Help [Moved apps to SD] Apps icon greyed out

[Hadron]

Hmm, I wonder whether it is something like a timing problem: the SD card mounting occurring slightly later or taking slightly longer than previously, with the result that the apps on it aren't available when the app drawer is being set up? Just speculating, but it reminds me of what happens if you move an app whose widget you use to sd: the widget works fine until you reboot, then fails, and that is because the SD card becomes available too late in the startup sequence.

I think you should report this to Samsung. It may not achieve much (Samsung are hardly unique in the industry in that their first instinct is to fob customers off rather than investigate and fix problems), but if it is something like that behind this that's the only way it will be fixed.

 

[Vu8128]

Hmm, I wonder whether it is something like a timing problem: the SD card mounting occurring slightly later or taking slightly longer than previously, with the result that the apps on it aren't available when the app drawer is being set up? Just speculating, but it reminds me of what happens if you move an app whose widget you use to sd: the widget works fine until you reboot, then fails, and that is because the SD card becomes available too late in the startup sequence.

I think you should report this to Samsung. It may not achieve much (Samsung are hardly unique in the industry in that their first instinct is to fob customers off rather than investigate and fix problems), but if it is something like that behind this that's the only way it will be fixed.

Actually i have reported to Samsung. They said it could be a bug in the latest update and will get the developer to look into it. Any solution will be in the form of firmware update. (For info, i just got an update less than 1 hour ago but the issue still persist).

Your theory makes sense though. Coz boot up takes a longer time for the system to access the icon. That could be the reason why my friend who is using Samsung sd card with higher speed didn't have this issue. Also why after start up has completed, i only need to change the home screen settings or the theme and the icons reappear.

I have complained to Samsung. I bought the phone from the store and is not bundled with my carrier so it might not do any good to report to them.

 

[marctronixx]

it doesn't hurt to reach out to your carrier.if you get OTA updates from them, they may very well be inserting some of their bloat into the firmware updates , causing your issues.

so at this point you'll have to live with the icons being grayed out or moving them back to main memory until the bug can be patched....

your call my friend...

 

[Vu8128]

it doesn't hurt to reach out to your carrier.if you get OTA updates from them, they may very well be inserting some of their bloat into the firmware updates , causing your issues.

so at this point you'll have to live with the icons being grayed out or moving them back to main memory until the bug can be patched....

your call my friend...

You got a point there. Guess no harm asking my carrier. Will do that. In the meantime just live with it...

 

[Collision Domain]

In regards to the 3rd party launcher, maybe try installing one to test to see if this happens with a 3rd party launcher. I use naval launcher and i dont have this issue. I also reverted back to using the stock launcher to test , and after a phone cache reset, i dont have the icon issue. This phone i have is a tmobile variant. Stock, and locked to tmobile.

Even though when you move an app to SD card, some dat still remains in internal memory and the app is not totally off the internal storage. If you are not at risk of low on board memory, perhaps give some serious thought to moving the apps back onto internal memory.

Other than a full factory reset and re-build of your apps, theres not much else you can do. I doubt the phone has any issues, but without being able to see your phone in person and fuss with it, its going to be a crap shoot over the internet on how to remedy.

I did a cursory search online and ive not found anyone about having an issue such as yours with a current model note 8 (or even a s8), or even any current phone, so this is not a wide spread issue and maybe something specific to you.

Oerhaps turning off battery saver mode and set the phone to performance to test. If you do this, clear phone cache and re-attempt.

I'm seeing the exact same behavior on my S8, 8.0 Oreo version, and have tried all suggestions mentioned here prior to finding this thread / forum.

 

[Vu8128]

I have more or less confirmed that it is due to the bug in the firmware and not due to sd card. Reason is 3 of my friends (one of them using samsung sd card) also encountered the same issue after latest update.

Guess have to wait for developer to remove the bug...

 

[Hadron]

"The developer" in this case is probably Samsung, though if everyone affected was on the same carrier it could be the carrier's fiddling with the update that is responsible.

You could try reporting the problem back to Samsung or your carrier.

 

[Vu8128]

"The developer" in this case is probably Samsung, though if everyone affected was on the same carrier it could be the carrier's fiddling with the update that is responsible.

You could try reporting the problem back to Samsung or your carrier.

I have actually reported to Samsung. The 4 of us are from different carriers, so i guess the bug is from Samsung.

 

[marctronixx]

If the bug was direct from Samsung it would affect every phone on every carrier.

I think the end carrier has stepped on the firmware to some point that has caused the issues.

I don’t have the issue and i have many apps on sd. I also use nova launcher. I am on tmobile. If this was a widespread issue it would have been noted here. I did some cursory search at xda and found no fruit.

 

[Vu8128]

If the bug was direct from Samsung it would affect every phone on every carrier.

I think the end carrier has stepped on the firmware to some point that has caused the issues.

I don’t have the issue and i have many apps on sd. I also use nova launcher. I am on tmobile. If this was a widespread issue it would have been noted here. I did some cursory search at xda and found no fruit.

Noted. If I remember correctly, firmware updates are different for different areas ie there are versions for europe, versions for asia etc. Could it be that only the asian version is affected? Just a theory...

 

[Collision Domain]

Noted. If I remember correctly, firmware updates are different for different areas ie there are versions for europe, versions for asia etc. Could it be that only the asian version is affected? Just a theory...

My phone is U.S. based and is not using TMobile as a carrier....so the issue is across at least 2 different carriers, 2 different geographies, and 2 different hardware types. I think it's based on a recent firmware update, it just started happening on my phone a week or so ago. I regularly move apps to the SD.

 

[marctronixx]

it doesn't matter where in the world any of us are, my main point is if it was a direct issue from samsung, ALL note's will have the same issue.

something is broken for sure , but not widespread it seems.

as mentioned I have a lot of daily use apps on SD card and i don't have any of the issues.

this is a minor issue to samsung and the carrier because the majority of people don't move apps to the card, but its encouraged that anyone with the issue should file a ticket with their carrier AND samsung. squeaky wheels gets the grease....

 

[Vu8128]

it doesn't matter where in the world any of us are, my main point is if it was a direct issue from samsung, ALL note's will have the same issue.

something is broken for sure , but not widespread it seems.

as mentioned I have a lot of daily use apps on SD card and i don't have any of the issues.

this is a minor issue to samsung and the carrier because the majority of people don't move apps to the card, but its encouraged that anyone with the issue should file a ticket with their carrier AND samsung. squeaky wheels gets the grease....

Looking at the latest development, i think this issue become more widespread if more people move their apps to the sd card.

 

[Hadron]

The issue seems to only be visible to people who move apps to SD. Many people do not do this, either because they choose not to (they have enough internal storage, and SD is both slower and less reliable) or because they just don't know about it (I think we'd all be surprised how many fall into that category. Just being a member of a forum like this means you are not a typical user).

The other question is what else it depends on. If it's something that's on the edge then many might be inside tolerances and only a few in the tail of the distribution are affected. Variations between cards or phones could be a factor.

But if the problem is common enough that we have multiple reports, appears with multiple carriers, and started after an update, those suggest that Samsung are the most likely source. It's conceivable that more than one carrier has messed things up in the same way, but since they also have large numbers of customers the argument of "why isn't everyone affected?" could still be made. And if it is a "tail of the distribution" effect then a single source is a simpler explanation than multiple carriers introducing the same problem, in all cases only in a fraction of devices.

Anyway, we can only observe the pattern an speculate - you'd need a professional (and I don't mean a backstreet repair shop) to analyse an affected device hands-on to diagnose the cause for sure.

 

[Vu8128]

The issue seems to only be visible to people who move apps to SD. Many people do not do this, either because they choose not to (they have enough internal storage, and SD is both slower and less reliable) or because they just don't know about it (I think we'd all be surprised how many fall into that category. Just being a member of a forum like this means you are not a typical user).

The other question is what else it depends on. If it's something that's on the edge then many might be inside tolerances and only a few in the tail of the distribution are affected. Variations between cards or phones could be a factor.

But if the problem is common enough that we have multiple reports, appears with multiple carriers, and started after an update, those suggest that Samsung are the most likely source. It's conceivable that more than one carrier has messed things up in the same way, but since they also have large numbers of customers the argument of "why isn't everyone affected?" could still be made. And if it is a "tail of the distribution" effect then a single source is a simpler explanation than multiple carriers introducing the same problem, in all cases only in a fraction of devices.

Anyway, we can only observe the pattern an speculate - you'd need a professional (and I don't mean a backstreet repair shop) to analyse an affected device hands-on to diagnose the cause for sure.

Well, i have advised my three friends to report the 'bug' to samsung. Hopefully, others who are facing this issue will also do the same. If there are enough people reporting this issue, then Samsung would definately have to look into this.

 

[marctronixx]

alright, all the best chaps. I hope you get this figured out.

 

[Vu8128]

alright, all the best chaps. I hope you get this figured out.

Thanks for the input/suggestions/feedback. Will post here if there are any new developments.

 

[L44]

Hi just created an account here to report the same thing has happened to my S7 since the latest update as well.
Plus I found an interesting additional clue......
When I click on the greyed out icons in my app menu, it opens the app. However, I started panicking when I clicked on an app folder that showed greyed out icons that gave the message "App not found" when clicked, as if it no longer existed on my phone. I checked Settings - Apps, and saw that that app wasn't even External - it was Internal! That confused me, because it looked like it was an SD card issue (and it still may be). So what was different about this app? Only thing I could tell was that it was in a folder on the Apps screen. So I moved it out of the folder onto the plain screen. Clicked it - it opened.

Now I'm an advanced user but have little idea what goes on in the programming side of things, but this seems like a related bug. And it sounds like it's an issue with the way the programming is done between the icon in the Apps menu screens and the referenced app.....

 

[Vu8128]

Hi just created an account here to report the same thing has happened to my S7 since the latest update as well.
Plus I found an interesting additional clue......
When I click on the greyed out icons in my app menu, it opens the app. However, I started panicking when I clicked on an app folder that showed greyed out icons that gave the message "App not found" when clicked, as if it no longer existed on my phone. I checked Settings - Apps, and saw that that app wasn't even External - it was Internal! That confused me, because it looked like it was an SD card issue (and it still may be). So what was different about this app? Only thing I could tell was that it was in a folder on the Apps screen. So I moved it out of the folder onto the plain screen. Clicked it - it opened.

Now I'm an advanced user but have little idea what goes on in the programming side of things, but this seems like a related bug. And it sounds like it's an issue with the way the programming is done between the icon in the Apps menu screens and the referenced app.....

Think that settles it then. It is a bug(s) in the latest firmware update and not hardware (phone or sd card) issue.

 

[Vu8128]

Got latest update today. Unfortunately, didn't solve the issue.

 

[L44]

Yeah same here. I'm off to report to Samsung.
What I don't like is that my SD card is already on the fritz (lots of (!) corrupted picture files) and I'm worried this is gonna put it over the edge. I've backed everything up but still, headache.

 

[Vu8128]

Yup. With more people reporting, hopefully samsung will look into the issue. .... ☹

Latest update. Icon missing issue settled. Restart phone. Wait for 3 minutes. Icons reappear. No idea what happened. But i made another report via samsung members app 2 days back.