# Can't find the Straight Dope app in Google Play **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 6, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511 "2024-10-06T19:09:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/1 "2024-10-06T19:09:16Z")
Halp! I got a new phone yesterday, and had to delete a bunch of apps off my old phone to transfer my data to the new one. One of which was the SD app; I figured I’d just download it again on my shiny new toy. But I can’t find it in the Google Play store, under any search term. Any idea where I can get it? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/2 "2024-10-06T20:00:13Z")
See: > [@Does the SDMB have its own phone app?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sdmb-have-its-own-phone-app/1005828/3): > > Prior thread on this: ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/3 "2024-10-06T22:19:46Z")
Alternately, you could use [Discourse](https://www.discourse.org/). ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/4 "2024-10-06T22:33:44Z")
Thanks. I tried that Discourse link, but it just goes to the website. And for whatever reason, the “Quote” function isn’t coming up in the reply box - I’m having to highlight, then quote. I mean, first-world problems, I understand… ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/5 "2024-10-07T00:06:03Z")
The SDMB “app” is a fake app; it’s just a webview. But if you want it, just open this site on your phone’s browser. Then go to the 3 dots menu and choose “Add to home screen”. That should pop up an “Install app” dialog that lets you give it a name and choose where to put it. This isn’t a true mobile app though, it’s just an embedded browser that pre-downloads some of the files. But it might very well be what you had previously? I think SDMB used to pop up an annoying thing asking you to install this app. Maybe it no longer does that automatically. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/6 "2024-10-07T00:09:02Z")
It’s not a phon native app, but it is a web app, which is why there is a part that can be downloaded. Still, it’s functionally not much different from having the website cached and saving a bookmark. It just looks more native. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/7 "2024-10-07T02:20:26Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I think SDMB used to pop up an annoying thing asking you to install this app. Maybe it no longer does that automatically. That would have been in the old vBulletin days, when every forum site threw a pop-up for Tapatalk, a nearly worthless pos. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/8 "2024-10-07T19:09:37Z")
Nope. Chrome often reminds me now that Discourse is available as a webview. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/9 "2024-10-08T16:12:17Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > That would have been in the old vBulletin days, when every forum site threw a pop-up for Tapatalk, a nearly worthless pos. It should have only given you the pop-up once. It would then set a cookie so that it would not pop up again. If you were seeing it repeatedly then you had some sort of cookie issue. Tapatalk seemed to work well enough, though to be honest the only time I ever used it was to try out things when someone reported a problem with it. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Nope. Chrome often reminds me now that Discourse is available as a webview. I don’t see that on Chrome on my Android phone. What type of device are you using? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/10 "2024-10-08T17:25:32Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > It should have only given you the pop-up once. It would then set a cookie so that it would not pop up again. It has been a while, but it seems to me the pop-up had a link to the app or app store or whatever and nothing else. You could make it go away by using the app, but if you used a browser, it would always appear, begging you to try the app and offering no “x” to close the pop-up. Various sites behaved variously. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/11 "2024-10-08T18:22:57Z")
Yep, I remember the pop-up, and I tracked down exactly where it came from because some other folks had the same issue as you (it kept popping up over and over). It should have only popped up once. Then it would set a cookie and if it found that cookie the next time around it wouldn’t give you the pop-up. It worked correctly for most folks, but you weren’t the only one who had a problem with it. It wasn’t supposed to always appear. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/12 "2024-10-09T00:21:20Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I don’t see that on Chrome on my Android phone. What type of device are you using? A brand new Samsung S24. After I’ve dismissed the prompt a few times it has not recurred. Which matches my experience a couple years ago when my previous Samsung S10 was new. As **ecg** says, you should not get bothered much unless you clear cookies or get a new device. Then the bothering starts afresh. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2024, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/13 "2024-10-19T16:00:00Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > …an “Install app” dialog that lets you give it a name… I call it _The Dope_. ‘Cause I’m cool. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2024, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/14 "2024-10-20T05:17:57Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > As **ecg** says, you should not get bothered much unless you clear cookies or get a new device. Then the bothering starts afresh. I got a brand new iPhone days ago and it hasn’t bothered me once. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2024, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/15 "2024-10-20T18:33:25Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I got a brand new iPhone days ago and it hasn’t bothered me once. Do iPhones even allow prompts to install PWAs? I thought that was more of an Android/Chrome thing? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/16 "2024-10-20T19:28:29Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I thought that was more of an Android/Chrome thing? I used to get pestered about it a lot years ago, including this forum and Tapatalk popups. It has been quite a few years since I’ve seen anything like that though. Funny enough, I’ve owned a few Android tablets over the years (have a Samsung Tab right now in fact) and though I hit the Dope on my tablet on rare occasions, I don’t recall ever seeing a popup on any of them. I use Chrome and Edge as browsers on my tablets (Edge exclusively these days). ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/17 "2024-10-21T00:26:59Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I thought that was more of an Android/Chrome thing? The modern incarnation of PWAs (and the name itself) was invented by Google Chrome engineers, although the idea originated earlier with Apple and iPhone. (But they decided they’d prefer native apps an an app store that they can collect their 30% tax on.) > **[Progressive web app](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_web_app#Initial_introduction)** > > A progressive web application (PWA), or progressive web app, is a type of web app that can be installed on a device as a standalone application. PWAs are installed using the offline cache of the device's web browser. > PWAs were introduced from 2016 as an alternative to native (device-specific) applications, with the advantage that they do not require separate bundling or distribution for different platforms. They can be used on a range of different systems, including desktop and mobile devices. ... ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-straight-dope-app-in-google-play/1008511/18 "2024-10-21T01:00:32Z")
I use the Discourse app on my iPad. It has no inherent advantages over a browser (it is mostly just a WebKit wrapper), but it is one less tab in my browser and an icon I can put in the dock for easy access.