Polaroid PTAB800 8" No Google Apps drives me crazy

[Onknight]

I have stock Polaroid ATAB8000 8" Tablet

Running 4.0.3 I hate the frimware and the fact it has no Google apps

Plus How do you do u root it

The fact the google play store is missing really gets my Goat

I am so used to my Nexus S with 4.1.2 on it

I have Rasbeanjelly on it but it's a pain the ass to read on a phone.

I love to see update of Firmware with Google apps added

I been reading everywhere but can't find anything updated

[RD100]

I totally agree that this missing Google Play feature really sucks!

I've been using Amazon Appstore to obtain programs for mine, and it is an extremely cumbersome application to work with. I hate that it needs to send me an email for every app I download, showing a purchase for $0.

My Amazon Appstore application has to be stopped (in Settings>Applications), and the cache and data cleared just to keep using it, otherwise I get an Amazon Appstore search bar that won't accept data. It's definitely a buggy app.

Yesterday I discovered another way to get free android apps for my PTAB8000 from here: http://www.freewarelovers.com/android

I downloaded several of the from the System category so far, and they were easy to install, plus I didn't have to register with the website, or anything like that. I also like that the .APK install programs get copied into my download folder, so I can save them and reinstall them again, if needed. The free ones I got yesterday were Firefox Browser (v10 ... a little old but works fine), AndExplorer (pretty good file manager), BatteryView, AppSaver(copies apps to SD).

Some good apps I found on Amazon are Avast! anti virus, Pinball Arcade (great pinball game), Aldiko (very good book reader).

So even without Google Play, there are ways to get lots of good apps for the PTAB8000.

However, I really wish Google Play could be used on the PTAB8000, because lots of developers wont even let you download their programs unless you do it on Google Play.

Perhaps a lot of us PTAB8000 owners should start contacting Polaroid Support and tell them how badly they screwed up by not including access to Google Play?

Maybe if enough of us contact them, they might provide an update?

[mbellot]

Maybe if enough of us contact them, they might provide an update?

Don't hold your breath.

My understanding is that vendors like "Polaroid" (Southern Telecom) need to pay Google in order to include Play and other Google apps in their stock ROM.


Your best bet is to root the tablet (not difficult if you can follow instructions) and then install Play along with any other gapps you want.