How is android different from one carrier to another in terms of apps?

D

desira

New member
Ok so I have been living in iphone land for about 2 years now and am thinking about making the switch to android. The Evo on sprint looks nice or the new motorola phone coming to verizon as well as the current incredible and even the N1 on t-mobile are all solid choices. To me it might come down to the network.

I have done a lot of google searches (ironically) for this and have yet to come up with a solid answer as to how exactly each carrier "locks down" their devices. I am little big confused on this issue. I can understand something like verizons exclusive skype app but if the application is in the android market does that mean that anyone, no matter what network, can get the application? Or, are android markets different from carrier to carrier? If so, who allows what and doesn't allow this?
 
Some apps are carrier specific, like yeah skype on verizon. But there is always something similar in the market, don`t know about skype though.
 
The Skype app that comes bundled on the phone when purchased from certain carriers is a fully functioning Skype app. The one on the Market, before it was pulled, didn't support a lot of major Skype features.

I don't know if Skype had some exclusivity deal with Verizon, but the Skype app vanished from the Market. In Android news in the last few days I read it was because Skype are about to release a fully functioned version with video calling now that Android phones have appeared with forward facing cameras, like on the Evo.

Most of the apps that come bundled with a phone are specific to that carrier. For example apps the access your online account.

In most cases they're a waste of space (in my opinion). I'd much prefer to choose what app I use for a given function and just download it off the Market. In nearly all cases, there are better alternatives there.
 
So can a carrier block access to apps in the android market that can be download if say you were on carrier y instead?
 
Not quite. Some carriers have no Market access (wasn't Rogers in Canada one of them at one point?).

But I don't believe carriers can restrict what apps you can see.

Apps can be restricted by the developer by version or location. So you may find an app is only available for Android 2.1 and in the France, for example.

Skype was pulled from the Market for everyone, not just one carrier.
 
But a carrier can restrict something like google turn by turn by preventing it from being installed on the hardware in the first place?

Also, what is the point of jail breaking your phone? So you can run wifi hotspot applications\??
 
Can you give an example of this? Google Turn By Turn is restricted to the US and UK, and until recently Android 2 and above (now available on 1.6), but that's because of the restrictions of the OS (you can't run MS Office 2007 on Windows 95 for example). I've never heard of carrier based app restrictions before. Are you sure it's not just restricted because of the handset or location?

Jailbreaking is term used to describe the removal of Apple's restrictions on their devices that prevents people from running software that hasn't been authorized by Apple.

On Android phones you can already run any apps that you like. Anyone can publish stuff to the Market, and you can also set an option in your phone to allow you to install apps from non-Market sources.

You may mean "rooting", which is the process used to describe gaining root (i.e. superuser or admin) access on Linux based devices, including Android phones. Once this has been done, you can install custom firmwares (ROMs), and some apps require root access to perform more advanced functions.

The point of rooting is mainly to install custom ROMs. These may offer features from later versions of Android that are not yet released for your phone, speed improvements via overclocking, and addtions made by the ROM's developer, which can include stuff like tethering (using your phone as a WiFi Hotspot allowing your laptop or whatever to connect to the internet via your phone over WiFi to the mobile network). Android 2.2 comes with tethering, as does Android 2.1 phones that come with Sense UI like the HTC Desire and HTC Incredible.
 
2.2 comes with tethering. Will verizon or whoever see you are tethering, i mean will this feature only work if you buy a tethering plan from a carrier?
 
They won't be able to tell unless they do deep packet analysis on your data, which would probably be illegal without a warrant from a high court or for reasons of national security.

You will likely use more data if you're tethering, but if you stick within your allowance they can't complain.
 
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