THERE IS A NEW WAY TO THE MOBILE NIGHTMARE downloading a Google Play app only to find that it barely works on your Android.
The pace at which our devices advance is a miracle: there is a constant upgrade to download or a new model to purchase.
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Unfortunately, this has a major drawback.
Sometimes developers don’t develop apps at the same pace.
Maybe you’re browsing games on the Google Play Store and see one with rave reviews from other players.
But here’s the kicker: it was developed about a decade ago.
If you keep up with the times and use a device that is relatively new and running a recent software update like Android 13.0, the app may glitch or just not work at all.
Meanwhile, it sucks megabytes out of your memory and you’ve wasted time.
Well, good news: Google Play now warns you if an app might not work on your device, based on data from users with similar models to yours.
Android users from around the world have shared this observation on Twitter, Reddit, and various tech forums.
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A message that says “Recent data from similar devices indicates that this app may no longer work on your device” appears in red below the Install button.
And it looks like the new alert system extends beyond just games, as users have found it popping up for Instagram and NOW TV installs as well.
But users who notice the warning system have expressed frustration that their devices are faster than the apps that are an integral part of their phone experience.
“It feels like Android is slowly losing everything!” one user wrote.
“Nokia C31 is good, but what’s my phone without Instagram?” added another.
Why did Google introduce the warning?
Google made plans to introduce this new warning system in October.
Google’s quality bar by phone model was introduced because some apps work perfectly on some Android models but not others, according to an Android Developers Blog post.
This created a “threshold for bad behavior” that Google hopes developers will keep their apps below.
The threshold was set at eight percent for the user-perceived crash rate and the user-perceived App Not Responding rate.
Anything above that triggers the warning about the app in the Play Store – which is the warning some users are starting to recognize.
This not only improves the user experience, but also encourages apps to troubleshoot their app as the developers get access to the data about users who are experiencing problems.