Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 too out of date?

Tony habergham · 10 Nov 2023 at 00:28

Can anyone advise on this issue for me - A friend recently had a major stroke and is in hospital, currently having very limited mobility and only one usable hand (and no speech).

On a recent visit I proposed trying to get some kind of audio book player for him, and possibly with something with the ability to show YouTube videos, browse the internet, and maybe even watch freeview/netflix etc.

After trying to get one of my old mobile phones working, and also my sons broken amazon fire tablet repaired (unsuccessfully) I was offered one of these, refurbished, at the repair shop - its an SM-T230 model on android 4.4.2, and seemed fast and responsive with a relatively large screen and a mico sd slot. It seemed just the thing, so I bought it for £40, roughly at the price they were asking for on ebay, - with a 12 month guarantee.

After factory resetting and going through setup I find that it will not connect to google play store to download apps (I get 'server error')- particularly wanted was the 'libby' audiobook app, but even the app web page says download from google play, and the inbuilt YouTube app asks for a store update when opened, which then fails.

What I'm asking is is there any way around this? - I presume its because its just too out of date, or have I just wasted my money and ask for a refund?

[HB]Rugrat · 10 Nov 2023 at 09:01

These should be updateable to Android 5, which is the minimum requirement for the play store. Is there a system update available through settings?

Tony habergham · 10 Nov 2023 at 09:11

[HB]Rugrat said:
These should be updateable to Android 5, which is the minimum requirement for the play store. Is there a system update available through settings?

No. Nothing. I have read that 4.4.2 is the highest official. ~~Would 5 get me into the google play store?~~

[HB]Rugrat · 10 Nov 2023 at 19:15

Tony habergham said:
No. Nothing. I have read that 4.4.2 is the highest official. ~~Would 5 get me into the google play store?~~

Some versions of that model could go up to five but I don't know what determined it. Might be worth checking out some android forums to see if an update could be forced onto it - I forget the exact name of the forum but xda developers (?) was pretty good for that sort of thing.

Scort · 13 Nov 2023 at 17:39

Tony habergham said:
Can anyone advise on this issue for me - A friend recently had a major stroke and is in hospital, currently having very limited mobility and only one usable hand (and no speech).

On a recent visit I proposed trying to get some kind of audio book player for him, and possibly with something with the ability to show YouTube videos, browse the internet, and maybe even watch freeview/netflix etc.

After trying to get one of my old mobile phones working, and also my sons broken amazon fire tablet repaired (unsuccessfully) I was offered one of these, refurbished, at the repair shop - its an SM-T230 model on android 4.4.2, and seemed fast and responsive with a relatively large screen and a mico sd slot. It seemed just the thing, so I bought it for £40, roughly at the price they were asking for on ebay, - with a 12 month guarantee.

After factory resetting and going through setup I find that it will not connect to google play store to download apps (I get 'server error')- particularly wanted was the 'libby' audiobook app, but even the app web page says download from google play, and the inbuilt YouTube app asks for a store update when opened, which then fails.

What I'm asking is is there any way around this? - I presume its because its just too out of date, or have I just wasted my money and ask for a refund?

Looks like you might be out of luck - 4.4.2 is the latest official ROM it seems, and from the limited searching on that tab + Android 5; it seems the only option is unofficial ROMs from a different model device.

This route would likely invalidate any guarantees from the shop - as you'll probably need to root the device, and there is always a risk that will brick a device (rare, but can happen).

Tony habergham · 15 Nov 2023 at 20:33

Thanks for all the ideas. In the end I took it back to the store and, given the circumstances, the proprietor kindly let me have a brand new TCL tab 8 (not a brand I'd heard of before) for the same price, which has been passed on

I am rather disappointed that a major brand can let a nice piece of kit like the Samsung become basically useless.

KIA · 16 Nov 2023 at 16:21

Tony habergham said:
I am rather disappointed that a major brand can let a nice piece of kit like the Samsung become basically useless.

The tablet should have been sold with a warning due to its age. The model is 9-years-old after all.