Help with apps for MID7012

[Clif]

Just purchased first tablet, hoping my wife would use it to get acquainted with the web, etc.
So far, I'm very frustrated, even after 30 years with PC experience, and I have to learn so I can teach her.
Is there a good place to get help with getting various apps?
Thanks.

 

[walbanos]

Not entirely sure what you're asking.
Help with how to download/find apps, install apps or just a good spot to find what's popular/good?

Apps are almost entirely downloaded through 'markets'. Which are apps themselves that are basically stores. And like a grocery store there are lots of different app markets all with different selections. A couple large stores and tons of small ones.

There really are only 2 large ones for Android. The official Android market, and Amazon's Android Market. Then you have dozens, maybe hundreds of other smaller markets. You'll often hear them referred to as 3rd party markets (and any market app other than the official android one is technically a 3rd party market but you won't always hear Amazon's referred to as a 3rd party market because it is so largely supported and backed).

Now the kicker here is that as open source and developer friendly as Android is...they are the opposite with their software. They do not support Coby devices and any other of the generic tablets and do not let you download from their official market. Though you can hack your tablet a bit and get access. (there are a bunch of threads in this subforum titled 'getting android market on your XXXX kyros...' that are very helpful)

What is typically installed out of box on Coby is "AppsLib" and if you've done any research online about it you'd quickly find out it is pretty unanimously considered the worst market available. Poorly supported, frequently down and not even a properly functioning search feature to help browse. Most people would recommend just uninstalling it, but you can have as many app markets as your memory can store and again, they all have different selections of apps so it doesnt always hurt if you can't find what you want on one market having another market to search.

Your best route is installing the Amazon market. Little annoying and tedious though. Google "amazon android app" and you'll find it's page and in the upper right a spot where you enter your email and it sends you a link to download the app (you can download right from your tablet or onto your PC then transfer over via usb/sd card). Then you also need to have an Amazon account with a valid CC# associated with it and also have that app set up to accept '1-click payments' even if you never have any intention on downloading anything but free apps. You can also get all that set-up on your desktop by just going to your account settings, makes it little quicker and easier to navigate than on your tablet browser.

One of the most popular 3rd party apps is SlideMe. Where as amazon and android market are like your safeway/kroger/jewel/albertsons SlideMe is your Aldi. You won't find your popular Angry Birds there but you'll find it's knock-off Angry Pigeons. It's not all bad though because you can find lots of hidden gems, stuff that hasn't yet gained the popularity to get noticed and approved by the Android Market.

I would recomend though installing the Android Market (it's pretty easy for you and even then harmless if you mess it up). In the end even the Amazon market falls short of selection when compared. There are a lot of big named apps that's exclusive to android market. The facebook app, any kind of major sporting team official app, news station/news paper apps - anything like that is going to be almost entirely exclusive to the android market and only available from other places in the form of really bad knock-off apps that are very poorly functioning and are not supported well.


Now if you're wondering how to install apps. Most markets will prompt you to install them automatically when they finish downloading. Other applications you may download to your desktop that you've just found by browsing (or the amazon app) are just as simple. Android has a built in program called "APK Installer" which when opened scans your memory for any .apk file and lists them, click and it installs (i've noticed with my coby tablet I may sometimes have to restart before it notices one I just transferred over via USB). As well, if you did download something to your computer first depending on your OS it may often times kill the .apk extension and other times change it to a .zip of some format. Just make sure the file name ends in .apk and change it if need be.



And if you're just looking for what's good to download, the fun stuff, the essential stuff and such first I apologize for making you read through all the prior long winded stuff =P. Check the main forum page here and there is a section for "Android apps and extras" and it's got some good sub forums and you'll find in there, often stickied to the top of the forum, good info on top apps and tips and tricks. Otherwise just google "top android apps" and "popular android apps" and you'll find lots of blogs on things like "the top 20 android apps downloaded in 2010" and things like that.