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Temple Run: Another Reason to Run From Android

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You may have heard. Temple Run for Android has finally arrived, just a few weeks after it was officially announced for the platform. Only, in true Android fashion, the game isn’t available for every Android device. That doesn’t shock me.

What shocks me is that the list includes two of Android’s most popular names: the Motorola Droid Bionic and the Motorola Droid RAZR. (I’m also hearing that the Droid RAZR MAXX has been left out as well.)

Oddly enough, the Motorola Droid 4 seems to have support.

Seriously?

Temple Run: Another Reason to Run From Android

The company behind the game, Imangi Studios, has apparently given no time frame for the game’s release on either of the phones leaving Droid RAZR and Droid Bionic owners with only guesses about when one of the most popular and most addictive games will be coming.

If you can’t tell, this revelation has frustrated me and quite frankly, it’s just another reason to add to a growing list of reasons why I am beginning to dislike Android.

Hugely successful apps like Temple Run, Netflix and Hulu Plus and Skype, just to name a few, took a long time to arrive on Android. And then, once they arrived, they only worked on certain devices.

The Motorola Droid Bionic came out in September of 2011. The Droid RAZR came out in October of 2011. Neither of them is running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Google’s latest operating system.

The wait for these apps is frustrating and then, on top of that, it’s not guaranteed to work on my device that I purchased six months ago?

In my mind, that’s unacceptable.

I am hoping that the reason it has taken Instagram for Android so long to come out is because the developer is making sure that it works on 100% of the Android devices out there, and not 90% of them.

All the time people try to convince me that Android fragmentation isn’t a big issue. That most phones are running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, which to them, isn’t that big of a deal.

Isn’t a big deal?

Try telling that to Droid RAZR and Droid Bionic owners that can’t play Temple Run on its big launch day, when owners of much older devices are able to enjoy the game.

Try telling that to people who had to wait months and months for Netflix support to arrive on their phone, even when the app was available to many others.

Try telling that to me, someone who has waited for Instagram for Android to arrive, but can’t help but think that it won’t arrive for my Android smartphone.

The long waits for major Android updates and bug fixes are one thing but the uncertainty of Android software is a much more vicious beast. Apps drive my smartphone experience and having this kind of uncertainty isn’t something I want from a device that pay hundreds of dollars a year for.

I am a patient person, and I can wait, but the wait isn’t the issue.

It’s that this is something that has happened again, and again, and again, with no sign of giving up.

When I buy a smartphone in December, I expect apps released at the end of March to work on my device. Plain and simple. Android doesn’t offer me that guarantee and it’s just another reason why I’ll always think twice about buying an Android smartphone.

32 Comments

32 Comments

  1. Maks

    03/27/2012 at 12:03 pm

    I agree 100%, may not stick with Android after this. Am getting so sick of waiting for ICS, temple run and Instagram when I have the Droid RAZR

  2. DNel

    03/27/2012 at 12:23 pm

    Your argument for the masses that have the newest Android devices may be true, but you have 6 Android phones listed in your picture that can run Temple Run. If you want to play Temple Run so badly, just pick up one of the 6 phones you have that can run it. As for the normal person who doesn’t own 8 Android phones, this is more of a problem if they own one of the phones listed that Temple Run doesn’t support. It is the developer’s choice to provide a product for the devices (and OS version) more people own. My big question for you Adam is: How could you live with 8 Androids phones that couldn’t play Temple Run up til now? Did you have other uses for your Android phones, but only now see that without support for Temple Run you never should have bought them? My philosophy that keeps me from getting angry that iPhones and Nexus phones are getting the best apps or quickest updates is buy a phone your happy with NOW and if it gets updated great, if new apps come out for it great, but don’t expect them too anytime soon (as in a year) and be happy with what made you happy to purchase it in the first place.

    • Josh Smith

      03/28/2012 at 7:33 am

      Sadly, Adam doesn’t own those phones. Neither do I, the person who took the screenshot.�

      All those phones, except for one are review units which have been sent back.�The average user has one phone for two years. If that phone can’t play great games 6 months after it is sold, that’s a big issue for that user.�

  3. FlyingShawn

    03/27/2012 at 12:41 pm

    You mean to tell me that it’s more work to support a variety of screen sizes and chipsets?!
    Yes, this situation sucks and it’s definitely a problem for Android.  That said, what’s the alternative?  A rigid, conformist ecosystem that doesn’t give users choice about much of anything.  That’s the whole point of Android: to give users the ability to select devices that meet their specific needs.

    Is it possible for Google to fix this?  I really, really hope so, because it is very frustrating.  But, at the same time I’d gladly pick this over the iOS any day of the week.

    To summarize:
    Downside?  Yes, absolutely
    Reason to run?  Only if you absolutely can’t live without the latest fad apps.

    • Danny Cardin

      03/27/2012 at 1:33 pm

      Well said! I couldn’t agree more.

    • Al_m

      03/27/2012 at 8:33 pm

      +1

  4. Rtom

    03/27/2012 at 12:49 pm

    Don’t forget it doesn’t work on the samsung galaxy ace either

  5. Keith

    03/27/2012 at 1:05 pm

    This is Keith from Imangi. �We pulled initial launch support for the Bionic and Razr about an hour after launch due to crashing issues that were affecting all users on those devices until we have a chance to investigate and fix the issue.

    • Jonathan Arias 98 27

      03/27/2012 at 1:15 pm

      I have a Samsung phone thats not the fastest but not the slowest. I had been waitibg and waitung for Temple Run to arrive in Android and 8 woke up at 4 in the morning to download and play just to find out i cannot play because my device is not supported and it won’t even appear in the Play Store. Please, I beg you, add support for medium-class phones!!!

    • Jonathan Arias 98 27

      03/27/2012 at 1:18 pm

      Another thing is that you added support for older Apple models like the iphone 3 so can’t you do the same thing for android??

    • Hkcbf555

      03/27/2012 at 7:55 pm

      I don’t think Kieth from Imagine would post here before posting on official Facebook site any info related to the app not being available on certain devices. I’m from the moon.

    • Prophecyinblack17

      03/27/2012 at 8:03 pm

      Keith I currently have it running on my Razr, I must have made it into that hour window. Aside from the crashes, is this thing safe to run until you get it figured out?

  6. Austin G.

    03/27/2012 at 3:26 pm

    I agree 100% I have been waiting for this game ever since I got the Droid Razor and when I came out today I was pissed off when I saw that this game is not compatible for my divide. Its bull shit.

  7. Peter Thompson

    03/27/2012 at 5:00 pm

    Or you could spend double the price on a phone. Double the price on a phone that actually is locked. Or you can stick with your cheaper but open sourced phone.

    Yeah it is an issue I’m not going to deny it. But I’d rather have to wait then spend loads on an iPhone.

  8. Corywc77

    03/27/2012 at 5:40 pm

    i have a samsung sch-r720 and it says that its not compatable. why is this i have gingerbread 2.3.4? can someone tell me what to do?

  9. Fabiantrujillo13

    03/27/2012 at 6:26 pm

    I am upsetthat temple run its not out for Droid razr but im not leaving a.droid for the IPhone. no phone franchise is perfect. IPhone has its flaws also.when apple screws up you will be begging to return to Android. And for those who think I don’t know what i’m talking about my wife has a iPhone and I have plenty experience with it. Android any day.

  10. Ron0114

    03/28/2012 at 3:10 am

    Guys I have Samsung Galaxy Pop with android 2.3.6 gingerbread..This game is not compatible in my fone too..I was waiting for game for a long time but didn’t got it..plz make this game compatible for my fone…plz

  11. Ianmcpak49

    03/28/2012 at 11:55 am

    I have the Droid razr and I have temple run on my phone! As soon as the game came out I went to the google play website and it said it was compatible with my Droid X AND my Droid Razr.

  12. Josh Warnick

    03/28/2012 at 2:06 pm

    Did you think maybe its because those phones are slated for ics in coming weeks so they already developed it for ics instead of gingerbread? As for the fragmentation, i blame the carriers setting different standards for each phone thus causing the fragmentation. If they left their bloatware and such out, we wouldnt have such fragmentation. Iphone is one product. So little fragmentation from carrier to carrier. They beauty of android is choice for what you use it for. Just because you cant get this game immediately doesnt affect the quality of android. If you want an iphone so bad then go get one. If you have patience for quality updates then just hold on to your britches because once ics is out you wont look back.

  13. hakeemdatfye

    03/28/2012 at 4:08 pm

    I agree

  14. Alex Perry

    03/28/2012 at 4:22 pm

    Ah, if you want to play games, why don’t you buy a gaming device to do that, not a phone.

  15. Tom

    03/28/2012 at 8:38 pm

    I dont know wth imagi is thinking, i just downloaded the game on my razr through blackmart, and it is working with no problems even with my phone undetclocked to conserve battery

    • Tom

      03/28/2012 at 8:41 pm

      And nvm crashes just started, there not that bad though. Gopr they find a fix

  16. Nate

    03/29/2012 at 6:36 am

    You should stay away from Motorola, not android. Motorola lied about ICS on bionic/razr. But the Galaxy Nexus has it, and is compatible with all the apps you listed. Don’t buy Motorola.

  17. AeroEchelon

    03/31/2012 at 9:00 pm

    This whole argument is moot when you buy a Nexus device i.e. dev phone. Nexus phones are always compatible with most if not all applications.

  18. Liz K

    04/19/2012 at 11:17 am

     does anyone know if it works on the lglucid

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