Are there any inherent risk of running unsupported apps?

[KaosStorm]

When you log into the Market from your PC, and you search for any particular app, there is a chance of it not being compatible with your phone (in case of the phone's market, it won't even appear as a search result); this means that that particular app is not supposed to go into your phone for any variety of reasons.

My question is, is there any inherent risk of trying one of such applications on your phone, besides it not working or force closing itself? One app that comes to mind is my personal case with Springpad: It wasn't supposed to work with my phone, but since I saw what it did, I didn't thought of a single main feature that wasn't supported by my device and thus decided to install it.

Before sending my phone to the repair service of my provider, for unrelated reasons (I don't think Springpad just decided one day to make my screen not respond to any touch inputs whatsoever ) it was working pretty good, so it got me wondering about this particular issue.

 

[mikedt]

Not sure, probably depends on the unsupported app, e.g. one could end up with a corrupted device, or if the unsupported app came from nefarious sources, it could be malicious.

I'm using an officially unsupported app on my Galaxy S. A hacked version of Skype, which enables video calls on this phone. Works absolutely perfectly, yet for some reason this Microsoft subsidiary have chosen to restrict video calling to certain exclusive phones and carriers.

 

[thefletch]

In my head (not always right) but if the comes from the official android market it WILL be safe even if its not made for your device. There shouldn't be any risk of it being malicious as its officially supported by android, where as if you install an apk from a file sharing site there may be a risk. (I think lol)