Do Androids Dream of Freely Available Apps?

September 14, 2009 5:09 PM

AndroidPhoneFilter: Help me access Android apps from my new HTC that I purchased from ebay.

Got my Android phone from ebay (Hong Kong) and I can't seem to access the mobile version of the Android Market from the phone - only the full browser version.

The phone is working ok with my old SIM card, I can hook into the WiFi network at home and surf the webs ok but there is no Android Market app on the phone.

So, my question, how can I get the Android Market app and if I can't (cause I didn't buy the phone through a local retailer) where can I go for some useful Android apps that are not on the Android Market.

Help!

PS I'm in Australia and on Vodafone (about to change to TPG) if that is useful at all.

posted by micklaw to computers & internet (8 comments total)

What model of phone is it? What version of Android?
posted by GuyZero at 6:02 PM on September 14

HTC Magic and the Android version is 1.5 (that's the firmware version right?).

I hope this helps.
posted by micklaw at 8:23 PM on September 14

No market app at all? When you go to the app tray (whatever it's called when you slide up the tab at the bottom of the home screen) there's no icon labelled "Market"? There's no other way to get it if it's not there. I don't think any there are any firmware builds out there without it so it's got to be there somewhere.

If it's really not there you can get .apk files from wherever but no one really puts them on the web because they put them on the market.

But it's got to be there.
posted by GuyZero at 9:04 PM on September 14

Not in the app tray and not in the settings menu either.

I'm stumped! I think I've found two apps so far that have their .apk files NOT in the Android Market.

Is there a way to download the Android Market app at all?
posted by micklaw at 9:38 PM on September 14

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=339896f4d9bf4e6d&hl=en may have some answers to your question. Read the links to the related threads. You're not the only one with your problem.
...
bottom post here: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=77c72b9d5214d01b&hl=en has a solution for his phone.
posted by defcom1 at 11:48 PM on September 14

OK, with a bit of hunting I have found a few resources that may be useful. Thanks to defcom1 for the guidance.

This one shows you how to flash the firmware to one that has Market and other Google Apps loaded.

and this one runs you through the process of updating your Magic ROM to the Hero ROM

If my kiddies give me time tomorrow I shall try and report back on my success (or fail/brick).
posted by micklaw at 7:06 AM on September 15

If you're willing to start playing around with custom roms, I'd give this one a shot over the hero versions. That should clear up your market issues as well as add some nice 1.6 features such as global search.
posted by paxton at 9:25 AM on September 15

Thanks for all of the help peeps.

The resource I went for was this one.

It was really well written and it has recovery instructions for bricking of the phone (so safe as well). It took about half an hour to download everything, install it all and then get the new image on the phone. Perfect!

Now, if I'm game enough I'll give the experimental one a try paxton.

Thanks again, all up and running.
posted by micklaw at 10:43 PM on September 17