Diagnosing reason for app showing as "Incompatible" on device, but "Supported" in Play Store Console

Question

My company has an app in the Play Store which aims to be compatible with phones but explicitly excludes tablet support.

The app can be installed fine on all modern phones, but on some Samsung S8 (SM-G950F), in the Play Store app on the device, it shows as "Incompatible".

Checking in the Play Store console on the web, all variations of this device are listed as "Compatible".

What process should I go through to determine the root cause of the app not being installable on device?

One user reported installing a Play Store app update cleared the issue, but another user has the issue but no Play Store app update is available.

AndroidManifest.xml contains the following:

<compatible-screens>
    <!-- all small size screens -->
    <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="ldpi" />
    <!-- 120 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="mdpi" />
    <!-- 160 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="hdpi" />
    <!-- 240 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="280" />
    <!-- Workaround -->
    <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="xhdpi" />
    <!-- 320 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="360" />
    <!-- Workaround -->
    <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="420" />
    <!-- Workaround Google Pixel, Nexus 5x -->
    <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="xxhdpi" />
    <!-- 480 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="560" />
    <!-- Workaround Google Pixel XL, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P -->
    <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="xxxhdpi" />
    <!-- 640 -->
    <!-- all normal size screens -->
    <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="ldpi" />
    <!-- 120 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="mdpi" />
    <!-- 160 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="hdpi" />
    <!-- 240 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="280" />
    <!-- Workaround -->
    <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="xhdpi" />
    <!-- 320 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="360" />
    <!-- Workaround -->
    <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="420" />
    <!-- Workaround Google Pixel, Nexus 5x -->
    <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="xxhdpi" />
    <!-- 480 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="560" />
    <!-- Workaround Google Pixel XL, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P -->
    <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="xxxhdpi" />
    <!-- 640 -->
</compatible-screens>

However, I think at this point, I've ruled this out, as the S8 should be covered by <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="xxxhdpi" />

Screenshot of the device showing as "Supported" in the Play Store Console:

Screenshot of summary for all S8 models:

mentioned device doesn't comes under small/normal. You should specify large also — MinnuKaAnae, Dec 13 '17 at 10:28
I've just added screenshots, showing the device showing as "Supported" in the Play Store Console. The screen size is listed as "normal" in the specifications. — Andrew Ebling, Dec 13 '17 at 10:33
i have seen resolution from https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s8-8161.php — MinnuKaAnae, Dec 13 '17 at 10:33
It is showing 2960x1440 (570 ppi), for this you should specify large also. Have a look at https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html — MinnuKaAnae, Dec 13 '17 at 10:41
I've now noticed the Samsung S4 also shows up as "incompatible" on the web Play Store, despite this device being covered by "normal" screen size. Perhaps `` is generally broken for Samsung devices? — Andrew Ebling, Dec 13 '17 at 10:49
For multiscreen support you have to specify in manifest. For difference between support-screens and compatible screens check https://stackoverflow.com/a/21850489/5594218 — MinnuKaAnae, Dec 13 '17 at 10:55
@AndrewEbling - what are permissions required in your app? uses-feature is applicable in your case? See this thread https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47310612/my-app-not-showing-on-very-large-tablet/47427407#47427407 — Amod Gokhale, Dec 13 '17 at 13:46
I have the same problem with my app. In the device-catalog it's showing as supported, but in the store itself it shows 'not compatible with this device.' Are there any solutions to find the root cause of this? — Jomme, Apr 18 '19 at 15:18

Nick Fortescue · Answer 1 · 2017-12-15T13:55:11.903

You are going through the best process available at the moment to find the root cause unfortunately.

For your underlying problem, I can give some advice:

You should consider why you really want to exclude Tablet support. This is completely your business decision to make, but goes completely against the Android philosophy. There is no clear definition of "phone" or "tablet". What about "phablets"? What about Android TVs? What about Chromebooks? What about Phones docked to computer monitors? What about new devices we haven't even thought about yet?

A helpful way to think about this is "What is it about tablets that means we don't want to target them?"

if it is the fact they normally don't make phone calls, then require uses-feature android.hardware.telephony and accept the fact you'll allow tablets that can make phone calls. This will be OK because your business decision is based on the ability to make phone calls.
If it is the fact they have large screens, then use screen size as targeting. Ruling out phones with large screens will be ok, because the business reason is large screens.

But saying "we don't want to target tablets" without a good technical reason for what it is about tablets you don't want to support is probably a mistake, as there is no technical definition of "tablet" and there are 1000s of weird and wonderful Android devices out there you probably haven't thought about.

As regards your specific issue on Samsung, modern Samsung phones have a feature where you can dynamically change the screen size and density with screen zoom. Anything which relies on screen density/size for targeting these devices can't be relied upon right now, and it is why you may get inconsistent results with different users.

Thank you four the insightful answer. Not supporting tablets is a business/product decision made above me, which I hope to reverse in due course, once I become more established in my new role. — Andrew Ebling, Dec 13 '17 at 14:36

Diagnosing reason for app showing as "Incompatible" on device, but "Supported" in Play Store Console

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