I own a Motorola Flipout, Android 2.1 stock ROM. According to the market the app "Handyticket Deutschland" is not compatible with my phone. The required Android version is 1.5 or above. How can I tell why the app will not work for me?
The Flipout has a comparably small screen. Is it possible that the publisher just forgot to mark my phone's display resolution as supported?
Note: Users from outside Germany see a different message. I believe, those country-restriction are unrelated.
The Android Market has various filters which are applied to the apk in order to find out if the App will run on your device. The most obviously one is the Android version you are on (also called the SDK level).
But this is not the only criteria. There are others like:
Unfortunately it is not that easy to find out why an App "isn't compatible" with a particular device, even for the developer. There are some tools that an developer can use to find the current filter criteria for an .apk but this will not tell him why the Android market doesn't show an app on a device explicitly.
In your case, the small screen size seems to be the reason. You should e-mail the developer and ask him to fix this, if it isn't intended.
From Google App compatibility with Android
When searching or browsing the Google Play Store app, you'll only see apps that are compatible with your device. When using the Google Play website, a device will be grayed out if it isn’t compatible with the app you’re attempting to install. This usually occurs because the app isn’t available in your location or designed for your device's screen size or version of Android
Developers have the ability to target applications to specific devices based on screen size, mobile service provider, location, and a number of other factors. App compatibility can change over time.
(Emphasis supplied)
Is there a generic way to do that?
For compatibility information about a specific app, contact the developer directly using the information provided on the Google Play listing
There can be a number of reasons an app may be shown as "incompatible":
Android version (This hit me the most on my old phone)
CPU architecture (eg. ARMv6, ARMv7, ARMv8, x86) - some devs may be lazy and only compile for ARMv7 and v8
Hardware features such as camera flash or barometer or screen size
As a way to excuse a regional lock (thank you EA!)
I have seen some devs quote support by device rather than by the features of any device. I don't claim to know the whole process, but I assume that this is because most people don't know or care about all these details.
Already have good answers here, but just to add ---
There are some developer APIs that are only compatible with some specific Google Play Services version / Android OS version / Screen version (as already mentioned in the other answers), and not having these specific components or specs may (sometimes) cause the application to:
Google Play Store itself is helping to avoid any unnecessary bad user experience.
Although most of the APIs are backward compatible, even developers are encouraged to use the most recent version of a specific API they are using.
Android is constantly changing and improving, and the best way to maximize it's benefits is to always be updated as much as possible.
Several factors are taken into consideration when installing applications from the PlayStore.
Here are the most noticeable I have found :
• Root Access - Safety Net
• Android Version Compatibility
• Your area's laws or regulations
• Tax related selections by developer's
( released to select countries )
• Device hardware compatibility
( Eg. 2GB RAM Required )
Usually if you can identify the issue then you can try to find the solution.
This was a very popular discussion with Pokémon Go because of the minimum RAM requirements.
If you use your device regularly in more than one country, it is essential, I think, to create a google account in each country. Don't forget your phones can have many accounts associated to them. For example, I cannot download "BBVA Wallet" to any of my devices using the account I created in the UK (in fact the app is not even listed on the phone), but if I create a new account in Spain then I can download it to all devices by switching to this account in google play. PS: it wasn't worth the trouble in the end and I deleted the app in question in less than a day :(
I think root is a problem here, especially if you're using root app. It's a bit irony google try to limit the users
Some apps may need the exact version... like if it says Android 5.1... you might as well need Android 5.1. Even if it says, "Android X.X and above"... you should try to get Android X.X (X being the same value and version).
