Shopify POS "Your device isn't compatible with this version" on Android Studio emulator (API 35/36/37, Google Play images)

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1

Hi all,

I’m trying to install the Shopify POS app on an Android Studio emulator to do POS UI extension development, but the Google Play page for POS shows “Your device isn’t compatible with this version” and won’t let me install.

Screenshot 2026-07-16 at 1.19.15 PM
Screenshot 2026-07-16 at 1.19.15 PM2746×1728 358 KB

This worked until recently, so I suspect something changed on the POS build side rather than in my setup.

What I’ve tried:

  • Pixel Tablet AVD, latest Android Studio
  • API 35, API 36, and API 37 — all with arm64-v8a Google Play system images
  • Same “device isn’t compatible with this version” error on the Play Store page in every case

The POS debugging docs explicitly list an Android Studio emulator as a supported way to run POS for extension debugging, so I’d expect at least one of these configs to work.

A few questions:

  1. Is there a currently supported API level / system image combination for running POS in an emulator? (I’ve seen API 34–36 + ARM recommended in older threads — is API 37 / Android 17 not yet supported?)
  2. Did a recent POS release change its device compatibility requirements or minimum/maximum supported SDK?
  3. Is there anything beyond an arm64-v8a Google Play image and a dev store that I need for the emulator to be recognized as compatible?

Happy to provide POS version numbers, AVD configs, or logs if useful. Thanks!

2

Hey @jeffchew

Thanks for the detailed breakdown. and Android Studio emulators should still be supported. API 35 and 36 also meet the published Android requirements, so API 37 alone doesn’t explain what you’re seeing.

Could you try a fresh Pixel phone profile, not Pixel Tablet (just to see if it’s related to the tablet setting), using API 35, arm64-v8a, and a Google Play image? Could you also confirm whether Play Store → Settings → About shows the device as Play Protect certified?

In the meantime, a physical Android 10+ device with Google Play Services/GMS should unblock testing (I know this isn’t ideal though if you don’t have a spare device). Hope to hear from you soon!

3

Hey @Alan_G, thanks for the reply! Appreciated.

I tried a fresh Pixel phone with the recommended settings and no luck.

Play Store → Settings → About does not show the device as Play Protect certified and I’m not sure if or how it is possible for the emulator devices to be Play Protect certified.

I can test on my physical device (pixel phone), but it was convenient to be able to test on a virtual tablet!

Please let me know if you are able to reproduce the issue I am having on your end. This is something that just started happening over the past week or two, so I am curious as to what caused it. It had been working fine for years.

Thanks again Alan. Take care!

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Screenshot 2026-07-17 at 4.39.38 PM1920×987 133 KB

4

@Alan_G I am also going through the same as @jeffchew.

Spent a day trying to get it running to no luck (not sure if it helps, but it was Jul 5), I have tested it in multiple virtual devices (the official emulators that come with Android Studio) and with various API versions, images, etc. I don’t have every single config I tried as I deleted most of them already, but I did try the “Pixel Tablet” device with API 35, 36 and 37, Pixel 10 Pro Fold with 36 and 37, along with others.

Surprisingly to me, the one thing that did work was the BlueStacks emulator simulating Samsung SM-G998B, but using BlueStacks isn’t a good solution for me.

5

Hey @jeffchew and @dsnvs - thanks for confirming and sorry for the delay here. Since API 35 and 36 are affected too, API 37 doesn’t seem to be the common factor here.

Could you each share:

  • The exact AVD hardware profile, Google Play system image revision, Android Studio/emulator version, and host architecture.

  • The output from:

    adb shell getprop ro.build.fingerprint
adb shell getprop ro.product.cpu.abilist
adb shell getprop ro.build.tags

    It would also help to know your Play Store and Google Play Services versions.

  • The last date you remember this working, and whether an AVD with POS already installed can still launch or update it.

I’d just redact any Google account details from screenshots. This should help narrow down whether Google Play is filtering a particular emulator image or device profile. Happy to dig into this further on our end here.

6

@Alan_G

Gist with all details I could gather:

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Thanks @dsnvs - I’ll keep digging into things and loop back once I have more to share, appreciate your patience here!

9

@Alan_G thanks for this! And as you probably noticed, I had AI assistance while preparing this markdown file, but I do think the NFC thing noted at the bottom might actually be a good hint of the issue.

10

Hey @dsnvs - no worries at all. Just following up here, we were able to replicate this on our end, and we’re going to implement some fixes in an upcoming release. I can’t say exactly when we’ll get the fixes rolled out (as this does depend on vetting with Google’s Play Store requirements), but it should be in the relatively near future, I’ll let you know once they’re live and follow up in this thread here.

Thanks for your patience on this :slight_smile:

11

Thanks @Alan_G and @dsnvs! I was about to gather my environment details, but appreciate both of your replies and good to see that this is in progress!

Let me know if me providing my environment details would still be useful. Thanks!