How can I get Android apps onto my Velocity Cruz tablet?

May 4, 2011 7:26 PM

Can I load Android apps onto my Velocity Cruz tablet? If so, how?

I got a Velocity Cruz T301 tablet that I like a lot. I'd like to load some educational apps on it for work, but the Cruz Marketplace has so few options. I'd love to get some apps from the Android marketplace and put it on my Cruz but I can't figure out how. I tried just going to the Android Marketplace in hopes of downloading them onto my computer and putting them onto the tablet via the SD card, but it said that I didn't have an Android phone associated with the account, so it wouldn't let me download anything.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd really appreciate it!

posted by christinetheslp to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

Best answer: Unfortunately there is no way to download apps from the Android Market for use on an unsupported device. I haven't had to deal with this issue myself, but the first thing I'd probably try is the Amazon app store, since it uses its own downloadable front end app that goes directly through Amazon, and while it isn't as all-inclusive as Android Market it does seem to have pretty good coverage already. Also they give away a different paid app (usually a game) every day, which is a great way to fill your tablet with random stuff :)

Another thing I would suggest is visit developer web sites for the programs you want, because this is not an uncommon problem (not so much because of pre-Honeycomb tablets, but because there are countries where Google hasn't deployed the Market yet) and a lot of developers have alternative ways to try and buy their apps.

If you do end up downloading apps directly from the developer or some other source that doesn't automatically install them (Amazon does), you just need to get the .apk file onto the device, and then open it from the file manager (which the Internet assures me comes with the T301) and follow the prompts.
posted by robt at 7:58 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Amazon's app store is excellent. They have everything you need.
posted by Crotalus at 10:27 PM on May 4, 2011