When it comes to Verizon or as many of us refer to as “Big Red,” they definitely do all you can to make sure that us “geeks” have a hard time making our phone look the way we want. They lock bootloaders, but they also put a bunch of “junk” apps, or as many call it bloatware into an already beautiful stock OS. As of Friday, we found that they have pulled Google Wallet, but I can’t say I’m surprised at all. Verizon is known for not including big name apps.
When the Galaxy Nexus first was released through Verizon they had already stated that they didn’t want Google Wallet put on the device due to the fact that there were “hardware/software issues” and Verizon didn’t like the “makeup” of Google Wallet. After that however, users were able to download the Google Wallet app from the Google Play store. If you try to download it now, you will receive a message that it is no longer supported.
Many users have found Google Wallet to be a splendid app to use, and really enjoy its features. Myself however, have never used the app and do not plan to until it could becomes necessary. Sadly, I am one who uses custom ROMs and will not be affected by this action as I always have Google Wallet. However, people are starting to wonder is it Verizon, or is it Google? There has been no real evidence that it Verizon or Google, but assumptions are being made that it has to do with Verizon.
It was then updated that you ARE able to use an older version, but it will be a version you cannot find in the Google Play store, and it would be a downloadable file, at which then you can install. I recommend removing any version of Google Wallet you may have before doing this.
The version you want to look for is the following:
- Google Wallet Version 1.5-R79-V5
You should be able to find some forum or thread that contains this version, especially now that the current version is no longer supported. I recommended going to XDA or RootzWiki first to check as they are the more popular Android forums.
As I was researching this issue, there has been no “solid” explanation as to why the app was pulled yet or isn’t being supported, but I’m sure within the next day or two an explanation will be given. How do Verizon users’ feel about this recent development? Please share your answers with us!
Sources: Android Community