
The worst example is with HTC phones and Google Navigation. Many HTC One S phones have been unable to run Google Navigation after the 4.1.1 update. This problem has been unresolved for almost 8 months .... that's 8 months without the Navigation app and that's a major function of the phone. If you can revert to a version that works this is not a big issue, but that isn't possible. In the end it was easier to get a new phone than address this issue.
I bought a smartphone off ebay to run with my budget sim-only contract, lovely spec on the face of it - Octacore 2GB RAM, 4.3 Android. I've done this before with a smartphone running 4.2 and had much fun. This time I'm rather stumped on a couple of issues.
I have already rooted this phone, and the real problem is that I can't access the hidden 'system' settings to change the default app 'play store' equivilant away from a chinese app, which opperates in 'chinese', would you believe?
This means I can't readily identify the tools that might help, prior to downloading them, and in anycase, although I haven't really pursued it to a great degree, it seems almost impossible to use the shopping cart of this app.
I've got as far as downloading the usual playstore app from Google.com, and it apparently loaded - but when attempting to use it (similarily with gmail) the app opens and closes within a second, although the settings say it is running.This means I'm stuck with poor bloatware and cant upgrade to match the units seeming sweet specs.
My google account says it recognises my device and some apps I've attempted to download have stated that they will be 'installed soon', but disappear into the ether.
The search default is also baidu in chinese, although I've installed an English browser.
Is there a ready solution that I'm missing?
Build Id = ALPS.JB3.MP.V1.37 - sorry can't put a link in yet, of course.
Google maps Engine..
Or to put it another way....Google maps engine has never worked ( my feeling is the system files are defaulted to a Chineses alternative) and I obviously cant work any app that involves GPS.
I've rooted this phone but cant find an app from china to let me play arround with system permissions.
I have to ask.....is this area considered 'dark' as I write, over 100 views and not a single coment.
Shoe-e said:
I bought a smartphone off ebay to run with my budget sim-only contract, lovely spec on the face of it - Octacore 2GB RAM, 4.3 Android. I've done this before with a smartphone running 4.2 and had much fun. This time I'm rather stumped on a couple of issues.
I have already rooted this phone, and the real problem is that I can't access the hidden 'system' settings to change the default app 'play store' equivilant away from a chinese app, which opperates in 'chinese', would you believe?
This means I can't readily identify the tools that might help, prior to downloading them, and in anycase, although I haven't really pursued it to a great degree, it seems almost impossible to use the shopping cart of this app.
I've got as far as downloading the usual playstore app from Google.com, and it apparently loaded - but when attempting to use it (similarily with gmail) the app opens and closes within a second, although the settings say it is running.This means I'm stuck with poor bloatware and cant upgrade to match the units seeming sweet specs.
My google account says it recognises my device and some apps I've attempted to download have stated that they will be 'installed soon', but disappear into the ether.
The search default is also baidu in chinese, although I've installed an English browser.
Is there a ready solution that I'm missing?
Build Id = ALPS.JB3.MP.V1.37 - sorry can't put a link in yet, of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.