trouble connecting to Google

[whitehound]

Hi. I'm new to Android and still trying to figure it out. I have an HTC Desire A8181 which I suppose means it has Android 2.1.

I'm trying to get hold of the QR Droid app so that I can read QR codes. When I try to get it from the Amazon store I'm told that I first need an Amazon store app, and when I try to get that I'm told that the Amazon store app isn't compatible with versions of Android earlier than 2.3-something.

So I tried to get it through GooglePlay but GooglePlay says my browser isn't supported, then that I need a special GooglePlay app. When I try to sign in to my Google account to get onto GooglePlay I get halfway through filling in the form and it asks me for my Google email. My Google email is whitehounduk@gmail.com but Google's form insists on filling it in as whitehounduk@googlemail.com and then can't find it, and if I just put whitehounduk it says that name is already taken - which of course it is, by me.

Can anyone help me to get QR Droid and/or to get my phone to connect to my Google account?

And/or, is it possible to get a more updated version of Android onto the A8181, and if so how do I go about it? I know that there are ways of updating which involve linking the phone to a PC but unfortunately my PC has a bug which means that it can't see anything with an SD card in it, including my phone. [This is a well-known Windows 7 bug which no-one seems to have a fix for.]

 

[FoxKat]

Well other than borrowing someone else's computer for this process I don't see how you can get the device updated. Here's a link to the various versions of Gingerbread, the most recent version of Android directly from HTC (you'll need to identify what region and carrier you are on so you can download the right version for your phone)... HTCdev - HTC Kernel Source Code and Binaries

Here's a link to the HTC Sync application for installing the update... HTC SYNC INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS | HTC United Kingdom

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[CJM]

QR Droid Code Scanner, for 2.0 & up
QR Droid Code Scanner APKs - APKMirror
QR Droid Code Scanner - Android Apps on Google Play

 

[whitehound]

Thanks. After about an hour and a half on the phone to Google tech support we solved the first problem. Although when I set it up I had one Google account linked to two emails - one email with madasafish, one with gmail - at some point they had bifurcated into two Google accounts. Android wouldn't let me sign into the madasafish one because it wasn't linked to Googlemail (even though I can sign into it via Chrome on my pc no problem), and it wasn't letting me sign into the other one because it had split away from the main account and so its password hadn't been changed when I changed the password for the madasafish half, and so I was unknowingly entering the wrong password.

I'll try the Gingerbread update tonight and see if I can do it without being linked to a pc. Unfortunately I recently moved house and I'm not yet on can-I-borrow-your-computer-for-half-an-hour terms with anybody in the new village.

 

[CJM]

@whitehound Do you have an internet connection on your HTC Desire? If so, you can download the app from those links. You shouldn't need to update to Gingerbread

 

[mountainbikermark]

@whitehound Do you have an internet connection on your HTC Desire? If so, you can download the app from those links. You shouldn't need to update to Gingerbread

Just be sure to allow 3rd party apps. I think it's under either accessibility or security in the phones settings.

Support Our Troops!!!
Beast Mode 4
<><

 

[whitehound]

[QUOTE Here's a link to the HTC Sync application for installing the update... HTC SYNC INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS | HTC United Kingdom [/QUOTE]

Thanks. It doesn't work, of course, because the PC can't talk to my phone because it can't recognise anything with an SD card in it. HTC Sync installs just fine on my PC but when I connect up the phone, nothing happens. As far as my PC is now concerned, my phone might as well be a tennis ball or a bar of soap stuck on the end of the USB cable.

I'm not having any luck with GooglePlay because it takes me to a screen where I have to accept or decline their terms, but the screen is greyed out and the options aren't clickable. Ho hum. Time for another hour and a half on the phone to tech support.

 

[whitehound]

Update: I finally managed to get it to talk to Google Play (it didn't like the fact that I had another browser window open) and I found the apps I want, but every time I try to download them, the download is unsuccessful. Oh joy.

 

[CJM]

Update: I finally managed to get it to talk to Google Play (it didn't like the fact that I had another browser window open) and I found the apps I want, but every time I try to download them, the download is unsuccessful. Oh joy.

Unsuccessful downloading from Google Play? Through the app or online? Does it give an error?

Tapped from a Nexus 6

 

[whitehound]

Hi. No, it just says the download was unsuccessful. I've tried all the stages recommended by this guy Google Play: “Download unsuccessful” Error Fix but it hasn't helped. In fact it's made it worse because now for some reason when I go onto Google Play it can't find Photobucket, although it can still find QR Droid.

 

[whitehound]

Tried to get the Gingerbread update directly on my phone without going through the computer, but it's no good because (perversely) htc's download site isn't fully Android-compatible. I can't select my carrier or region, because in Android the pull-down boxes don't have sliders at the side and you can't make the text sc roll any other way, so the pull-downs only display the first few options.

 

[Mustang02]

Tried to get the Gingerbread update directly on my phone without going through the computer, but it's no good because (perversely) htc's download site isn't fully Android-compatible. I can't select my carrier or region, because in Android the pull-down boxes don't have sliders at the side and you can't make the text sc roll any other way, so the pull-downs only display the first few options.

try a different browser on your phone. That has nothing to do with HTC's site and not being "Android-compatible". It has to do with your outdated browser not understanding, HTML5 or CSS.

 

[whitehound]

Well, it certainly understands CSS, since my own website is CSS heavy and it loads perfectly on my phone. And if a website designed for use with Android isn't backwards compatible, it's badly designed. I don't have the option of using a different browser because there doesn't seem to be one already installed, and I can't download anything.

Google tech support think the problem may be that my internet connection is unstable due to living only about a mile from the local TV transmitter. I've certainly seen someone else's phone abruptly cut off a conversation in mid flow as we drove past the transmitter.