Differences between phone and tablet versions of Android apps?

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Technofreak

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#265617 31-Jan-2020 22:22

I have an app I use on my Galaxy Tab S3 which has lost a tab off the main page and lost some tabs on a secondary page I think it occurred during an app update.

The same app on a phone has all the tabs that should be there.

I have tried it on two different tablets and two different phones the results are the same. The tablets don't have all the tabs yet the phones do.

The app is downloaded from the Play Store like any other app

My question is, Is it possible the tablet version could be "faulty" while the phone version is OK? Assuming there are various versions on Play Store for devices with differing screen sizes etc.

In the past I thought there wasn't any difference as I had successfully side loaded apps from the phone to the tablet and vice versa and the screen sizes etc were sorted out within the app.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

Hammerer

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#2411035 1-Feb-2020 09:46

Possible but unlikely that the tablet instance is broken. Without knowing what the app is, it is difficult to give any firm advice on this. For example, it is entirely reasonable for tabs to disappear if they relate to hardware features not provided on the tablet e.g. mobile network connection, SMS, etc.

Apps normally have one version which has all the image assets required for various display resolutions. It is one of the onerous tasks when developing the apps.

jamesrt

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#2411132 1-Feb-2020 14:01

It is possible that different versions of that app exist which target different Android versions; and your tablet is running a different version than the phone.

Having said that, have you actually asked the app developer? I've found some developers to be very responsive to emails and queries... [Not all, admittedly]

Technofreak

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#2411168 1-Feb-2020 15:16

Hammerer:
Possible but unlikely that the tablet instance is broken. Without knowing what the app is, it is difficult to give any firm advice on this. For example, it is entirely reasonable for tabs to disappear if they relate to hardware features not provided on the tablet e.g. mobile network connection, SMS, etc.

Apps normally have one version which has all the image assets required for various display resolutions. It is one of the onerous tasks when developing the apps.

The app is Avplan. The tabs have been there previously, they're not hardware related.

I'm sure you're correct about the app containing all the assets. I sideloaded a copy from the phone and even thought the tabs are visible on the phone they're not visible on the tablet after side loading.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

Technofreak

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#2411171 1-Feb-2020 15:21

jamesrt: It is possible that different versions of that app exist which target different Android versions; and your tablet is running a different version than the phone.

Having said that, have you actually asked the app developer? I've found some developers to be very responsive to emails and queries... [Not all, admittedly]

See above about different versions.

I've been in touch with the developer and they have been responding. I'm just trying to get as much info as I can about this problem to feed back to them as I m a Beta tester for the app. However right at the moment I'm pretty sure the release that's available to the public is the same as the release I'm using.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5