Blocked APKs from Google Play Store

In my previous post, I mentioned that I could not install several Android applications on my Transformer Pad through the Google Play Store. I was puzzled because Asus is a close partner of Google - in fact, Asus is manufacturing the new Nexus 7 tablet for Google. As such, I could not understand why apps like Google Blogger could not be shown inside the Google Play app on my Transformer Pad.

However, the Google Play Store can be actually be accessed from a web browser on a PC. To do so, just visit the following URL:

https://play.google.com/store

and login to your Google account. The web site provides an alternate method for downloading apps into your Android device.

I found that although I cannot see Google Blogger  from my Transformer Pad's Google Play app, Google Blogger can be listed on the web site. I thus tried to use the web site to download Google Blogger to my Transformer Pad. However, I found that this was blocked for the following reason:

This item cannot be installed in your device's country.

 Google Earth could not be transferred to my Transformer Pad for the same reason:

However, for the Jenga app that I had previously downloaded on my Archos tablet, a different explanation was given:

This item is not compatible with your device.

This item cannot be installed in your device's country

I do not know why the Google Play Store will not allow apps like Google Blogger or Google Earth to be installed on the Transformer Pad because of "country" issues. What's wrong with the country "Singapore"? Is Singapore a rogue third-world country? If so, why did Google sited a new data centre in Singapore?

Besides, the desktop versions of Google Blogger and Google Earth can be installed and executed without any problems from my notebook. Why is the Android version not permitted to be installed on my Android tablet?

Because this 2 apps from Google cannot be installed via the Google Play Store, I did a search for their respective APK files, downloaded them into the tablet, and performed a "sideload" installation. The sideloaded apps installed without a hitch. They also worked great (I am especially impressed with Google Earth).

This item is not compatible with your device

The Jenga app is supposedly "not compatible" with the Transformer Pad. I sideloaded the APK, and to my surprise, found that the app runs perfectly okay on the Transformer Pad!

However, I tried the same "sideloading" method with a game app that is also listed as "not compatible", and this app forced-closed when I tried to run it. I am okay with such "true positives" (app listed as not compatible is really not compatible). I am however annoyed with the "false positive" (app listed as not compatible but actually runs fine) for the Jenga app.

I read from some Android forums that "false positives" are usually due to be errors by the app developer when they published the APK file on the Google Play Store. If the developer did not explicitly specify that an app will run on Android version 4.0, or if the hardware required is specified incorrectly, the "not compatible with your device" message will be shown by the Google Play Store and downloading will be disabled. Unfortunately, because of the Android fragmentation problem, it is very hard for developers to verify and test the compatibility of their apps with every Android device model out in the market. Hence the "false positives" problem.

Obviously, device incompatibility problems cannot be avoided in the Android eco-system due to the nature of Android and its "open" nature. Unfortunately, the Google Play Store has this strange policy of allowing refunds to be made only within 15 minutes of purchase. Sometimes, a big game app requires the downloading of huge asset files, some of which could not be finished downloading within 15 minutes. For example, the free game Dark Meadow: The Pact  required the downloading of a huge 540 MB resource file, which already took more than 15 minutes - and would have exceeded the refund window if the game was not free and it didn't work on your device.

I don't think Google should curate the Play Store (which is what Apple does with its Apple App Store). However, Google definitely needs to improve on its refund policy. Extending the refund period window to an hour would be a good start.