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App installed, but no icon

kancamagus

Lurker
Apr 22, 2016
5
4
The Wahoo Fitness Tracker app has been working fine on my Galaxy S5 Active for a long time. Today I noticed the shortcut icon was missing from my desktop. I checked the App Drawer and it wasn't there either. I checked Settings->Application Manager->All and it isn't anywhere to be found.

I figured somehow it must have been uninstalled, so I go to Google Play to re-install it, but Play says it's already on my device. I try uninstalling and re-installing it using Play - it tells me I successfully installed it, but, again, it's nowhere on the device.

The weird part is when Play tells me it's installed, I'm able to click on the "Open" link and actually start and use the app normally, so apparently it is somewhere on my device after all, even though no shortcut or icon can be found. What's going on? How can I restore a shortcut to my desktop for this app?

Samsung model SM-G870A, Android version 5.1.1, locked to the ATT network.
 
This isn't a solution, but a workaround might be to put a widget on your desktop if widgets are available for that app.

Perhaps you could use something like Titanium Backup or Link2SD to uninstall it. Then you could reinstall it.
Thanks for the suggestions. No widget is available, and Link2SD doesn't see it on the device either. Strange!
 
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Are you using an alternate launcher like Nova Launcher? If you are perhaps you told it to hide the icon.

Some apps have the hide icon as an option. Have you checked the options in the app?

... Thom
I am indeed using Nova, and when I switch to TouchWiz the App shortcut magically reappears! So you got it! Thanks!

What I can't figure out is how Nova decided to hide this particular app. I'm not using Nova Prime, which I believe is the level that allows you to hide apps. When I check the Nova settings, it tells me I have to upgrade to Prime to hide apps.

And the Wahoo Fitness Tracker app doesn't seem to have a "hide icon" option, at least not one I can see. But obviously something told either the app or Nova to hide the icon. Confusing.
 
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Mystery solved, and of course it was User Error all along. In fact, electricpete had it exactly right. The app was actually listed under "F" for Fitness, and I was looking under "W". I could have sworn I checked and double-checked all the possibilities, but I somehow missed it, and it was there all along. Sorry for wasting everybody's time. Mea Culpa.
 
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