Can't Find Many Top Apps in Market

[Jethro]

Hi, I have a new Droid Eris and have been having a really hard time finding apps that I read about in different places. I often find myself reviewing a very popular, top-rated app, then not being able to find it no matter how I search in the Market. These aren't usually obscure, ancient, one-off apps. I usually am hearing about them in 'top Android apps' articles, etc.

I usually search by the exact name, then alternate spellings. And I recently got the Barcode Scanner and am scanning the QR codes over at AndroLib.com to see if it's any easier. But I haven't gotten ANY of those to come up.

- What gives with the Android Market? Could I have something setup improperly???

I live in Los Angeles, so I doubt it's a location issue.

Some sample apps I couldn't find just tonight:
- Camera ZOOM FX
- Voice Trans
- Voice Text

 

[RollBravesRoll]

Hi, I have a new Droid Eris and have been having a really hard time finding apps that I read about in different places. I often find myself reviewing a very popular, top-rated app, then not being able to find it no matter how I search in the Market. These aren't usually obscure, ancient, one-off apps. I usually am hearing about them in 'top Android apps' articles, etc.

I usually search by the exact name, then alternate spellings. And I recently got the Barcode Scanner and am scanning the QR codes over at AndroLib.com to see if it's any easier. But I haven't gotten ANY of those to come up.

- What gives with the Android Market? Could I have something setup improperly???

I live in Los Angeles, so I doubt it's a location issue.

Some sample apps I couldn't find just tonight:
- Camera ZOOM FX
- Voice Trans
- Voice Text

I've been looking for Camera ZOOM FX all day and haven't had any luck either. I've found plenty of add-ons if you already own the actual application but those don't help me!

 

[yankeeboy]

You are having a hard time finding some apps because most of the newer apps are created for Android OS 1.6 +, and the Eris is currently OS 1.5. We can only hope that VZW graces us with at minimum an update to 1.6

Additionally, there are some apps that are carrier exclusive, like T-Mobile has a few that will only work on the G1.

I share your frustration as this is my first Android phone and want to try everything...I have found that there seems to be some sort of replacement for everything I have not found...

 

[lekky]

search for camerazoom

Sometimes you need to add or emit spaces to find apps

 

[Jethro]

OK, interesting. So the Market is 'tailored' to whatever phone is accessing it?!? I guess this makes sense, so people don't load apps that won't work on their phones.

So are most apps forward/backward compatible?
- If you have the latest O/S, will older apps not work until they're updated?
- If you have an older O/S, will the newly updated apps still work for you?!?

Seems tough for users and developers if apps had to be optimized for each O/S, being as how there are 3 current versions working and being sold on most devices.

 

[lekky]

older apps should work on a newer os due to backwards compatibility, older os's may not work on newer apps designed for a more up to date version as the old version may not have the new functionality.

 

[yankeeboy]

OK, interesting. So the Market is 'tailored' to whatever phone is accessing it?!? I guess this makes sense, so people don't load apps that won't work on their phones.

So are most apps forward/backward compatible?
- If you have the latest O/S, will older apps not work until they're updated?
- If you have an older O/S, will the newly updated apps still work for you?!?

Seems tough for users and developers if apps had to be optimized for each O/S, being as how there are 3 current versions working and being sold on most devices.

My understanding (not a programmer) is that everytime there is an update to the OS, that the developers need to update the coding to make the apps work with the new devices, and it has made things really difficult for them, especially with the different screen sizes, manufacturers, feature sets...

A ton of apps are losing the good rating they have worked hard for because they are getting slammed when a new device comes out....

Anyone in the know.....is this going to be a big issue going forward?

 

[Tek34]

My understanding (not a programmer) is that everytime there is an update to the OS, that the developers need to update the coding to make the apps work with the new devices, and it has made things really difficult for them, especially with the different screen sizes, manufacturers, feature sets...

A ton of apps are losing the good rating they have worked hard for because they are getting slammed when a new device comes out....

Anyone in the know.....is this going to be a big issue going forward?

Makes sense, but my experience with the new Droid, the first Android 2.0 device, out for only a few weeks now, has been good so far. Most apps I've downloaded appear to work, while some appear to have minor gliches, mostly display issues here. If the app appears to have potential I rate it accordingly (a 3 or 4), and post my experience and note its on a Droid in the comments. A few app authors provided updates to correct the Droid issues much quicker than I anticipated and I promptly updated my comment and increased their ratings just as quickly. Seems to be working.

 

[yankeeboy]

Makes sense, but my experience with the new Droid, the first Android 2.0 device, out for only a few weeks now, has been good so far. Most apps I've downloaded appear to work, while some appear to have minor gliches, mostly display issues here. If the app appears to have potential I rate it accordingly (a 3 or 4), and post my experience and note its on a Droid in the comments. A few app authors provided updates to correct the Droid issues much quicker than I anticipated and I promptly updated my comment and increased their ratings just as quickly. Seems to be working.

I feel the same way...my first Palm device did not go this well, same with Windows mobile, same with BlackBerry - I am really happy with this phone, the OS and the myriad of applications to choose from - I am just concerned that with any OS, adoption of the ecosystem of applications could falter should developers not have a consistent platform to write apps for. If they keep getting frustrated with having to re-write apps, it could be detremental to the long term viability of the OS.

Anywhoo - good start, looking forward to continually improving.

 

[Jethro]

So then is it safe to assume that as developers update their apps to work with the new O/S' & phones, they sometimes LOSE compatibility with existing O/S' & phones?

I'm guessing that must be the case, as a lot of very popular apps that I'm sure have been around for a while, and I'm sure worked on 1.5 (as it's not that out-of-date, and still included on some phones), don't appear at all for me in the Market.

Just seems odd that they would drop support for an O/S when it is still being sold on brand new devices. It's not like manufacturers quite using it a year or two ago obviously.

 

[mrqs]

related:

http://androidforums.com/android-ap...rticle-regarding-apps-development-issues.html