Why does Google Play think this app is not compatible?

[AC Question]

I read about an Android astronomy app called "Skyview" last week, and looked it up at play.google.com on my laptop. I saw that it required Android 4.0.3 and up, and I have 4.4.2 on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. So I went to Google Play on my tablet and tried to download the app. When I searched for 'Skyview," Google Play returned a bunch of other astronomy apps, but not Skyview. I tried a couple more times, with the same result. From past experience, I knew that this result meant that Google Play did not see my device as compatible with the app. But why? I contacted the developer and received a reply within minutes. He suggested that my tablet might be lacking one of the sensors the app requires: accelerometer, digital compass, and gyroscope. I checked the specs for the Galaxy 10.1 and it has all of these sensors. I wondered if I might have set some configuration option that resulted in one of those sensors being turned off, and thus not being detected. The developer didn't address that, but replied that it might be an issue regarding screen size, and added "officially we only support Android Phones although SkyView runs on most Android Tablets." The Google Play Store description does not say anything about the app being designed for, or restricted to, tablets. I suppose the guy responding to my e-mails knows what he's talking about, but I'm still wondering if anyone out there has installed this app on a Samsung Galaxy tab, and if so, which model? I'm also still wondering if a configuration option turning off a sensor might be the issue. Can anyone address these questions? Thanks.

 

[gf1701]

After contacting Samsung, I found out that the specs I read for my device--provided by a third-party website--were wrong. My Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 does NOT have a gyroscope OR compass. According to the chat support person at Samsung, only some of the Samsung Note models include these sensors. I was able to download a compass app, and while it installed on my tab, it did not work. And a sensor-testing app did not detect a gyroscope, so I believe the information I received from Samsung support is correct.