Help Disappearing Act

[KOLIO]

I've experienced having applications disappearing not only from the homescreens/desktop,but,also nowhere to be found in the app drawer as well.
I've had this happen w/apps from GOOGLE & AMAZON,& both not showing that I even had the disappearing apps installed,having to perform a search of the missing app.
Sometimes,the app appears w/the OPEN BUTTON appearing,allowing use of the app,&subsequently the app re-appears in the app drawer on my phone.
Other times,I've had the OPEN BUTTON present,but,unresponsive,& having to resort to a reboot/return to the MARKET/APPSTORE,& manually search for the missing app,& proceed to open the app & have it re-appear in the app drawer.
This seems,if memory serves me correctly,that this happens w/paid apps only.
Also,I'm using SPB SHELL 3-D LAUNCHER & the Stock launcher,& on one occasion have had an app appear in one app drawer (Stock)& not showing in the other.

Any ideas/suggestions/remedies for this?

 

[Rico ANDROID]

I've experienced having applications disappearing not only from the homescreens/desktop,but,also nowhere to be found in the app drawer as well.
I've had this happen w/apps from GOOGLE & AMAZON,& both not showing that I even had the disappearing apps installed,having to perform a search of the missing app.
Sometimes,the app appears w/the OPEN BUTTON appearing,allowing use of the app,&subsequently the app re-appears in the app drawer on my phone.
Other times,I've had the OPEN BUTTON present,but,unresponsive,& having to resort to a reboot/return to the MARKET/APPSTORE,& manually search for the missing app,& proceed to open the app & have it re-appear in the app drawer.
This seems,if memory serves me correctly,that this happens w/paid apps only.
Also,I'm using SPB SHELL 3-D LAUNCHER & the Stock launcher,& on one occasion have had an app appear in one app drawer (Stock)& not showing in the other.

Any ideas/suggestions/remedies for this?

Can you list the apps that are MIA? Also, do you see the app still in the Android Market?

I am very curious to know if Google pushed an ota to yank certain apps from the market and devices... PLease post the names of the apps you cant locate anymore..


Lastly: does the app show up in your backups? I have also used Norton Utilities (Beta) where I view the "Installer". from there, it shows me not only the current installed version of an app, but it also shows me each version of the app from various backups should the verison changed between backups.

Even apps ive uninnstalled from my device will show up in this tool as "uninstalled" but it gives me the verison and history when i used it. I wonder if your missing renegade apps will show up in this "installer" view ?

 

[KOLIO]

Two apps have done this "disappearing" recently,each w/their own quirks:

1)HANDRITE PRO(From AMAZON)
Disappeared a week ago,showed in the AMAZON APPSTORE,but,not on my list of apps,although,it showed up when searched in the AMAZON MARKET.At the time,I didn't think to look in GOOGLE'S MARKET.(BTW,it {GOOGLE},now shows that I have the FREE version,not the PRO)

Anyway,to retrieve the missing app,which did show as having been purchased in the AMAZON store,it was not in my inventory,only showing when searched,&,not allowing to open the app,even after pressing on the OPEN BUTTON.
I remedied this by deleting & re-loading the AMAZON ANDROID APPSTORE APP & all was well.


2)PBA BOWLING 2.
This one also is from AMAZON,& apparently not available via GOOGLE ANDROID MARKET.
Same situation as above, not showing in my inventory of apps,but,showing as purchased when performing a search in the AMAZON APPSTORE.Would not open,performed a re-boot & again only appearing in the AMAZON APPSTORE as purchased,but,not in my inventory.Was able to open the app & then it appeared in my app drawer.

I do not have any of this backed-up.

On my previous phone(HUAWEI ASCEND),I experienced issues w/AMAZON APPSTORE not wanting to load at all on the phone(could not sign-in to my account),after successfully using AMAZON for quite some time.
I was able to find the cause of this w/help from the CSR w/AMAZON & the problem was due to having too many devices linked to the account.
In actuality, it was only one device,but,after flashing & re-flashing MANY updates to CM7,the phone was showing up as a different device everytime that I wiped everything off the phone & reloaded a new ROM & all the apps from both markets.
I remedied this by going to the desktop AMAZON APPSTORE & "de-listing" all the unused devices.

I believe I have had apps to disappear which were from GOOGLE exclusively,but,I can't recall which ones they were.I will keep a closer eye on both markets & keep this thread updated if this "disappearing" act continues in the future.

BTW,I don't have any apps from anywhere else but GOOGLE & AMAZON.

EDIT:GOOGLE EARTH disappeared sometime this week,& had to re-load it yesterday.No biggie,but,I've had it loaded up since DAY ONE w/the MO PHO.
It didn't even show up as INSTALLED when a search of MY APPS was performed,had to re-load it as if it weren't ever on the phone.

 

[Rico ANDROID]

Yep, ive have a couple apps downloaded from amazon or from the developers site, but, these doesnt show as "paid' when viewing the same app listing in the market understandably.

As far as amaon apps showing up and disapearing, i wonder if its earlier stages of Amazon market and content that was the cause of some. You should do a back up of your device this way you get a historical catelog of apps you have installed at the time and can use it for roll-backs.

Example. I have Flash Adobe Flash Player 11.1 as the last upgrade/install. but i was having some flash issues and was able to roll-back to Flash version 11.0.1.153 or 10.2 because of previous backups (and these vesions are not available on the market anymore)

Yes, please do keep an update to whats occurring with your apps her ein your log. its great reading how things gets resolved.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

I have had apps mysteriously vanish from my Photon many times since I got it in August. I usually only notice it when I see a blue gear wheel icon on a homescreen where the app icon used to be, and then I have to try and remember what was there. It seems to happen most often after I update an app in the Market, but it's very random. Going to the Market will always show the app as uninstalled, so it's a simple (but annoying) matter of just downloading and installing the app again.

Up until this week, this had only happened with Market apps, but I had an Amazon "free app of the day" vanish on me this week. What was worse was when I went to the Amazon App Store, it was listed as installed and clicking "open" did nothing. I only got it back because I'm rooted and had it backed up. A simple restore and reboot fixed the problem, but I fear I'd have been SOL had I not been rooted. I'm going to backup apps more frequently now, especially ones from the Amazon App Store.

One thing I will say: it only seems to happen with apps installed in the media area. All the apps stored in the phone's internal memory have never vanished.

 

[KOLIO]

More disappearing apps:

This one,WOLFRAM ALPHA,was a "Free App Of The Day" from AMAZON.
Now,it is not in my inventory,nor,is it listed as being available from AMAZON.

However,it shows as purchased from GOOGLE,even though it came from AMAZON,but,when I attempt to download the "purchased" WOLFRAM ALPHA, I get a pop-up stating that I haven't purchased it & therefore cannot download it.

CRAPTASTIC!

Any help or clues are welcome.THX!

 

[onree]

One thing I will say: it only seems to happen with apps installed in the media area. All the apps stored in the phone's internal memory have never vanished.

Yes, I've had this happen to me before as well -- for example, the XDA Premium app vanished. I haven't installed anything into the media area, so this issue does happen for internal apps too.

 

[drexappeal]

Just thought I'd chime in because I know it's been a topic of discussion before.

I've actually noticed this most with apps that I install to the SD card. I notice apps disappearing even more, when I connect the phone to a PC as a USB drive.

Other than those situations, I just double check my App Brain account every now and then. If there's an app that has "Install" next to it, in my appbrain account, I know that it somehow was deleted from my phone...weird.

I've never been able to pinpoint exactly how this all happens. A lot of the time, when I notice a missing app, I'll just power down and back up, just to see if it magically re-appears. I actually have to do that every time I connect my phone to a PC as a USB drive, otherwise the apps remain off my phone.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

Yes, I've had this happen to me before as well -- for example, the XDA Premium app vanished. I haven't installed anything into the media area, so this issue does happen for internal apps too.

It's entirely possible. I don't have many apps installed on the internal memory, so it's more likely to happen to apps in the media area. Not every app displays the behavior, either. I've had one app (aCar) disappear about three times, but other apps have not vanished once.

Kolio, have you tried logging in to Amazon on your computer and checking your digital items? From the home page, click on the "Your Digital Items" link above the Cart button, then click on "Your Apps and Devices" under the Amazon App Store. It should be listed there as part of your app history. Alternatively, go to your account settings from the main Amazon home page and click on digital orders there.

If all else fails, contact Amazon and let them know the app vanished and you can't find it again. The app comes up for me in a search, so it's still there.

 

[KOLIO]

I've found the answer to WOLFRAM ALPHA "disappearing" from my phone:

Somehow,the app is in my inventory on the full website,but,it's showing as the KINDLE FIRE addition.

1) I don't own a KINDLE FIRE

2) I've had this app since 04/2011,waaaaaaaay before the KF even existed.

Will be contacting an AMAZON CSR in the A.M. to remedy this.

THX for the help,CC.

UPDATE:

Now, WOLFRAM ALPHA is installed,but,strange enough,it's showing as purchased & installed from the GOOGLE ANDROID MARKET,not the AMAZON ANDROID APPSTORE,which is where I got the app from.
WEIRD INDEED,as long as GOOGLE doesn't attempt to actually charge me for the app,it's all good.

Now,if something strange like this disappearing/re-appearing act were to happen w/SPB SHELL 3-D LAUNCHER, which cost $15,then someone would have some 'splainin' to do!

 

[Citizen Coyote]

Good to hear you've got it back, even if it's in a weird, roundabout way. You might want to check out AppBrain (as mentioned by drexappeal) and see what it thinks. I don't use it myself, but a third site to help you confirm whether the app exists/is installed couldn't be a bad thing (and it might help recover it should it vanish again).

Alternatively you could just root your Photon and install a backup program.

 

[KOLIO]

Good to hear you've got it back, even if it's in a weird, roundabout way. You might want to check out AppBrain (as mentioned by drexappeal) and see what it thinks. I don't use it myself, but a third site to help you confirm whether the app exists/is installed couldn't be a bad thing (and it might help recover it should it vanish again).

Alternatively you could just root your Photon and install a backup program.

I've used APPBRAIN in the past,will probably load it up later tonight.
As for rooting,I was 100% ready to after all the CARRIER IQ shenanigans came to light.
Glad to hear it's not on our phone.

I'm just a bit chicken s*** of rooting this phone,for fear of bricking it.Although,I did root & run CM7 on my HUAWEI ASCEND.
Cool thing w/that phone is that it's practically impossible to brick it.

I may change my mind & root when I'll have some time off from work during Christmas/New Years.
Back to topic:
No more "disappearing" apps to report,for now........

 

[drexappeal]

Yeah, it's still happening to me when I connect to my PC as a usb drive. I'm going to chat with Motorola later today to see if they're aware of the problem and see if there's any way to remedy the issue.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

Yeah, it's still happening to me when I connect to my PC as a usb drive. I'm going to chat with Motorola later today to see if they're aware of the problem and see if there's any way to remedy the issue.

Let us know if you hear anything from Moto. It's been more of an annoyance to me than an inconvenience, so I haven't bothered trying to "fix" it.

 

[drexappeal]

Let us know if you hear anything from Moto. It's been more of an annoyance to me than an inconvenience, so I haven't bothered trying to "fix" it.

I chatted with Moto this afternoon. Their answer was to hard reset, but I haven't backed up my phone in a while, so I have to do that first.

I may just go into Sprint to have tech support take a look. I want them to also take a look at my wifi antenna because my Photon wifi signal is really weak.