Google Play Store

[Hated Moron]

I've been trying, without much success, to understand how the Google Play Store works; it seems (much to my surprise) to be more difficult to navigate its complexities than the iOS App Store.

For example it appears to be the case that although one can easily 'sideload' an Android app onto a mobile device (phone or tablet) from a third-party site, the only straightforward way of installing it on a Chromebook is from the Play Store.

But if I search the Google Play Store for 'bbcbasic' (one word) what I find is something called BBCBasic (Internal Beta). 'Internal Beta': what's that all about? Why is an 'internal beta' appearing in the public app store? Or perhaps it isn't, and I'm seeing something other people don't see.

Can anybody clear the fog a little?

[DDRM]

Hi Richard,

I don't have a chromebook, but on my phone that search of Play Store shows "BBCBasic Richard Russell . Tools Installed" as the top hit. No mention of an internal beta.

Best wishes,

D

[Hated Moron]

on my phone that search of Play Store shows "BBCBasic Richard Russell . Tools Installed" as the top hit. No mention of an internal beta.

Thank you. I can understand that when I am logged into the Play Store using my Google developer account it might present me with a different view from what an 'ordinary' user would see, and it does: "BBCBasic (Internal Beta)... This app may be unsecure or unstable".

But what is odd is that I see the same when I log in using my Gmail account instead. I would not have expected the Play Store to link the two - how does it know that they are both 'me'? It makes it difficult for me to see what everybody else does.

Still, you seem to have confirmed that BBC BASIC is indeed available from the Play Store, even though I received no email notification to that effect (on the iOS App Store there would be much more of a fanfare!).

I wouldn't necessarily suggest re-installing from there, since you would have to uninstall it first (it's signed with a different certificate of course) and that would entail losing everything in @usr$ unless you back it up to a PC first and then restore it.

But for those with a Chromebook installing from the Play Store is much easier. BBC BASIC will work nicely when maximized, so it's safe to change the settings so it can be resized.

[Hated Moron]

Still, you seem to have confirmed that BBC BASIC is indeed available from the Play Store

It's probably poor form to ask this, but if anybody is inclined to rate the app, or to post a review, at the Play Store - only honest assessments of course! - that could be helpful. I've noticed that the search criteria already seem to have been updated so that 'bbc basic' (without the quotes) now does find the app, whereas initially it didn't.

If you want to install the app from the Play Store, having previously 'sideloaded' it from the BBC BASIC web site, here's what you need to do to avoid losing the contents of the @usr$ directory (where your personal files are held):

1. Connect your Android device to a PC using a USB cable, you may be prompted to allow file transfers.
2. Using (for example) Windows File Explorer navigate to Android/data/com.rtrussell.bbcbasic/files directory on the device.
3. Copy that directory, or all the files in it (including any subdirectories) to somewhere on your PC.
4. Uninstall BBC Basic from the Android device.
5. Re-install BBC Basic from the Google Play Store.
6. Once again navigate to the app's files directory, and restore everything that you saved on your PC.

You can leave the file copies on your PC or delete them as you prefer.