Google Play on Nook HD!!!

[D-Caf]

So sure everyone has seen this:

Google Play coming to Nook HD and Nook HD+ | Android Central

I find this to be great news! I tend to like my NookHD+ better for Reading and Browsing and the great battery life. Now with expanded apps the only reason I'll need the nexus is if I want to play some resource intensive game. Will have to see if there are any restrictions put on the installation of Google Play apps/content, but this really is one of the best things I could have asked to come to my Nook!

 

[rushmore]

Yes and at $200 for the 32GB version, it is the best deal I can recall on a tablet. I got one a few days ago at Best Buy. Great display, fast, good battery life and EASILY the least battery drain of any Android device I have owned when in sleep mode. It loses one percentage point overnight, which is great for Android. Closest to iPad level in that regard, which is great.

 

[D-Caf]

I agree, incredible deal for a good midrange tablet with a top-range screen. I can't believe how beautiful Google maps looks on this thing!

So tempted to pick up a second one at $179 the 16GB HD+ is a steal right now!!

 

[jeffrey10000]

Walmart has the 32gb for 179. The 16gb is 149. At least at my local Walmarts. The newer stores. The old one had the 32gb for 229. Needless to say I went to the ones that had it for 179. Couldn't beat the price.


Sent from my BNTV600 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[jeffrey10000]

My local B&N also has the HD+ 16gb for 149.

Sent from my Samsung Note II using Android Central Forums

 

[D-Caf]

Yep, B&N has them down to $149 and $179 again, both online and in-store. Sooooo very tempted to pick up a second HD+ 32GB. They are such nice tablets...

Sale is this week for Fathers day according to the email flier I got.

 

[Tadb123]

I have found that stock Android based tablets have at least a few apps in Google Play that show up as "incompatible with your device," and can't be downloaded. I'm not sure if you would call this a "restriction, " but the end result is you can't get them. One example of this on the Nook HD+ is a popular app, USA TODAY. It's frustrating as the smartphones will load them all, it's just us poor tablet owners, as far as I can tell. Also, you can't sideload apps on the Nook HD+ unless you root or mod your device, which causes it's own issues. However, when you take into account the other features of this tablet, coupled with it's fantastic price, most folks can live with this rather small issue.

 

[D-Caf]

Actually you can sideload apps without rooting. You just need to use the adb method described here:

https://nookdeveloper.zendesk.com/e...eveloper-start-up-guide#_Install_Apps_On_NOOK

I've used this to sideload a few aps onto the NookHD+. Plus, now that they officially support Google Play, the apps show up in the normal app section and I don't have to do that silly volume up plus tap menu button to the extra app menu.

 

[Tadb123]

I'm not trying to be rude, but your link takes me to a nook developer's guide. It looks like you need a degree in computer science to figure it out. That may reveal a way to side load without rooting, but it's a bit like the old saying that "the cure is worse than the disease" if you get my drift. I'm sure you would agree that it's a little complicated. I'm not interested in becoming a developer to sideload an app!

Sent from my BNTV600 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[D-Caf]

True, it's not a simple point and click solution. You have to setup the basic developer tools on your computer (to get ADB access working) and then installing apps is a simple oneline command. But, yes, getting ADB up and running is definetly a little bit of work.

Anyways, it may not be the solution for you, but it is a way to sideload apps. I'm not developing for Nook, but yes, I do have a degree in computer science, so maybe my link was unfair .

 

[dpham00]

I'm not trying to be rude, but your link takes me to a nook developer's guide. It looks like you need a degree in computer science to figure it out. That may reveal a way to side load without rooting, but it's a bit like the old saying that "the cure is worse than the disease" if you get my drift. I'm sure you would agree that it's a little complicated. I'm not interested in becoming a developer to sideload an app!

Sent from my BNTV600 using AC Forums mobile app

The easily way would be to get a sd card loaded with cm, just pop it in and you are good to go.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[Tadb123]

Thanks for your response. It's my understanding that a stable release of cm10 is not available as of yet on the nook HD+. I'm not interested in a development in progress.

Sent from my BNTV600 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[dpham00]

Thanks for your response. It's my understanding that a stable release of cm10 is not available as of yet on the nook HD+. I'm not interested in a development in progress.

Sent from my BNTV600 using AC Forums mobile app

Or runs pretty well for me , better than stock.

Sent from my Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tadb123]

I want to thank dpham00 for his recommendation. I went ahead and purchased the N2A download which uses cyanogenmod 10, and I am very happy with results. It's working very well. My biggest problem with the Nook OS was that certain apps in the Google Play store were listed as"incompatible" and I couldn't download them, but with the N2A card I have access to every one of them B&N management made a great decision opening up Google Play to the Nook HD+; and if I could have downloaded these particular apps I wouldn't have done anything, but I'm glad I did, as it really opened my eyes to Cyanogenmod. Very impressive!

Sent from my Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ using AC Forums mobile app

 

[mccornwall]

I'm thinking of buying one of these...does anybody know of a way to check if an app is compatible before I buy one? I can't see in Play where I can tell it I have one to see if it is compatible. Is MS OneNote compatible? Thanks.

 

[D-Caf]

I'm thinking of buying one of these...does anybody know of a way to check if an app is compatible before I buy one? I can't see in Play where I can tell it I have one to see if it is compatible. Is MS OneNote compatible? Thanks.

According to google play when I log in with my account with the NookHD+ it says it's compatible with "MS OneNote", but with out having the device in your account, not sure how to tell.

 

[mccornwall]

According to google play when I log in with my account with the NookHD+ it says it's compatible with "MS OneNote", but with out having the device in your account, not sure how to tell.

Thanks for looking.

 

[iN8ter]

Bought the HD. Bunch of apps crashed. Bought it back.

Got the HD+ dead pixel in screen. Bunch of apps crashed. Screen is a fibgerpring magnet. Boughtnit back.

Also had massive reboot issues in the HD+ which seems common after doing some research. Great price, but I think its worth it to pay more for the fire and deal with Amazon's app store at this point. The software on these is too buggy and I did wanna use it as an ereader so loading a custom ROM defeats the purpose as you lose a ton of good features for that.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

[D-Caf]

Wow, sucks you had that much trouble with it. Guess I've been lucky, no apps crashing so far. Though yes the screen does attact fingerprints, though a screen protector can help a lot with that.

 

[iN8ter]

Wow, sucks you had that much trouble with it. Guess I've been lucky, no apps crashing so far. Though yes the screen does attact fingerprints, though a screen protector can help a lot with that.

I got another HD+ yesterday and this one hasn't crashed yet, no dead pixel. Still some incompatible apps, but I guess I can live with that.

Just didn't seem logical to pass it up at this price, since I don't need anything eMazing, just functional. This one seem to perform better than the other as well. I wonder if perhaps something was wrong with the internal storage device on the other one...

Got a cheal $7.99 8GB SD Card from Office Max and stuck it in there, just in case. Don't like empty SD Card slots, lol.

I do not like how they make you add a CC to get free apps from the Nook Shop, though. Some apps are available there but listed as being incompatible on the Android market (the Nook versions are designed specifically for the tablet's high res screen, i.e. Crackle).

The battery life is, indeed, impressive.

Has been playing some games. Haven't had any lag on me yet, or anything... Only thing it's missing is GPS and Cameras (worth noting), neither of which I need. I have a smartphone.