Beginner question about apps

[BluePlate]

Hi all,

Here's an embarrassing complete-newbie-to-Android question:

Do all Android apps work on all Android phones? I'm getting the Droid X, and I keep reading all about the wonderful apps that are out there for Android phones (I'm coming from BlackBerry, so having access to lots of apps will be a nice change!), but I'm not sure if they'll all work on all phones.

Will I need Droid X specific apps?

Thanks!! :)

[marvin]

Not all apps work on all Android phones, but you don't need specific Droid X apps.

Because of the various versions and how they are implemented on the different devices not all apps work on all phones. Some of the selection proces is taken care for you by the Android market. Each phone has a 'fingerprint' that is submitted to the market that describes the phone. This fingerprint is used to match the phone with apps that work on it. So searching in the Market itself on your phone should only show you results that work on your phone.

Since this filtering process is not perfect you should read the comments for any app that you want to install. Many comments will have the phone model included. If you really want to be careful a visit to the developer's web site can be useful to dig deeper into the details of the app.

Install barcode scanner (http://backflip.rdtk.net/index.php/Applications/BarcodeScanner) so that you can use sites like androlib.com and appbrain.com to search for apps on your computer. Searches on the web may turn up apps that don't work on your phone, so that when you scan the bar code and search the market using your phone you may get a not found message. Usually you can find another app with the same functionality that will work.