Question

I have uploaded a app to the Android market. I have given the minSdk version as 8 in the manifest so that the application is available
for devices running 2.2 and above

But I am facing a very strange behavior where the app is not visible on all the devices with version 2.2. Have tested with multiple
devices but the behavior is random, it shows on some devices & not on others

And one more important thing, the application is clearly visible on the Android market website and mentions that the application
is compatible with 2.2 & above

Has anyone faced a similar issue. Any ideas? Is this something to do with some other parameter in the manifest, something related to location etc?

Answer 1

The most likely reason is that you have some issues with Market Filters for your app. Getting these right is important to ensure that your app reaches the most devices possible, but also important to ensure that you don’t get unexpected behaviour on devices which do not have the necessary hardware support for your app.

For example, if your app reads from your SMS inbox, you’ll need to declare the following in your Manifest otherwise it could be installed on a WiFi only tablet which does not support SMS:

<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.telephony" />

What you may be seeing is that you have not defined all of the display sizes that your app supports, and so it is not appearing for certain devices. As you mention location, you should be declaring:

<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.location" />

and this will prevent your app from being visible to devices which do not have the required hardware to provide you with location data.

Check out the market filters for further information.