How to Install Incompatible Apps on your Android Phone

While browsing apps in the Google Play Store, you may have come across some apps which are not compatible with your phone. You get frustrated at that time because you thought that the app would work on your phone, but the Play Store doesn’t allow you to download it. Well, you won’t face this situation any more because they now have a solution for this. Using the following trick, you will be able to install the apps which are marked as incompatible for your phone in Google Play Store. Go ahead and try the trick yourself!

I. Before You Begin:

1. You must have any rooted Android smartphone on which you want to install the incompatible apps.

2. Check Play Store for any app which is not compatible with your phone, so at the end, you can check whether the trick worked or not.

II. Downloading Required Files:

1. Download ES File Explorer App from here.

III. Applying the Trick on your Phone:

1. On your phone, go to Menu>>Settings>>Applications>>All>>Market and Clear the data.

2. Launch the ES File Explorer from the Menu by tapping its icon.

3. In the app, Go to Settings>>Root Settings and enable Root Explorer as well as Mount File System.

4. Open /system folder using the app and copy the build.prop file from there to the SD card storage of your phone.

5. Edit build.prop file by tapping build.prop>>ES Note Editor.

6. Now, you have to make the following changes in the build.prop file,

ro.product.model = Nexus S
ro.product.manufacturer = samsung

7. Tap the Save button when you are done editing the file.

From now on, Google Play Store will recognize your phone as Nexus S, hence you will be able to install almost all the apps because this phone supports almost all the apps available in the store. If this trick helped you at all, please thank/donate the inventor of this trick over at Reddit.

25 thoughts on “How to Install Incompatible Apps on your Android Phone”

  1. You’re a fucking idiot. This only worked on Market, and stopped working with the Google Play update. No one has found a fix yet.

    1. Mahesh Makvana

      Apparently the trick has stopped working after the Android Market upgraded to Google Play. As soon as we find the new trick, we’ll be posting it on our site, so stay tuned with us !

  2. not working.
    when I click save es gives message “there were problems with saving file, do you want to close anyway?”. I can cancel then and click save again but values do not change. I have root and ES doesn’t have problems with creating temp file on / , but changing this file is impossible on my wildfire S

  3. Not working on my Note. Used ROM Toolbox to change the file but Google Play still won’t let me install a few apps.

    1. The trick was working when it was posted on Reddit. Maybe Google has discovered the loophole and stopped the trick to work.

  4. deffinetly this is NOT the trick.

    I made some of the apps compatible simply by changing the etc/permission/handheld_core_hardware.xml file (or tablet_core_hardware)

    Unfortunately I still got some apps which are not compatible, still looking for the right answer.

    1. Well, the above trick was posted on Reddit and it seemed to be working for some of the users. Maybe it has stopped working now as Google may have discovered this loophole.

  5. You guys are retarded. This can’t brick your device… All it does is change what model your phone displays.

  6. I want to know how its even legal for google to block me from downloading an app that i own i mean talk about being a niazi! ps this did not work on my lg motion 4g, but i did get it to work when i changed it to this:
    ro.product.model=SGH-T989
    ro.product.brand=samsung
    ro.product.name=SGH-T989
    ro.product.device=SGH-T989
    ro.product.manufacturer = samsung

  7. YOU, my friend, just helped me so much! This method has worked on my LG Motion 4g finally! after hours of searching! The method in this forum used to work for me, but for some reason no longer does. This however, has definitely worked. Thank you!

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