I just acquired an RCA Internet Music System for a significant discount. I was hoping to use it as a control panel for SmartThings. Unfortunately I cannot install the app, it says it is not compatible with the device. Does anyone know what it’s looking for? The tablet has Android 4.2 and does not seem particularity slow.
I actually ran into this same issue with my budget Android device. My guess is that it only works on devices with GPS (for presence sensing). My cheapo tablet doesn’t have GPS. That shoudl really be opened up so we can use devices as controllers and not presence sensors.
Can you try using one of those mock GPS location apps from the Play Store though?
If the requirement is simply GPS, then you should be able to use that and fool the app into thinking that GPS is available (albeit you will always be home).
If it is GPS then ST does need to remove that as a requirement, I see a lot of people wanting to use a cheap tablet as a control panel. FWIW, the WeMo, Hue, and IFTTT apps all seem to do the same thing. Has anyone successfully used a fake GPS app? I see several on the store but no idea which might actually work.
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I doubt it’s the GPS. I can run in using BlueStacks emulation on the computer and I’m sure that doesn’t have GPS.
Further research looks like it’s just due to the boneheadedness of Google’s system. I cannot find anywhere to click to show WHY it rejects certain apps on my tablet. It appears that if an app developer doesn’t list your device as compatible it just won’t let you, rather than looking at the actual specs/requirements. iOS at least tells you the OS version, model, or hardware that the app requires.
A.K.A. “Android Fragmentation”
You can always try to get the APK and load it directly rather than using the Play Store, although I’m not sure where you can get it from.
The support guys might help, but the fact that the app has been specifically submitted without your device listed as compatible might be an issue.
Any update from Smartthings on this? Any ideas why some devices are not compatiable?
Usually the limitation is that the device has an older (unsupported) version of OpenGL. If you email support@smartthings.com with your device model number and ask for me I’ll look into it.
Well my cheapo tablet is a Hisense Sero 7 LT. I’ll send along the exact model number to support tonight when I get home. IIRC it is running Android 4.1
Hi @Tyler
I know it is pretty old discussion, but I want to ask you why some of the new 5.1 Lollipop tablets are still not compatible with the app. For example I purchased couple of pretty cheap 10’’ tablets (iRULU eXpro X1Plus 10.1" Google GMS Android 5.1 Lollipop Tablet ) to use as additional HA control panel, but GooglePlay tells me that application is not compatible with this device.
Does it have a GPS chip?
It looks like it doesn’t however is shows my location correctly on GoogleMaps. My $50 Fire Tablet also doesn’t have GPS chip, but your application was compatible and is working.