Is it possible to release new Android app version for smartphone only and to keep the previous available for tablets?

Question

I have got an app on the Play Store which is compatible for smartphones and tablets.

I need to release a new major version which is only (temporarly) compatible for smartphones. So I wonder if tablets' users will still be able to download the old version of the app.

Do you know if it is possible and if there is something special to do?

Thanks.

Answer 1

All you need to do is restrict the new version to be compatible only with phones. The version that is already on the market will still be distributed to tablets.

You can restrict using the manifest, as described in the official docs: Distributing to Specific Screens . The link from Amrut Bidri also shows you how to define compatible devices, but I think you can just restrict the new apk to phones and it's enough. The market also tells you how many devices the apk will go to and you can take a look at that to make sure everything is ok, before publishing.

You are interested in something like this

<manifest ... >
    <compatible-screens>
        <!-- all small size screens -->
        <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="ldpi" />
        <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="mdpi" />
        <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="hdpi" />
        <screen android:screenSize="small" android:screenDensity="xhdpi" />
        <!-- all normal size screens -->
        <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="ldpi" />
        <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="mdpi" />
        <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="hdpi" />
        <screen android:screenSize="normal" android:screenDensity="xhdpi" />
    </compatible-screens>
    ...
    <application ... >
    ...
    <application>
</manifest>