Android Market install

Google has rolled out a minor update to the Android Market website so that it now recognizes devices that didn’t originally ship with the Android Market. In other words, if you install the Android Market on an officially unsupported device such as the HP TouchPad, Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet, or Amazon Kindle Fire, you can now see your device from the Amazon Market website.

What that means is that you can visit the website in any web browser, find an app you want to download, and send it to your mobile device automatically.

Up until now this feature was only available for devices that came with the Android Market, including most Android smartphones and many top tier tablets.

That’s the good news. The bad news is I’ve also noticed that the Android Market on devices now seems to recognize some apps you’ve installed from non-Market sources, and it wants to update them but can’t.

For instance, I installed the ES File Explorer app on my NOOK Tablet using the Amazon Appstore for Android. Then I installed the Android Market on the tablet. The Android Market saw the ES File Explorer and decided a newer version was available, so it sent me a notification. But it fails to download and install because the app isn’t signed properly.

ES File Explorer is free, so I could just uninstall it and reinstall it from the Google Android Market. But that’s not as easy to do if you’ve already paid to purchase apps from Amazon and then receive alerts for updates from Google.

You could just ignore those alerts, but after a while they’re going to pile up.

In other words, while Google is making it easier to use the Android Market on devices that don’t ship with it, Google is not making it any easier to use multiple app stores simultaneously on the same device.

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21 replies on “Android Market website now recognizes HP TouchPad, NOOK Tablet, Kindle Fire”

  1. I have Coby kyros MID7022. I installed android market. But the website would not recognize my tablet……HELP!!!!!……it keeps looking for a phone:S…..

  2. how do i install andriod market application after installing andriod on hpt touch pad

  3. Probably a stupid question. Is root or any option setting required for this to work? We are researching the nook vs fire vs standard tablets for Christmas and the lack of free apps on the Nook is a big issue. $3 for Angry Birds!?!?! LOL Are they nuts?

    1. What day was that? 

      As far as I can tell this change took effect right around the time the Kindle Fire started shipping. I can say with certainty that before the Kindle Fire and NOOK Tablet hit the streets, the HP TouchPad wasn’t listed. But now it is. 

  4. Detects my Touchpad and Archos A43 tablets now!  I like this!  It used to complain that I did not have any devices registered.

  5. Hmm… no NITDroid & N900 option. Do they live under a rock? 🙂

  6.  brad linder…tried to install an app in the market but can’t find the hp touchpad on the device selection? Need help pls. Tnx.

  7. I have a TP n android fon, what shld I do to install android apps on my TP. Tnx

          1. The article above says the android market recognizes the nook tablet, which is not true. Article is misleading.

          2. The android market website recognizes it, not the actual app market apk. According to this article at least.

    1. one (long) word… cyanogenmod7.  Try it by booting from the MicroSD for a few weeks.  If you like it, make it the boot right on your Nook.  I love it and because it’s pure Android goodness, all these acrobatics are not necessary.  You can download the Nook App and still read your B&N books.  But now you have access to other reader apps as well (i.e. Kindle, etc.).

      1. That works on the NOOK Color, but no the NOOK Tablet. You’ll need to root the NOOK Tablet and install the Android Market manually if you want to use it on B&N’s newer device. 

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