Looking for an app on your Chromecast with Google TV, but can't find it? Sideloading to the rescue! There's one little trick you need to know before you can get started, but then all you need is an APK and a few minutes of time.
Smartphones are an integral part of our lives at this point. We use it as our dedicated camera, news reader, a multimedia device, chatting machine, and
Google hasn t had much of an interest in Android tablets since the days of the Motorola XOOM and Android Honeycomb. As a result, most of the company s apps aren t designed with tablets in mind, and third-party applications have largely followed suit. Sure, Android tablets can technically run all Android apps, but many of them have stretched-out layouts that were intended for 6-inch screens. Some even force a portrait orientation (Google Tasks, I m looking at you).
It can be hard to find applications with well-designed tablet interfaces, especially when the Play Store s only criteria for the Designed for tablets label is developers adding a large screenshot to the app listing. The only way to find out if an app is actually designed with tablets in mind is to try it out yourself, so that s exactly what we did for this roundup.
Installing apps on Android TV in general, and the Chromecast with Google TV in particular, is usually a simple affair. There are, however, limitations to
If you buy a Samsung phone, thinking about which apps run or not is barely an afterthought. After all, your phone is powered by Android and backed by the nigh-ubiquitous Google Play Store. Your banking app would be there. Your Snapchat and Instagram? There. That little bodega down the road that probably doesn t need an app? You can find it as well. Yet, if you were to pick a Samsung device with a larger screen say, the Galaxy Chromebook or the Galaxy Tab S7, you ll find many of the same apps there, true. But you won t enjoy the experience as much. For the most part, Android apps are built for phones, and that s holding them back.