Access Android Market on an unactivated device???? FRUSTRATED!

redfishsc · January 1st, 2012, 07:04 PM

I have an HTC Hero that I just use as a PDA and MP3 player/portable camera. I just use a cheap Verizon flip phone for telephone. I can't afford (and don't need) that ridiculous $30/month data package....... except for one thing (bah!).

I am trying to find apps for my phone that I can side-load with Android-Injector and so far so good, but there are some apps I cannot find anywhere else. I keep finding sites that have "free apps" and 75% of the time they redirect me to the Android Market (dammit!!!).

Is there ANY way to get apps from the Android Market without having this particular phone activated on Sprint? It has no phone number on it obviously.

Thanks!

darkuni · January 1st, 2012, 08:30 PM

I've never seen this situation personally, but my friend has a Galaxy music player - a Galaxy phone without the phone - and all he did was log into his Google account on wifi and he was good to go....

redfishsc · January 1st, 2012, 11:53 PM

When I got the first HTC phone (my wife's, about 4 months ago) I tried to download some stuff from the Android Market but it told me that the device was not on record.

I spoke today to the folks on Android Market (a real live human) who assured me that the Wi-Fi "only" can be done.

I have two phones now (both HTC Heroes) that we both use as PDA/camera/MP3 since it has way superior functions over our standard phones. Apparently I need to try the Wi-Fi option again. I don't have Wi-Fi at home but I do at work, so I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

Ayered · January 2nd, 2012, 04:06 AM

I use wifi to access Android Market and have no problems on my unactivated phone.

chanchan05 · January 2nd, 2012, 05:15 AM

If the phone doesn't have a SIM card (if it uses one), I don't see how you could get slapped with the plan. Just go to market, login with your Google Account, and you're good.

androiduser91 · October 15th, 2012, 01:50 PM

how do you access the app market? everytime i try to log onto my google account using wifi (the phone is not activated through sprint) i get a message that says something like unable to establish a reliable data connection. i contacted sprint and the customer service lady said i need a data plan to access the market. i can get internet and everything else using wifi, i just cant figure out how to connect to the app market. please help!

redfishsc · October 15th, 2012, 05:40 PM

I finally got mine working. I had two problems that were causing other problems.

First, don't have your phone set to airplane mode. Set it to normal mode. I can set mind to "airplane" and still use WiFi, but it caused a problem with some clock/time setting that, if I'm recalling correctly, prevented me from logging in to my market account.

Second, I was having a password problem as well. This happened later than the time/airplane problem. Try logging OUT of your Gmail account and then log back in.

You may or may not need to create a Google Plus account, I forget. But either way, I can get to the market all day long now.

RyanSupertramp · October 19th, 2012, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redfishsc

I finally got mine working. I had two problems that were causing other problems.

First, don't have your phone set to airplane mode. Set it to normal mode. I can set mind to "airplane" and still use WiFi, but it caused a problem with some clock/time setting that, if I'm recalling correctly, prevented me from logging in to my market account.

Second, I was having a password problem as well. This happened later than the time/airplane problem. Try logging OUT of your Gmail account and then log back in.

You may or may not need to create a Google Plus account, I forget. But either way, I can get to the market all day long now.

Glad you got everything working! You won't need a Google+ account to use the Market while on WiFi. As long as you have an internet connection you should always be able to use the Market. Shouldn't matter if you have a Mobile Data Connection through a carrier or not.

androiduser91 · October 20th, 2012, 11:50 AM

I still cannot access the market: my phone is not in airplane mode and i can connect to the internet using WiFi. Every time I try to log into my google account to access the market I get the same message "server cannot establish a reliable data connection" I have even tried logging into my account from a computer and creating a new account. It seems to be workingfor everyome else without a data connection, just WiFi so i am not sure what I'm doing wrong. Please help!

zuben el genub · October 21st, 2012, 07:26 AM

We sideloaded Market on Coby tablets. Mine somehow got listed as a TMO device even though it was wifi only.

Maybe the Market app on the phone has been hooked to Sprint by Sprint itself?
I have friends on Sprint and they use their own wifi, but the phones were activated.

A lot of tablets don't have network and they work with wifi. I do use a SIM and have backup phones that work without, but they have all been unlocked.

Can you use Amazon apps?

androiduser91 · October 24th, 2012, 09:51 PM

I tried to download the amazon app market and when I tried 5o open it I got a parse error message. Other people with the HTC hero from sprint seem to be able to access the market without a data plan on WiFi so I'm very frustrated I'm having so many issues. Half the sites I try to download apps from redirect me to the google app market. Any suggestions?