Find out why apps are incompatible with your Android device
I'm browsing Google's Play store for apps regularly. I do not really like the store's layout that much as it is difficult to find new apps that have just been released. I have the same issue with Google's Chrome Web Store by the way, where you can't sort by date as well. You do end up with a selection of "trending" apps that Google displays to you but that is about it.
Anyway, when you open an apps' profile page on Google Play you receive all kinds of information about it. This includes the apps name, images, sometimes a video, and links to user reviews, update information, permissions it requires and more apps from the developer and related apps.
The overview displays an about this app section that lists the required Android version which can act as an indicator why an app may not be compatible with your device. If it requires Android 4.x or higher, and your device is running Android 2.x or 3.x, you know why it is not compatible.
Google displays compatibility information right underneath's the install button on that page. If your device is not compatible, you will receive the following information:
This app is incompatible with your "device name"
Incompatible does not necessarily mean that your device's technical capabilities are incompatible with the app. While that may often be the case, it can also refer to geo-restrictions that the creator of the app has set. Apps can be released only to select countries, and if you happen to live in a country that the app is not (yet) released in, you too will receive the incompatibility message.
Now, to find out why your device has been deemed incompatible click on the small plus icon in the bottom right corner of the message.
Here you find the reason why you cannot install the app to your device. You can still click on the install button but the installation won't commence unless you select a different Android device from the pull down list here.
Google displays compatibility information right here. Just click on one of the devices listed in the menu and you will see a small overlay that explains why it cannot be send to the device and installed on it.
Using a virtual private network or proxy does not help you out here either, as Google is using account information and not your IP address to determine your country. What this means though is that you may run into issues if you are traveling or relocated to another country, as you may not be able to install local apps because of this.
The address information are taken from Google Wallet, and the only option you have to access a localized Play Store is to change that address. Google Support offers the following information on how to change the address.
1) Sign into your Google Wallet account to manage your payment methods (https://wallet.google.com/manage/paymentMethods)
2) Add a new card or change your default payment instrument to one with a billing address located inside your desired country
3) Open the Play Store and navigate to any item available for download
4) Click to begin a download until you reach the "Accept and buy" screen (no need to complete the purchase)
5) Close the Play Store and clear data for the Google Play Store application (Settings > Apps > Google Play Store > Clear Data) or clear your browser cache
6) Re-open the Play Store. You should now see the Play Store that matches your default payment instrument's billing country.
If you haven't yet added a payment method to your account for the first time, please add a card directly from the Play Store with a billing address that matches your intended country location. Then, follow steps 3 through 6 to show your intended country's Play Store.
I dislike restrictions based on a user's geographical region, and I'm not saying that solely because I'm more often than not on the receiving end in regards to incompatible apps based on the country I'm living in, but also because I can't think of a single reason why app developers would want to add those restrictions in first place. Well, there are some like reducing support requests or releasing a localized version of an app. Then again, there are all kinds of issues associated with geo-restrictions that support may have to deal with instead.
What about you? Have you encountered incompatibility issues before?
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Thanks for the tip Martin.
It is for these kinds of posts that I follow GHacks.
What’s up with the generic comment, are you a bot?
2G?
Where on the planet is that still in use? I was forced to give up using my RAZRV3 years ago because 2G was phased out by AT&T.
Everywhere 3G has been turned off and you don’t have LTE coverage, and believe me there are many developed countries where this is the case and if it weren’t for 2G you wouldn’t even be able to make a phone call.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t believe tha term “2G” is in the article. Perhaps you are referring to “AGM G2”??
@Martin
Your website has gone insane.
When I the post button I then saw my comment posted on a different article page. When I opened this article again, it is here.
@Tachy @Martin Brinkmann
” Your website has gone insane. ”
Same here. Has happened several times.
@Tachy,
@Martin P.,
For over two weeks now,
I’ve been seeing “Comments” posted by subscribers appearing in different, unrelated articles.
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572991
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572951
For the time being,
it would be better to specify the “article name and URL” at the beginning of the post.
@tachy a lot of non-phone devices with a sim in them rely on 2G, at least here in europe.
Usually things reporting usage or errors/alarms on something remote that does not get day to day inspection in person. They are out there in vast numbers doing important work. Reliable, good range. The low datarate is no problem at all in those cases.
3G is gone or on its last legs everywhere, but this stuff still has too much use to cancel.
Anyhow, interesting that they would put that in. I can see the point if you suspect a hostile 2G environment (amateur eavesdroppers with laptop, ranging up to professional grade MITM fake towers while “strangely” not getting the stronger crypto voip 4G because it is being jammed, and back down to something as old ‘stingray’ devices fallen into the wrong hands).
But does this also mean that they have handled and rolled out a fix for that nasty 4G ‘pwn by broadcast’ problem you reported earlier this year? I had 4G disabled due to that, on the off chance that some of the local criminals would buy some cheap chinese gear, download a working exploit and probe every phone in range all over town in the hope of getting into phones of the police.
>”While most may never be attacked in stingrays, it is still recommended to disable 2G cellular connections, especially since it does not have any downsides.”
The downside would be losing connectivity. I spend a lot of time way out in the countryside where there’s often no service or almost none. My network allows 2G, and I need it sometimes. I have an option on the phone to disable 2G, I may do that when I’m in the city and I have good 5G connectivity, but not out in the country.
I would imagine that the stingray exploits, like most of the bad things in this world, are probably things you will run into in the crowded big cities.
I stopped using it in a mobile (Wi-Fi line) environment, so I’m almost ignorant of the actual situation,
But the recent reality in Japan makes me realize that “the infrastructure of the web is nothing more than a papier-mâché fiction”.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/17/google-chrome-to-enable-https-first-by-default-for-all-users/#comment-4572402
It is already beyond the scope of what an individual can do.
What we should be aware of is the reality that “governments and those in power want to control the world through the Web”, and efforts to counter (resist and prevent) such ambitions are necessary.
Why do you want people to disable the privacy features? Hmmmmm?
Now You: do you plan to keep the Ads privacy features enabled?
I’d like to tell you, but apparently if you make a post critical of Google, you get censored. * [Editor: removed, just try to bring your opinion across without attacking anyone]
@Martin
You website is still psychotic. Comments attach to random stories.
@Martin please do fix the comments, it’s completely insane commenting here! :[
@Martin
The comments are seriously messed up on gHacks now. These comments are mixed with the article at the below URL.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/18/android-how-to-disable-2g-cellular-connections-to-improve-security/
And comments on other articles are from as far back as 2010.
What does this article has anything to do with all the comments on this article? LOL I think this Websuite is ran by ChatGPT. every article is messed up. Some older comments from 2015 shown up in recant articles, LOL
The picture captioned “Clearing the Android Auto’s cache might resolve the issue” is from Apple Carplay ;)
How about other things that matter:
Drop survival?
Screen toughness?
Degree of water and dust protection?