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I have Bluetooth MIDI Connect installed on my Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 tablet which is currently running on Android 10. My kids are using it to connect to the Bluetooth piano. My understanding is that it cannot be upgraded to a newer version of Android due to the decisions of Samsung and/or Google. I can't upgrade the tablet to a newer version of Android.

Recently, I created a second account on the same tablet for my second child. When I wanted to install the app on the second account on the same device, I realized that I can't because it's not available in the Google Play Store, meaning that when I search in the Play Store, this app does not come up in the list. On the second account, I went via Chrome directly to the link of the app, and the reason why I can't install it is:

This app isn't available for your device because it was made for an older version of Android.

I tried from my phone running on Android 13 and I can install it.

My understanding is that Google changed something and now it does not allow apps that are not explicitly compiled using some of their APIs to be available in the Play Store for that particular version of Android. But I could be wrong.

Just to show that I've done my research, I see the following options:

  1. Try to find the APK of the older version and install it manually on the tablet as a third-party app. The problem here is that I do not know which site to trust.
  2. Somehow take the app files from the first account on the tablet and install them on the second account. From what I've seen for other apps that were on the first account, when I installed them on the second account on the same device, I went to the Play Store and I had a feeling that the app was not even been downloaded. It might be that the app as in the compiled code is the same for the two accounts, just maybe with separate data elements. I could be wrong on this one, it is just a hunch.
  3. Somehow download the APK that is currently available for Android 13 in the Play Store and hope it will work on Android 10. I see the risk here that it may not work.

I do not want to root the tablet. I can't seem to find this app on APK Mirror, and I tried it with several other apps, but I can't connect my piano to it.

How can I install this application on my Android 10, Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 tablet? How can I install this app that has older and newer versions?

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    The Bluetooth permission system was totally reworked with Android 11. That you can install it on Android 13 is nice, but it it does not support the new Bluetooth permissions it should not work. Why it is not visible on Android 10 tablet is a question only the app author can answer. May be the app has not been released for tablets at all or something like that. Unfortunately it is not possible to a description from Play Store why an app can not be installed.
    – Robert
    Commented Jul 2, 2023 at 10:43
  • The same app works on the same table, just on another user account. Thus it should not be a problem of compatibility. It's just a matter of installing it on the second user account and it should be working. I just can't install it since it is blocked by google play.
    – MMT
    Commented Jul 5, 2023 at 10:43

1 Answer 1

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Android apps have a manifest file that describes software features, capabilities and permissions required. These then define which OS/phone/format the app will work on.

App manifest overview

Every app project must have an AndroidManifest.xml file, with precisely that name, at the root of the project source set. The manifest file describes essential information about your app to the Android build tools, the Android operating system, and Google Play.

Among many other things, the manifest file is required to declare the following:

  • The components of the app, including all activities, services, broadcast receivers, and content providers. Each component must define basic properties, such as the name of its Kotlin or Java class. It can also declare capabilities, such as which device configurations it can handle, and intent filters that describe how the component can be started. Read more about app components in a following section.
  • The permissions that the app needs in order to access protected parts of the system or other apps. It also declares any permissions that other apps must have if they want to access content from this app. Read more about permissions in a following section.
  • The hardware and software features the app requires, which affects which devices can install the app from Google Play. Read more about device compatibility in a following section.

From Android Developers>Docs>Guides

If you find an old copy of the apk on another site, you have to risk virus attacks if you decide to trust them.

The only very remote possibility is to download the apk (it is a zip file), hack into it, and change the manifest. Be warned that if the app actually needs those features then it is liable to just crash.

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    The AndoridManifest.xml is one reason an app is not available for a certain phone/tablet, but not the only one. App developers can define in Google Play Console to which devices they want to make an app available. Thus if the developer decides to release an app only for Galaxy S23 then this can be done in Play Console. Also editing Andoridmanifest.xml is only necessary if Android refuses to install it. A lot of apps can be installed without problems even if they are not listed in Play Store for your device.
    – Robert
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 8:04
  • @Rohit Gupta yes, I was thinking of doing that. However I couldn't find the apk on the apkmirror site that I would trust more than others. I guess it's better to find the older version that was working before android 10, rather than the newever version right? I mean with the newer apk for android 13 if I change the manifest I guess it might crash, however with the older one e.g. android 9 it should be safer. Is there a chance that I can re-use the files that I have installed on the first account on my tablet? since the app is installed on my tablet on my first account
    – MMT
    Commented Jul 5, 2023 at 10:46
  • @Robert, how would I do that? could you briefly list a series of steps that I need to do? e.g. 1. go to the googleplaystore and download the apk. 2. enable third party apps on my tablet... Many thanks
    – MMT
    Commented Jul 5, 2023 at 10:48
  • @MMT My comment was long. What do you mean by "that"?
    – Robert
    Commented Jul 5, 2023 at 11:17
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    @MMT just download the APK file from thisr party Sites like APKmirror.com or APKPure.com and then install it by selecting the APK on the phone or if you have enabled adb and connected the phone to a PC with running adb via adb install someapkfile.apk.
    – Robert
    Commented Jul 7, 2023 at 17:30

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