Android Question for Android Phone owner please

AS we all know, we eDGe owners do not have access to the Android App store. If I go out and buy an Android phone, can I buy apps and then install them not only on my phone but also to the eDGe? In other words, get a phone to support the eDGe?

Thanks for any advice

Yes... if the phone has a microSD card then you can backup the APK on the card and then transfer to the eDGe. I believe that some of the lower-end phones may not have the microSD card, so just make sure that whatever you buy has it.


EDIT: Just to add, I'd advise getting an Android phone just to be able to get apps for the eDGe. In all likelihood, Google will open up the app store to tablets later this summer, at which point we'll be able to access it directly. Alternatively, it's only a matter of time before someone successfully hacks and posts detailed instructions (as has been done for Archos). So one way or another, I strongly suspect that we'll be able to access the Android Market with the eDGe in the relatively near future.

Also take into account a lot of paid apps are copy protected and can not be backed up or transferred the way free/unprotected ones can be.

Yes, as long as it is free non-copy protected app, you can back up the APK file, then save it to a portable media OR upload it to Dropbox OR email it to yourself. Astro File Manager is the easiest way to back up and zip files.

Actually I have a "dirty trick" to confess. There is a way to access the market with the free emulator available from google, if you do a little tweak to add an HTC Dev Phone image to it (the image is publically available from HTC's website). It's a little bit complicated, but it can be done. You use the emulator to make a OS 1.6 virtual phone, but don't run it. Then, you drop the img file of the Dev Phone into the folder with the new virtual phone's files. Then start the emulator, open the virtual phone, put in a gmail address, and you have access. I'm a bit nervous about providing more detail should any powers that be cry foul, but there is blogspot post out there on the web with details.

I have currently been getting free apps from the google market on an android phone emulator on my PC. It is the same steps a phone owner would use but has more setup required.
The biggest drawback to using a phone or emulator to get apps for the edge is that you have to use apps like market enabler or root your phone to change settings so that the market filters will find apps compatible with the eDGe. Then several apps are marked "private" and cannot be backed up to the SD card.

Edit: OncTech's post says the as I posted. PM me if there is interest on setting up market on the emulator and I'll type up directions and find links.

Originally Posted by OncTech

I'm a bit nervous about providing more detail should any powers that be cry foul

My opinion on this has no harm for getting free apps. For paid apps I would definitely talk to the developer directly.

Originally Posted by ChrisF

I have currently been getting free apps from the google market on an android phone emulator on my PC. It is the same steps a phone owner would use but has more setup required.

This sounds interesting. Can you please PM me brief instructions about how you got this done? I hope it is not too much trouble.

Thanks

Originally Posted by borisb

However, unless you're a programmer or experienced in Linux, it's quite probably the process will be too technical and, dare I say, bizarrely complicated The "emulator" isn't just an application you install on your PC, like you would Microsoft Office, you see.

I guess that decidedly rules me out.

Patience, patience....

I seriously thought about an Android phone, but ultimately decided that it was too **** expensive. Right now I'm paying $40/month for unlimited talk and text (MetroPCS, so no contract either). A comparable plan on Verizon would cost $70/month, plus $30/month for data (plus an additional $20/month if I wanted to make the Droid X a mobile hotspot). I just can't justify $100-120/month on mobile.

So until MetroPCS gets an Android phone, I'll be sticking with my basic Samsung flip phone and doing pay-as-you-go Mifi for when I travel (most of the time I'm within a Wifi network that I can access). It's not ideal, but it's a much more cost-effective solution to my needs.

Originally Posted by borisb

You could always trade up your current cell phone to an Android phone Those HTC phones look pretty sweet

Just waiting for my draconian contract to run its course . I need to get a new number as well.

I am going to look for the emulator option too and try things out - there are way too many cool free apps available that I would like to get from a relatively trustworthy source (i.e. the Market). Immediate examples that come to mind are the Ebay and PayPal apps. A lot of sites are starting to do browser detection so when I browse them on the EE, it is frustrating that they prompt me to get an app that I know I can't have .

PS: The search and the procedure aren't bad at all.

Holy cow - this turned out to be easier than I thought. I now have the APKs for ebay, amazon, google translate, some barcode scanner, and opera mini. Seriously, not bad at all - just time consuming.

Can you post instructions or a link to something with step-by-step instructions?

I hesitate to do so since someone earlier indicated that doing something like that might be considered non-kosher. I think I can let you know that you need the Android SDK installed (just the cmd-line/stand-alone version - no need to install Eclipse) and that you need to get the HTC dev phone image. Beyond that, I leave it up to you and your favorite search engine or you can PM me and I will send you the link.

I have bought an Android phone and have downloaded from the android app store the free "Dropbox" application. Can someone tell me how I now get the application from my phone to my EE? I have ES File on my phone but I don't see the dropbox.apk anywhere. Only an empty folder "com.dropbox.android"

TIA.

Hi Freemanjr! I can't directly answer your question, but I think you can get dropbox from the enTourage store or the Amazon appstore directly to your eDGe, and it will then work with the dropbox on your phone. Maybe someone who actually uses dropbox can confirm/correct this.

Unfortunately, I am having trouble accessing both Amazon and enTourage stores from my PE at the moment, so not sure how much help I'm being. ;(