Is HP Prime Pro on Play Store? (hit and miss)

[StephenG1CMZ]

I have noticed that the HP Prime Pro app shows up on an old phone (Android 8) - this has the 2021 version of the app already installed. Google Play recognises it as installed.

But searching for it on a new phone (Android 12) following a factory reset, the app is not showing up in the Play store.

(The newer phone might have a newer email).

I wonder why it is not findable on the newer phone?

[ctrclckws]

It may have something to do with Google and their rules for maintaining an app in the Play Store.

My Note 20 Ultra, with Android 13 has it installed so it should be acceptable.

Perhaps it's also related to the Moravia / Royal / HP changes.

[matalog]

I have Android on a Samsung S20. I used to be able to see it, and I can't now.

Play store will have stopped it being available to later Android veraions as the publisher hasn't updated it strictly for the latest OS's.

[StephenG1CMZ]

Ah.
So I need something like Google Play, but works without deliberately breaking Apps?
(Or a way of repairing an old phone, fixing it's screen, giving it some memory...)
Let's hope an Android update isn't too distant.

[Eric Rechlin]

You need to just backup the app on your old phone, transfer the .apk file to your new phone, and then install it on the new phone through the filer. You just have to enable in settings the ability to install non-Play store apps. That's how you can keep old apps that are no longer available for download in the Play store.

[nickapos]

I have it in my pixel 4a with latest android and on my lineageos Moto g6 via Aurora store so it should be available for you as well.
Unless play store is glitching.

[thenozone]

what do you use to back up apks, google kept removing apps that did that too.

[nickapos]

(06-13-2023 08:52 PM)thenozone Wrote:  what do you use to back up apks, google kept removing apps that did that too.

I guess you can copy them directly from the phone.

According to this

Quote:Finding APK Files

If you want to locate the APK files in your Android phones, you can find the APK for user-installed apps under /data/app/directory while the preinstalled ones are located in /system/app folder and you can access them by using ES File Explorer.

[RandySims]

Hey StephenG1CMZ! That's strange. Maybe the app isn't compatible with the newer Android version?

[goosnarrggh]

(06-28-2023 08:39 AM)RandySims Wrote:  Hey StephenG1CMZ! That's strange. Maybe the app isn't compatible with the newer Android version?

Google has a policy requiring app publishers to make regular updates to their apps to ensure that they will remain visible to as wide a range of users as possible. These rules apply regardless of whether or not any individual app has been tested and demonstrated to have any real incompatibilities with any particular newer version of Android; rather, it is primarily meant as an incentive to ensure that developers are always following the latest software design guidelines as they are expressed in the evolving Android API.

Essentially, after a major version of Android ships, app developers have a grace period of approximately 1 year to start releasing apps which target that major version; after that deadline, no new apps can be added to the Play Store which target any older major version, and no updates can be published to existing apps unless those updates also bring the app up to begin targeting that new major version. For example, right now it is permissible to publish new apps and app updates targeting both Android 12 and 13; we are reaching the end of the grace period for Android 13, and so soon it will no longer be permissible to create new apps or app updates targeting Android 12.

Simultaneously, existing apps already listed on the Play Store are contextually de-listed under certain circumstances:
1. If the user's current OS version is equal to the latest major release, then they are only able to search for apps that target a supported API level that is within the current grace period.
2. If the user's current OS is older than the latest major release, then they are only able to search for apps that simultaneously satisfy two requirements:
2a. The targeted API level must be equal to or newer than the major OS version currently running on their device.
2b. The minimum API level must be equal to or older than the major OS version currently running on their device.

Certain limited exceptions apply for user accounts which have previously installed an older version of the same app on the same or another device.

Right now, the current version of the HP Prime Lite apk which is available for distribution has a targeted API level of 29 (Android 10), and a minimum API level of 16 (Android 4.1 aka Jelly Bean).

In light of Google's current rules, it would be searchable in the Play Store for any device running Android 4.1 through 10, but would be invisible to devices running Android 11 or newer.

[StephenG1CMZ]

Thank you for that explanation.
So Google encourage you to keep an old phone to improve app visibility.
What about HP Prime Pro?
What old versions of Android does Google require you use for that?

[goosnarrggh]

(07-24-2023 08:49 PM)StephenG1CMZ Wrote:  Thank you for that explanation.
So Google encourage you to keep an old phone to improve app visibility.

That is an indirect impact. Their expectation is that the majority of customers will keep on rushing to buy the latest new phone, and Google wants to use that as a stick to poke app developers into keeping their apps up to date.

Although it is possible to write an app that targets the latest version of Android while remaining backward compatible with older versions, this becomes more and more difficult as the differences between successive Android versions continues to grow. For example, as of today, the Facebook app is simultaneously released with separate optimized builds for Android 6, Android 9, and Android 11. All of them target either Android 12 or 13; that is mandatory. But internally, they each employ different levels of compromises and fallback methods to allow the app to function optimally using the different sets of APIs which existed in different historical versions of Android. This requires a concerted effort on Meta's part to keep the app serviceable on older devices while continuing to comply with Google's requirements for the latest devices. Other app developers may simply choose to drop support for older OS versions.

On the other hand, we see what is happening with the HP Prime app: The app has not seen any updates in more than two years; Android 12 had not even been released yet at that point. And as a result, we are seeing the gradual attrition of the app's availability.

Quote:What about HP Prime Pro?
What old versions of Android does Google require you use for that?

I don't know for sure. I can only easily obtain a copy of the Lite app to inspect its API levels, because that's the only one that is freely downloadable. I'd guess that the Pro app probably is built from the exact same source code, just with certain features selectively compiled out; as a result I suspect that it probably has virtually identical technical requirements.

[ctrclckws]

For what its worth, I have Prime Pro on a Note 20 Ultra and an S20 Ultra. Both are currently on Android 13, but the app would have been installed years ago.

They at least start up, but I am not a heavy user, so I don't know how functional they are

[StephenG1CMZ]

AFAIK it's the Lite version that has code edited out - it cannot edit or run PPL programs.
The Pro version (the only version, until Lite was introduced) can also edit and run PPL.
Neither version has Python (although the Pro version has some python syntax included within cas).

[goosnarrggh]

(07-25-2023 11:09 AM)StephenG1CMZ Wrote:  AFAIK it's the Lite version that has code edited out - it cannot edit or run PPL programs.
The Pro version (the only version, until Lite was introduced) can also edit and run PPL.
Neither version has Python (although the Pro version has some python syntax included within cas).

That is my understanding too. Unfortunately I worded things quite badly.

[Dougggg]

I have android 12 on my moto 5g phone and tablet and the have prrime pro on both and both work. Maybe because when I set up them up I selected to install the apps from my lg android 11 phone

When I look in the play store it show beta, I think I was in the beta program a long ime ago

[nickapos]

(07-25-2023 12:13 AM)ctrclckws Wrote:  For what its worth, I have Prime Pro on a Note 20 Ultra and an S20 Ultra. Both are currently on Android 13, but the app would have been installed years ago.

They at least start up, but I am not a heavy user, so I don't know how functional they are

Same here for a Motorola g6 with latest version of Lineageos and a pixel phone. I purchased the apps a while ago and installed them then, the apps work fine.

[StephenG1CMZ]

HP Prime Pro is still not showing on Google Play for my newer phone (Android 12). Neither is it showing for Chromebook Zork.
(Android 8 still shows it).

Wondering when the Android App will be updated and more widely available.

[KlaasKuperus]

Hi all, we are currently working very hard on new versions of the apps for both Android and IOS and hope to be able to share some goods news with you soon!

[EnigmaticMF]

(09-28-2023 03:30 PM)KlaasKuperus Wrote:  Hi all, we are currently working very hard on new versions of the apps for both Android and IOS and hope to be able to share some goods news with you soon!

That's awesome to hear! I've again begun to further my self-directed math studies, both because I'm interested in math - and because I want a good reason to use all my new calculators, including the Prime G2. ?

I found a free version for my Casio FX-CG500, so it's nice to see it on the phone too - albeit it looses data between 'restarts' (kinda like how their standard scientifics act ?).

However, the HP Prime ones weren't showing up in the Play Store for me either - so apparently my Android version must be too new.