Help The Continuing Saga of the Disappearing Apps

[HotDawg]

More a gripe than looking for support, because I don't think anyone has a solution:

Okay, this is just getting to be really, really annoying.

I regularly have apps disappearing now - pretty much everytime I pick up my phone. I may or may not have the icon remaining.

One app I deleted last night reappeared this morning.

I have had to re-download four apps today already.




I am assuming this is a GB issue. Sure hope an update solves this; we'll probably have to wait for IC.

 

[Groid]

There is a solution. Do not move apps to sdcard. The Bionic uses internal memory for 'sdcard'. Looking at Manage Applications, that same internal memory is called 'Media'. If you move apps there, they will likely be gone after a reboot. There is no way I know of to move apps to sdcard-ext (external microSD) until we get an update. There is generous space for installing apps without moving them to 'Media' (sdcard). If you are losing apps that have not been installed or moved to sdcard, that is a problem.

 

[johnlgalt]

More a gripe than looking for support, because I don't think anyone has a solution:

Okay, this is just getting to be really, really annoying.

I regularly have apps disappearing now - pretty much everytime I pick up my phone. I may or may not have the icon remaining.

One app I deleted last night reappeared this morning.

I have had to re-download four apps today already.




I am assuming this is a GB issue. Sure hope an update solves this; we'll probably have to wait for IC.

I feel ya - I got hit by it as well. but read my reply below to see what's realy gettin my goat....

There is a solution. Do not move apps to sdcard. The Bionic uses internal memory for 'sdcard'. Looking at Manage Applications, that same internal memory is called 'Media'. If you move apps there, they will likely be gone after a reboot. There is no way I know of to move apps to sdcard-ext (external microSD) until we get an update. There is generous space for installing apps without moving them to 'Media' (sdcard). If you are losing apps that have not been installed or moved to sdcard, that is a problem.

I'm not moving a single app - but some are automatically installing to the media area.

I downloaded a pool game - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.forthblue.pool&feature=search_result - to play on my BIONIC, but forgot it was there. 3 days later (yesterday, to be exact) I went exploring to see what apps, if any, were in my Media Area, on a hunch.

Guess what I found?

2 games that I had installed (and one that I had played a few times already) were auto-installed to the Media Area. And, sure enough, they were missing from my 'app drawer'. The above, plus this one - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.RefinedGames.CrossCourtFree&feature=search_result

It's a bug with Motorola's BLAH UI and / or with the way they made the SDCard-Ext partition be the real SDCard, instead of naming the internal storage something like SCard-Int.

This reminds me of the transition a lot of app developers had to make when Vista x64 started gaining prominence - b/c a lot of older apps were hard coded to look for settings files in the installation directory, namely C:\Program Files - however, on x64 machines, the default location for installation of 32 bit apps became C:\Program Files (X86) - which initially screwed a lot of apps up until the developers were able to go back and remove the hard coding in the programing so it looked in the same folder where the app was launched from.

Again, like I said before - I have not moved a single app to the Media Area. And yet there are 3 apps there that automatically installed themselves to that area.

 

[Groid]

I don't know if Google or Motorola screwed this up or both. On our original droids if an app was intended to install on the sdcard, it went to the sdcard. Now, since this 'Media', internal memory, sdcard naming is going on, an app will still install to sdcard, but now sdcard means the internal memory 'Media' area. We really want it to go to sdcard-ext. How could they mess up this badly? I suppose app developers will have to change their apps to install to sdcard-ext, if we still can install there. Or just make everything install to the generous amount of space where they normally install. It would be hard to fill almost 4Gb with apps.

 

[Lars]

Sounds like the same issues as HTC had on their WM phones where the SD cards would unmount themselves or not remount fast enough after waking from sleep. You can notice the same effect if you have a ringtone on the SD card and the phone has to use a generic tone if it rings when you have the SD card mounted to a PC.

 

[almahix]

I posted earlier that I had 2 apps that would spontaneously disappear (easily "undeleted" by TiBu). Turns out both apparently were in "media" rather than on the phone. I didn't do anything to move them there so I can't explain it. I moved the 2 apps to the phone so hopefully they wont get "deleted" anymore.

 

[tehsusenoh]

Again, like I said before - I have not moved a single app to the Media Area. And yet there are 3 apps there that automatically installed themselves to that area.

In addition to that, make sure that every now and then you check the list to see that every app is in the app storage area, not the media area.

 

[maxamilian]

Hi i will give you eorld class service today. First i want to appologize for any inconvience this may have caused you. First in need you to break your expensive two piece cover trying to get your back cover off. Next i want you to remove your battery. To do this on the bionic you eill need to place 2 x4 inder the battery corner to pry it up. Now your problem is fixed........no??? Im dorry for the inconvienence. I tell everyone to remove the battery but it never works. Next you will have to do a factory reset so you can loose all your customization and so you can take 3 hours recreating this. Now your phone is fixed.....no....let me transfer you so we can start the process all over again....however you. Will have to get a land line so we can further fix your phone.

Havd i solved your problem today.

Sorry im just having fun at what we all go through with vzw.

 

[HotDawg]

In addition to that, make sure that every now and then you check the list to see that every app is in the app storage area, not the media area.

This may be my only choice right now. I've been careful for about the last week to make sure there are no apps in the media area, but they may be populating it on their own.

IT'S ALIVE!!!

 

[Pushwall]

This may be my only choice right now. I've been careful for about the last week to make sure there are no apps in the media area, but they may be populating it on their own.

IT'S ALIVE!!!

That's funny!

I've noticed that the Bionic seems to unfix some of my fixes when I reboot the phone. I'll move things out of the media area and then they reappear. Definitely a very annoying bug!

 

[thetingster]

This may be related to this whole problem, I'm not sure. I had an app with a short cut on the home screen. I clicked the short cut the other day and it said "app not installed". I looked in the app drawer and this app was not there. After messing with things a bit the app short cut worked and it showed back up in the app drawer. This app was the Miriam-Webster Dictionary which installs about 19MB of data to internal storage.

I wonder if this problem has something to do with the internal storage being treated as an SDCARD. This is the only app I've had this problem with so I also wonder if it's related to the larger amount of data.

 

[HotDawg]

This may be related to this whole problem, I'm not sure. I had an app with a short cut on the home screen. I clicked the short cut the other day and it said "app not installed". I looked in the app drawer and this app was not there. After messing with things a bit the app short cut worked and it showed back up in the app drawer. This app was the Miriam-Webster Dictionary which installs about 19MB of data to internal storage.

I wonder if this problem has something to do with the internal storage being treated as an SDCARD. This is the only app I've had this problem with so I also wonder if it's related to the larger amount of data.

Yes tingster, that's part of the same issue. I even had one I deleted show back up.

 

[PetiePal]

I see a ton in the "Media Area." How do I make sure they go to internal instead?

 

[Groid]

I see a ton in the "Media Area." How do I make sure they go to internal instead?

I think you are ok unless they are checked. If they are checked, they are in Media (and subject to being lost). If you uncheck them, they will move to the /data/app area where non apps2sd normally go. I think the reason they are listed under Media is that you can move them there by checking the box, but don't do that.

 

[PetiePal]

Ahh yeah some were checked let me see if I can move those.

 

[thetingster]

I have found some apps checked and others are not. Don't know how why that happens. So what is the difference between, "media area" and "internal storage"?

 

[PetiePal]

I have found some apps checked and others are not. Don't know how why that happens. So what is the difference between, "media area" and "internal storage"?

Media is stuff stored basically on the SD card. Some apps in the latest versions of Android are coded to use the MicroSD storage to keep internal use down. (Almost not even needed with upwards of 8+ GB these days) When you plug into a PC charging USB connection the MicroSD by default disables so you can access it etc. I think the disconnect and the "rescan" the phone does for apps and their install integrity may screw around with the app and you end up with a "broken link" of sorts where the app data may exist on the microsd, but the actual link does not.

 

[Groid]

I have found some apps checked and others are not. Don't know how why that happens. So what is the difference between, "media area" and "internal storage"?

This is a confusing topic. Downloaded apps install by default to /data/app while system apps are in /system/app. If a developer has added apps2sd capability, it used to install to the microsd card, formerly called sdcard by the system. Now sdcard refers to the 'internal memory' area known also as 'Media'. This memory is subject to having apps disappear on reboots and apparently on other processes. Any apps listed in the Media area of Manage Applications are available to be installed in Media, but only the ones with a check mark actually are installed there. Touch an unchecked box and you can move the app to Media. Touch a checked box and you can 'Move to Phone' where it will move to /data/app where it won't disappear.

I moved an app to Media and connected my phone to my pc and looked in the 'MOT' drive (yet another name for Media, internal memory, sdcard) and sure enough, in the .android_secure folder, there is the app. This folder is hidden from even Root Explorer, but visible on a pc that shows hidden files and folders. Remember .android_secure on the microsdcard from our original droids? That is where apps2sd installed things. But now that path is sdcard-ext preventing it from going to the microsd. I then touched the checked item in Media and chose 'Move to Phone' and now it is back in /data/app where it won't get deleted. Looking at my 'MOT' drive from the pc, .android_secure is now empty.

 

[kathy2343]

Thank you for this thread! I'd sort of figured out the internal/external "SDCard" thing, but this confirmed it.

Thanks especially for explaining the Media area; I'd noticed apps didn't disappear if I didn't move them to the "SDCard," but this helped explain why.

Hoping for a fix soon...and maybe some more intelligible naming. I expect bugs with a first-day phone, but some of this should have been discovered in pretty basic testing, KWIM?

 

[kathy2343]

P.S. I moved all my apps out of Media, thanks to this thread. But there are several com apps there I didn't put into Media in the first place, so I left them. Sound okay?

 

[HotDawg]

Kathy - I've moved all of mine out and haven't had any more issues. It certainly won't damage anything to leave them there, but if funky things start happening, I'd move them all.

 

[oaklane]

So then what goes in the media area?

 

[amageus]

So then what goes in the media area?

Media is supposed to be their answer for App2SD but I too had problems with it. I haven't used it since and don't have an issue with it. Not sure who still uses media as it never worked for me. But with the amount of gb we have reserved just for apps I see no need to move apps to the sd card.