Newbie confused

[gopanthers]

So I just got my first Android tablet a few days ago, an Acer Iconia Tab A100. I am thoroughly surprised by a number of things. First and formost, I'm finding that nearly half of all apps in the marketplace will not let me install them, claiming that my device is not compatible. WTF? Please explain this to me. I intentionally got a tablet with the latest Honeycomb 3.2 OS specifically to ensure maximum compatibility.

So first, is my device not compatible because it is running Honeycomb or because it is specifically an Acer Iconia Tab A100?

If it is because of the Honeycomb OS then I truly don't understand what's going on here. If I buy a PC with Windows 7, all programs previously designed for older operating systems like Vista, Win 98, etc. will work fine on it - backwards compatibility. Is that not how it works in Android world? I'd hate to think it was the opposite and the older the OS the better. And besides all that, I thought that one of the big deals about Honeycomb was the pixel doubling that would allow apps designed just for phones to display better on a larger format?

Or if the problem is my specific device than I have a bigger issue with that. Does every app creator have to specifically approve ever possible device that it can run on? That would mean that people should only buy the top few brands. (Acer may not be one of the top but it's certainly a trusted computer manufacturer and not junk).

 

[chanchan05]

Are you looking at the App Market in the PC? The problem is that not all apps are optimized to run on tablets, due to certain differences in hardware, resolution etc. WHich is why Android released ICS (android 4.0), which will ensure cross compatibility of all phone and tablet apps.

Also it could be the device itself. Some apps/games may not be compatible or optimized for the chipset on the phone and leads to certain problems, which is why compatibility is denied.

 

[OsiriZ]

nearly half of all apps in the marketplace will not let me install them, claiming that my device is not compatible. WTF?

Your Iconia runs Honeycomb (which is specifically for tablets; is not open source!; and doesn't run on phones). The Market lists apps for phones (Froyo, Gingerbread, etc.) and for tablets. Your Iconia is not compatible with phone apps, which currently are the majority in the Market. That's why it cannot download and install them.

 

[gopanthers]

So there are Android apps for phones and there are separate Android apps for tablets and they're all called Android Apps. No that's not confusing and misleading at all </sarc> (But thanks for clearing it up for me)

Wow. This sounds like I got totally taken to the cleaners. I spent $150 more money than I wanted to just to make sure I had a 3.2 OS (and 16GB) but it seems that I would have been MUCH better off spending less money and getting more available apps by sticking with an older Froyo device. No? Or maybe even try Kindle Fire for $199 (which I know is a fork off of Android and not full Android - but I'm not getting all of Android now anyway).

Since I've also been having serious issues with the device itself - it can't actually play my mp3s or movies from the internal storage (although it can stream it from my laptop) - I'm really seeing no reason not to return this device.

:-(

 

[jerofld]

What apps are you having trouble with? I have an Iconia A500 (the 10.1" version of the A100) and I, generally, can run anything on my tab that runs on my phone (with exception of the 3D apps). Even used Titanium Backup to transfer apps from my phone to my tablet for save games and such.

 

[OsiriZ]

So there are Android apps for phones and there are separate Android apps for tablets and they're all called Android Apps. No that's not confusing and misleading at all </sarc> (But thanks for clearing it up for me)

To confuse the issue a bit more: there are also many apps that run on both phones and tablets...

 

[gopanthers]

What apps are you having trouble with? I have an Iconia A500 (the 10.1" version of the A100) and I, generally, can run anything on my tab that runs on my phone (with exception of the 3D apps). Even used Titanium Backup to transfer apps from my phone to my tablet for save games and such.

I'll have to go by memory here but I remember Washington Post (newspaper), Mint (finance), one of those split keyboards (can't remember which one), several GPS apps I really cared about including Moby and GPS Tracker. And some games and more too but I just can't remember them all.