Help, I have issues with the playstore!

[Blue_Solstice56]

Hey guys,
I just bought a new phone today, it has an ICS (Android 4.0) OS and i just upgraded from the Gingerbread OS. When i open the play store i try and download Google Chrome and it says that it is incompatible with my device. I look at the requirements and see that it says android V.4.0 and up. I have ICE CREAM SANDWICH for goodness sake. Any insight would be helpful...

P.S Here are my Phone's Details
Make: Karbonn
Model: A51
Processor Power: 1.0 GHZ
Internal Memory: 512
Ram Memory: 256
OS Installed: Android V.4.0 Ice cream sandwich

Please help!

 

[Codegerm]

I believe your devices RAM specs are too low. I know Firefox mobile wants you to have at least 512meg RAM, and I would see Chrome being similar.

 

[kate]

I believe your devices RAM specs are too low. I know Firefox mobile wants you to have at least 512meg RAM, and I would see Chrome being similar.

I don't think I've seen a minimum RAM requirement for Chrome (usually it's just "Android 4.0 or higher"), but if you only have 256MB there is a good chance this is why.

 

[Granite1]

I moved this over to the android lounge since it's a general android issue.

Have you tried to clear the cache and data for the Play store? I'm not familiar with your device, sorry.

 

[funkylogik]

Yeah i think its RAM youre lacking OP sorry.
You could sideload it though and im sure it would work fine.
Google just dont want bad reviews so they make sure it goes on devices with half decent specs.
All devs do it :thumbup:

 

[Thom]

If you logon to Play Store from a desktop computer and hit the gear in the upper right corner and choose settings and logon ... is the new phone listed as one of your devices?

... Thom

 

[nickdalzell]

when you see 'this application is not compatible with your device' it often is going by the data in your build.prop, not your RAM. if this is a budget/low-end phone/tablet, it's quite possible the build.prop 'device name' is unfamiliar to the Play Store thus making a lot of mainstream apps think it's not compatible, as the developer has edited their app's manifest file to only include devices in a limited list, and when Play Store reads your device name in the build.prop file, that is showing a device that is not listed in the developer's manifest file, thus declaring it incompatible (although the majority of apps such as this will install and run perfectly fine, i wish Google would just do away with it.) alternatively, you can use either Amazon App Store or if you like taking risks, find the APK online somewhere and side-load it. just make sure you have 'unknown sources' checked in security settings. Also, you said you upgraded, so unless you got an OTA update, i am assuming this device is rooted, perhaps running a custom ROM? if so, the ROM developer might have edited the build.prop file incorrectly causing this issue in the first place. this is NOT a RAM issue. i had a Samsung Galaxy Precedent that had only a paltry 256MB of RAM, and it ran Google Chrome fine.

 

[funkylogik]

Cheers Nick.
Also you can change the Build Prop of your device (if rooted) :thumbup:

 

[nickdalzell]

Although i am curious, how you managed to get Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich to even run or boot up on a phone with only 256MB of RAM. If i recall, it requires at least 512MB minimum...however, someone managed to get Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) onto the T-Mobile G1, a device with only 91MB RAM, so i suppose anything's possible.

 

[SulkyAndroid17]

when you see 'this application is not compatible with your device' it often is going by the data in your build.prop, not your RAM. if this is a budget/low-end phone/tablet, it's quite possible the build.prop 'device name' is unfamiliar to the Play Store thus making a lot of mainstream apps think it's not compatible, as the developer has edited their app's manifest file to only include devices in a limited list, and when Play Store reads your device name in the build.prop file, that is showing a device that is not listed in the developer's manifest file, thus declaring it incompatible (although the majority of apps such as this will install and run perfectly fine, i wish Google would just do away with it.) alternatively, you can use either Amazon App Store or if you like taking risks, find the APK online somewhere and side-load it. just make sure you have 'unknown sources' checked in security settings. Also, you said you upgraded, so unless you got an OTA update, i am assuming this device is rooted, perhaps running a custom ROM? if so, the ROM developer might have edited the build.prop file incorrectly causing this issue in the first place. this is NOT a RAM issue. i had a Samsung Galaxy Precedent that had only a paltry 256MB of RAM, and it ran Google Chrome fine.

The stuff about the app manifest isn't entirely right. Google Play filtering is only based in part on the manifest. The manifest isn't used to explicitly state incompatible devices either. Also, If the manifest's requirements aren't satisfied by the device, the app will fail regardless how you installed it on the device.

Just because a device meets the required android version for an app, it doesn't mean that app will always install. An app may need a minimum CPU, require hardware acceleration, etc.

Firefox is an example. It can only be installed on devices with at least an ARMv7 processor, though it supports Android 2.2 FroYo. ARMv6 devices must use Firefox Beta instead. So the OP's problem may be something like that. Maybe try Chrome Beta?

 

[argedion]

Cheers Nick.
Also you can change the Build Prop of your device (if rooted) :thumbup:

as root you can edit anything on the phone. You can change build.prop files but you better know what your doing.

 

[funkylogik]

Yeah its not something id mess with unless i REALLY had to but i think one of the apps like Rom Toolbox has an option to do it :thumbup:

 

[Blue_Solstice56]

Although i am curious, how you managed to get Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich to even run or boot up on a phone with only 256MB of RAM. If i recall, it requires at least 512MB minimum...however, someone managed to get Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) onto the T-Mobile G1, a device with only 91MB RAM, so i suppose anything's possible.

Umm, Okay, but i have not rooted the phone, I Have upgraded the phone (Not rooted it but got a different model) I used to have a Micormax A27 which had a gingerbread os in it. no i have Icream sandwich. Sorry if i caused any confusion

 

[Blue_Solstice56]

when you see 'this application is not compatible with your device' it often is going by the data in your build.prop, not your RAM. if this is a budget/low-end phone/tablet, it's quite possible the build.prop 'device name' is unfamiliar to the Play Store thus making a lot of mainstream apps think it's not compatible, as the developer has edited their app's manifest file to only include devices in a limited list, and when Play Store reads your device name in the build.prop file, that is showing a device that is not listed in the developer's manifest file, thus declaring it incompatible (although the majority of apps such as this will install and run perfectly fine, i wish Google would just do away with it.) alternatively, you can use either Amazon App Store or if you like taking risks, find the APK online somewhere and side-load it. just make sure you have 'unknown sources' checked in security settings. Also, you said you upgraded, so unless you got an OTA update, i am assuming this device is rooted, perhaps running a custom ROM? if so, the ROM developer might have edited the build.prop file incorrectly causing this issue in the first place. this is NOT a RAM issue. i had a Samsung Galaxy Precedent that had only a paltry 256MB of RAM, and it ran Google Chrome fine.

Thanks i'll try side loading.

 

[Spec2nirvash]

You can try downloading the 1 Mobile market from CNet mobile web page. Very easy to install, and you can simply download Chrome from that, along with many other apps that Play Store will say are incompatible with your device!

I had to use 1 Mobile to get Candy Crush Saga on a phone I bought less than 2 weeks ago....

 

[nickdalzell]

Just about every app listed as 'not compatible' often install and run perfectly fine. Google made a huge error making that compatibility filter. It wasn't there originally, only since they became Play Store. It false positives all the time, and if it's a payware app, you can't do anything. Now, I can't even leave a review or contact the Dev for any app listed as not compatible. There has to be a way to copy the apk from another device but for some reason, only free apk files show under /data/app. Paid apks are hidden....

Kinda amusing really, all apps listed as not compatible work fine, but many that allow me to install crash due to being not compatible. The filter which Play uses is completely backwards and useless.

 

[funkylogik]

Isnt it the devs who choose the filter parameters though mate? They'd rather lose a few users than get bad reviews from people on old devices

 

[mikedt]

Just about every app listed as 'not compatible' often install and run perfectly fine. Google made a huge error making that compatibility filter. It wasn't there originally, only since they became Play Store. It false positives all the time, and if it's a payware app, you can't do anything. Now, I can't even leave a review or contact the Dev for any app listed as not compatible.

If an app is listed as incompatible, their website and/or email details should still be visible though, so you can try and contact them, see what they have to say about it.

There has to be a way to copy the apk from another device but for some reason, only free apk files show under /data/app. Paid apks are hidden....

Digital Restrictions Management isn't it? Because DRM assumes you're a thief and that you're going to upload them to The Pirate Bay or something.

 

[funpig]

Thanks i'll try side loading.

Side loading may work. I bought an app which worked on one device but not another. The funny thing was that i originally bought the app on the non-working device when it was running an earlier OS.The developer advised that the non-working device had not yet been added to a compatibility list for that app in play store. I backed up the apk on the working device and copied it over to the other one.