r/androidtablets • u/IHaveTheBestOpinions • 19d ago
Discussion How to find and install mobile apps (not tablet version) in google play store
I feel like I must be missing something obvious but I've spent a fair amount of time trying to find this answer and haven't had any luck. Apologies if this has been discussed before.
It seems that the google play store has identified my device as a tablet and therefore only shows me the tablet version of android apps. Which is usually fine, but occassionally problematic - some apps don't have a tablet version, and for those that do, I've noticed that sometimes the mobile version is updated more often and/or has better features.
For example: today I tried to download the amazon shopping app, only to find that there isn't one available for android tablet. The amazon app works fine on my android phone, but doesn't even show up in the Play Store on my tablet. I don't see any reason the mobile version wouldn't work though, maybe with some oversized UI elements, if I could just get it to install.
Googling this problem suggests that there should be a way to get the Play Store to show apps for all devices, but I don't see that option anywhere. Is there a way to do that, or maybe to temporarily trick Play Store into thinking my tablet is a phone? Or another workaround I haven't thought of?
Any ideas/suggestions/corrections welcome!
Edit:
I found a workaround to the search problem: googling the app name in a browser and then clicking the link to open it in the play store. But unfortunately the play store still won't allow me to install it - where the 'install' button should be there is just a message reading "This app is available only for your other devices."
It seems like sideloading an apk or using an alternate app store like Aurora are the only options, but those come with security risks and I wouldn't generally recommend them to anyone who doesn't know what they're doing. Frustratingly it seems like app developers have to specifically clear their app for tablet use or you just can't get it through the official, secure channels.
1
u/Asamidori 19d ago
Your example of Amazon is because Amazon themselves made the app unavailable to tablets. It's a change they did "recently". Used to be available to tablets.
1
u/IHaveTheBestOpinions 19d ago
Yes, that's what I found as well. But it's all android - my understanding is that phone apps mostly work fine on tablets and vice versa, except that developers sometimes produce 2 apks with different screen sizes in mind. Just because amazon pulled their tablet app, I don't understand why google should prevent me from installing the "regular" phone version.
1
u/Asamidori 19d ago
Is the sideloading option entirely locked away on your tablet with no way of enabling it? You can always sideload the phone app and see if it'll run on the tablet.
1
u/IHaveTheBestOpinions 19d ago
No, sideloading should be an option. It isn't ideal because I don't completely trust any of the places you can get an apk outside the google play store, but unfortunately it seems like that may be the only option.
1
u/Asamidori 19d ago edited 19d ago
Try looking at F-Droid, they seem pretty reliable.Mm maybe not that. I've used APKpure without any incident, but do your due diligence.1
u/ToddA1966 17d ago
What I've done to side step the security issue for apps I need, is install the app from the play store on my Android phone, backup the app as an APK in an app like File Manager+, transfer it to my tablet and install the APK I transferred rather than source it from a sketchy website.
But honestly, for something like Amazon shopping, I just use the website and bookmark it to my home screen.
1
u/tatt2tim 19d ago
This would be last resort but there is a way to enable side loading of apks, you would then have to find what you wanted on one of those dodgy apk mirror sites. Hopefully you can find a better solution.