3

It seems that I have a very similar problem to this one, but the solution described there didn't help me.

I have developed the application named PYahtzee Free and PYahtzee. The first one is for free, the second one is the paid version.

The problem is that on my phone's (Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000) market when I search for my apps they are somehow filtered out and cannot be found. I enabled everything on my phone, but without success.

I tried to amend the manifest file too. For example in this last version I deleted the "supports-screens" tag from the manifest file. But the app is still missing and I cannot download it. I tried out also with and without "uses-permission" tags and there are no "uses-feature" tags either.

I think the problem is, that when I first uploaded the application, there were some restrictions in the manifest file. Despite the fact that in the last versions I amended the manifest file, this was not reflected in the search engine. So even if there is no such a tag in the manifest file, the original (first) values are still kept somewhere for the market's search engine (and not updated at upload).

This was in the first version of the manifest file (but in the previous version there was no such a tag):

<supports-screens
        android:smallScreens="false"
        android:normalScreens="true"
        android:largeScreens="true"
        android:anyDensity="false"
        android:resizeable="false"/>

I wrote an email to the android's market support team too, but no answer.

Could you please help to find an answer, since I have not found any hint on the forum or internet.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      package="com.pyahtzeefree"
      android:versionCode="6"
      android:versionName="6">
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="5"/>
<supports-screens android:resizeable="true"
                  android:anyDensity="false"
                  android:smallScreens="true"
                  android:normalScreens="true"
                  android:largeScreens="true"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"></uses-permission>
<application android:label="PYahtzeeFree" android:icon="@drawable/icon">
    <activity android:name="com.pyahtzeefree.IntroScreen"
              android:label="@string/app_name"
              android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Black.NoTitleBar">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>
    <activity android:name="com.pyahtzeefree.PYahtzeeFreeActivity"
              android:label="@string/app_name"
              android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Black.NoTitleBar"
              android:screenOrientation="portrait"
            >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.EMBED"/>
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>
    <activity android:name="com.pyahtzeefree.StatisticsView"
              android:label="@string/app_name"
              android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Black.NoTitleBar">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.EMBED"/>
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>
    <activity android:name="com.pyahtzeefree.HelpAbout"/>
</application>
</manifest>
Community
  • 1
  • 1
pittnerf
  • 739
  • 1
  • 6
  • 17

2 Answers2

3

After many trials I have managed to figure out what was the problem: I had a raw directory among resources. This contains - among others - three files like "bestfixarray_compressedbin.jet". If these files are small in size (a few kB) the application is shown as "compatible" with my device on the market (both when browsed with the PC on the web and on the phone's app). In the reality these files are in total 31MB. When I include these files into the package and upload the app to the market, at the end the market filters the app out. Please note that when I check the "Supported Device" on the "Product details" tab, my phone is still shown as "compatible" :)

So:

Don't put too big files into the res/raw directory! As a result the market will not show your app to many devices.

pittnerf
  • 739
  • 1
  • 6
  • 17
  • 1
    Have you removed them from the package or just moved to other res/ folder? In that case, where do you moved them? – llullulluis Apr 21 '12 at 10:12
  • Believe me or not, I've just faced this exact same issue in 2018, and this answer fixed it ! Weird that even some of devices from 2015 still have image size limits… In my case it was 5 images of ~1mo/each in `res/drawable` folder. – AnthoPak Oct 21 '18 at 15:36
1

In the Android Market Developper Console, select your application details, and if you scroll down the options, in the Tab where you select target countries and so on, you've got an option listing all compatible devices, start there to check if yours has been filtered out and why.

Check this link

Smugrik
  • 850
  • 7
  • 22
  • I have already checked it in advance. In the Android Market Developper Console when I check the list of compatible devices, my phone is listed as COMPATIBLE. But the market on the phone still filters it out!!! Very strange!! – pittnerf Aug 17 '11 at 10:08
  • An issue I had with some apps with the contents restriction level: what content restriction level is your app? Also verify that your market application on the phone is set to accept all... – Smugrik Aug 17 '11 at 10:11
  • There is no content restriction - as far as I know. The only restriction is the minSdk (android:minSdkVersion="5"). On the phone's market application "ALL" is set at filtering. – pittnerf Aug 17 '11 at 10:35
  • What is strange in this post [link](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5441374/my-app-not-appear-in-the-android-market-of-my-t-mobile-huawei-comet-phone) is that the last comments says " I repaired your accounts for you... – Marc Gravell". What does this exactly mean? – pittnerf Aug 17 '11 at 10:38
  • @user: it's related to the original questioners SO account, it's not related to the question at all. – Joachim Sauer Aug 17 '11 at 10:50
  • Hi everyone! I just want to mention that the problem still exists!! No answer from android support in two days! What the hell are they doing for the money we pay to them??? – pittnerf Aug 18 '11 at 07:06
  • Do you see it in the Android Web Market, can you install it from there? – Smugrik Aug 18 '11 at 14:31
  • If I use a PC I can see it: [see here](https://market.android.com/details?id=com.pyahtzee&feature=more_from_developer), it says that this app is incompatible with my device. If I search for it using the browser on the phone I can find it too, but when I click on install it redirects me to the android market's link which then freezes the whole process, since the market prohibits this link for my phone. – pittnerf Aug 18 '11 at 14:34
  • On the web app market, when you're connected, on the left side, just under the name/icon of your app, there should be a banner listing the reasons why your app is not available on your phone, maybe carrier, or country restrictions... – Smugrik Aug 18 '11 at 14:38
  • I have already done this. My phone is listed there at both apps as "supported"!!! – pittnerf Aug 19 '11 at 07:27
  • And the country is also there, among available countries. – pittnerf Aug 19 '11 at 07:32
  • Ok, then if you can install your app from the web but not from the phone market, last thing I can think of is to erase the Market's cache and data on your phone – Smugrik Aug 19 '11 at 08:39
  • No you are wrong, I cannot install it from the web with my phone: when I search for my app using the browser on the phone I can find it, but when I click on install, it redirects me to the android market's link which then freezes the whole process, since the market prohibits this link for my phone. :) – pittnerf Aug 19 '11 at 14:27
  • Hi all. I am trying now to figure out which element in my application causes the Android Market to filter out my app. I am doing it step by step, starting with an application that is not filtered out and adding element by element. Unfortunately it takes about 4-6 hours at the present after publishing the app to check the compatibility. I'll come back if I have figured out something. – pittnerf Sep 07 '11 at 06:50