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Android Tablet Compatibility
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Hi Keith,
The relatively narrow compatibility list comes as a result of the incredible fragmentation of Android devices, even within the same model of phone. Since it's just not possible to test every phone with every combination of carrier re-skin/feature set available, we're limited to the most popular devices with the standard setups.
Because there seems to be extra fragmentation in the Android tablet world, the Play Store doesn't allow us to give a blanket approval for a device model, even if your particular tablet meets specs. If you think that your tablet would be compatible (meets all three requirements here: https://www.striiv.com/pages/supported-devices), please email us at customercare@striiv.com and we can help you sideload the app onto the device.
Oh, and, we're so glad that you're enjoying the Touch so much! Your girlfriend will love her Fusion, too! :)
Just to follow up ...
As a mobile app developer who also has the pains of dealing with support for all of the many different flavors of Android ... I sympathize. It's a wild and wooly world to be sure. That's sort of my "department" in our testing cycles, which is one of the reasons why I have so many tablets and phones wandering about. (A small one, actually ... I'm a bit of a gadget freak and would probably have lots of them anyway <G>).
A shout out to Sarah and Carmela in support, who responded to this in a very timely fashion. I was provided with a link to what I believe is the current Android build (which I won't share here because surely if that was desired, it would have already been done).
Anyway, here's how I made out:
I went ahead and tried this on three different tablets that I happened to have lying around that I know for sure are Bluetooth 4.0 from other software testing..
First up was a Dell Venue 7, running Android 4.4.2. Unfortunately, this is a prime example of what Elizabeth is talking about regarding models. There are at least 5 distinctly different devices that carry this name ... all of them look identical, and from beginning to end they were all released within 9 months of each other.. This particular one carries the model number Venue 7 3730.
The app installed fine here, and the Bluetooth radio found the device in "Settings" without incident, but the app refused to finish the pairing once I typed in the keycode. It immediately spit back a "Device Not Recognized" error before it even finished the first of the 4 phases.
Next, was a Dell Venue 8, also running Android 4.4.2. Again, there are several different devices that carry this model name. This particular one is a Venue 8 3830. I went ahead and tried this one anyway, because there have been several things that work just fine on the Venue 8 that don't behave as well as the Venue 7. But up until now, the Bluetooth radios on both of them had been rock solid through everything I'd tried.
Good thing I didn't just make that assumption. The app loaded and paired with the new Striiv band (brand new Fusion, fresh out of the box from BestBuy) without incident. Since the tablet isn't a phone, I'm not getting notifications. I also couldn't get "Friends" to work ... but then that seems to be a problem for several others on the boards at the moment, so I'm not sure I can blame the tablet 100%. But it otherwise communicates with the Fusion swimmingly, and both MyLand and the charts look amazing on an 8" hires screen!
For grins, I also tried the newest of the three tablets I had, an Asus Memo Pad 8. It's not quite as bad as Dell, but there are two models of this tablet also. The older one is ME180A. I have one of these, but it's rather tightly coupled to some other testing at the moment, so I didn't want to chance loading any software onto it. The newer one is ME181C. That's the one I tried, also running Android 4.4.2 ... and the results were very similar to the Dell Venue 8. It paired fine, looks great, but no notifications and no friends.
So if you have a newer tablet that supports Bluetooth 4.0 and you were stymied by the Play Store telling you that "Your device is not compatible with this version" ... you just might want to contact support and give side loading a shot. There's a pretty good chance that it will work. And I'm actually a little jealous of that particular build ... because it seems to give you a huge head start in the MyLand game (3 plants, a hefty amount of gold and 15K+ gems) that I didn't get out of the version installed from the Play Store! :)
--Keith
As a mobile app developer who also has the pains of dealing with support for all of the many different flavors of Android ... I sympathize. It's a wild and wooly world to be sure. That's sort of my "department" in our testing cycles, which is one of the reasons why I have so many tablets and phones wandering about. (A small one, actually ... I'm a bit of a gadget freak and would probably have lots of them anyway <G>).
A shout out to Sarah and Carmela in support, who responded to this in a very timely fashion. I was provided with a link to what I believe is the current Android build (which I won't share here because surely if that was desired, it would have already been done).
Anyway, here's how I made out:
I went ahead and tried this on three different tablets that I happened to have lying around that I know for sure are Bluetooth 4.0 from other software testing..
First up was a Dell Venue 7, running Android 4.4.2. Unfortunately, this is a prime example of what Elizabeth is talking about regarding models. There are at least 5 distinctly different devices that carry this name ... all of them look identical, and from beginning to end they were all released within 9 months of each other.. This particular one carries the model number Venue 7 3730.
The app installed fine here, and the Bluetooth radio found the device in "Settings" without incident, but the app refused to finish the pairing once I typed in the keycode. It immediately spit back a "Device Not Recognized" error before it even finished the first of the 4 phases.
Next, was a Dell Venue 8, also running Android 4.4.2. Again, there are several different devices that carry this model name. This particular one is a Venue 8 3830. I went ahead and tried this one anyway, because there have been several things that work just fine on the Venue 8 that don't behave as well as the Venue 7. But up until now, the Bluetooth radios on both of them had been rock solid through everything I'd tried.
Good thing I didn't just make that assumption. The app loaded and paired with the new Striiv band (brand new Fusion, fresh out of the box from BestBuy) without incident. Since the tablet isn't a phone, I'm not getting notifications. I also couldn't get "Friends" to work ... but then that seems to be a problem for several others on the boards at the moment, so I'm not sure I can blame the tablet 100%. But it otherwise communicates with the Fusion swimmingly, and both MyLand and the charts look amazing on an 8" hires screen!
For grins, I also tried the newest of the three tablets I had, an Asus Memo Pad 8. It's not quite as bad as Dell, but there are two models of this tablet also. The older one is ME180A. I have one of these, but it's rather tightly coupled to some other testing at the moment, so I didn't want to chance loading any software onto it. The newer one is ME181C. That's the one I tried, also running Android 4.4.2 ... and the results were very similar to the Dell Venue 8. It paired fine, looks great, but no notifications and no friends.
So if you have a newer tablet that supports Bluetooth 4.0 and you were stymied by the Play Store telling you that "Your device is not compatible with this version" ... you just might want to contact support and give side loading a shot. There's a pretty good chance that it will work. And I'm actually a little jealous of that particular build ... because it seems to give you a huge head start in the MyLand game (3 plants, a hefty amount of gold and 15K+ gems) that I didn't get out of the version installed from the Play Store! :)
--Keith
Keith Jefferson
I purchased a Stiiv Touch over the holidays ... originally for my GF. It turned out not to be compatible with her phone (Bluetooth 3.0).
Recently, I began using it with my phone (Maxwest Astro 4) ... and it works flawlessly. I've become quite a fan of this simple, unobtrusive device, and also the "MyLand" game which, simple as it is, really does encourage me to walk!
But now my GF really wants in on the fun. We own several name brand Android tablets that match the specs, and that I suspect would work ... but the PlayStore wouldn't even let me try to install the app, saying simply that it's not compatible. I actually tried it on my phone on a lark, as a last resort, and was pleasantly surprised.
I'd like to purchase a fusion for her, but she'll also need a device to run it on. I'm not against replacing her phone, but she's pretty well attached to it's feature set. if I went through all of the trouble and still had the same issue, that would not be a good situation. A new tablet (or perhaps one of our existing ones) might be a better choice.
Obviously, there are devices out there (like mine) that support the software/device even though they aren't on the "official" Android support list.
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has had success with the Android app and what hardware they're running it on, especially if anyone got it to work on a tablet. I'd also like to hear from the manufacturer if we can ever expect an update to the ridiculously narrow compatibility list, and if there is possibly a procedure to side-load the app onto hardware that meets the specifications but is effectively blocked by the PlayStore.
Thanks!