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).

[alisagarner]

To my knowledge any application which is made for Eclair, Froyo or Gingerbread, will definitely work on honeycomb. So it is not the problem with the OS.

[jooshua]

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).


Its nothing related to the OS but your Android Market Update i think.

So, Go to settings > applications > Google market, "uninstall" updates" and "clear cache", the old version of Market will appears. Then When you restart the google market app. You will be able to download anything you want, with no problem.

java eclipse (http://www.java-forums.org/eclipse/)

[purelogicapps]

Apps can be limited to certain Android OS versions and also certain phones themselves. Being a developer I've made certain apps that will just not work on a tablet OS, also others that will not work on certain phones (like the Xperia Play). What jooshua said probably works though, as I recall all the apps you see on the market are only the ones that are compatible with your device and OS so though the apps you do see there should work.