PayPal has an official app for Android mobile platform. However, some newer models of Android smartphone or tablet mobile devices such as HTC Desire, or Android devices that recently received new, upgraded and updated firmware software, have reported several applications have been missing or cannot be found on the Android Market.

The reason for the apps disappeared from the Android Market is that the information about the new phone or new ROM has not been updated by Google yet. Hardware manufacturers have to submit to Google a “fingerprint” or “footprint” (build.prop) information that contains information such as manufacturer, model name, hardware version, OS version and kernel version which is used to identify the ROM for updating into the compatibility database for every new ROMs been released for old and new Android devices.

In addition, the publisher PayPal Mobile may have also restricted and limited the availability of PayPal app for Android devices that currently in certain countries or regions, such as US (United States) only, although everybody can view the PayPal for Android on Android Market.

Google only displays correct matching apps to the devices that certified to be compatible to run on the devices, and matches all other restriction and filtration as demanded by publishers, while hiding and filtering out incompatible and inaccessible apps due to fragmentation. In addition, some apps on Android marketplace uses Market Copy Protection to secure the app from pirated or being copied illegally, and the Market Copy Protection also requires the signature about the newly released phone or firmware OS to determine that the device is “secured”.

Anyway, for PayPal users who need the official PayPal mobile app on Android device, but cannot find or download PayPal app from the Market, it’s possible to manually install the PayPal app into the Android device by using the PayPal app’s .apk file, the same file that is downloaded and installed by the Market.

Here’s the links to PayPal .apk files:

PayPal for Android version 2.7.1: PayPal v2.7.1.apk
PayPal for Android version 2.5.0: PayPal.apk
PayPal for Android version 2.2.0: PayPal_v2.2.0.apk

Once downloaded, follow the guide to install the .apk onto Android device.