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Help Preinstalled apps missing from app drawer (again)

L

lazymoon

Lurker
I know this issue has been raised before, but I'm going to raise it again, since it seems to be more widespread than earlier posts have indicated. I just bought up phone yesterday, and I'm pretty happy with it, except for one thing: several of the preinstalled apps that came with the phone are not visible in the app drawer. I can see them in Manage Apps, but they don't have icons in the regular App drawer. I'm not talking about widgets or system processes, I mean full blown apps that should be there but aren't. I've seen a couple of postings here and elsewhere mentioning the Voice Recorder, Voice Search, and Car apps, and sure enough, I have those same problems. But also missing are things like Flickr, Polaris Office, etc. I've tried disabling and re-enabling the invisible ones in Manage Apps, and I even did a factory reset (although I've only had the phone for 24 hours!), but they stubbornly refuse to show up in the app drawer. It's not just a glitch with one phone, because I bought two of them, one for me and one for my wife. Both have the same problem with exactly the same apps.

I've seen the suggestions in other threads for third party apps that can create shortcuts for these phantoms (Folder Organizer, etc.), and I guess I'll have to go that route. But I'm still baffled and annoyed that it should be necessary to find a workaround for this, and I don't understand why the OS thinks these are installed, but the UI can't see them. I was wondering if it had something to do with the fact that I bought the phone at Best Buy (they matched Amazon's price of 49 bucks for me) rather than directly from Verizon.

Don't want to beat a dead horse, but I'd really like to see a little more discussion of this, and to find out how many others have the same problem.

Thanks.
 
Maybe go on HTC's website and open a call with them. See what they say as to why they are not in the app drawer. You will be able to let us all know why then....;)

Actually for the voice commands you are asking for they are located in the Search App... Blue Square with the Google "G" on it? If you create a shortcut to that, it contains all the voice commands like record, search, send text, send e-mail, make call, etc... I make that one of the 4 dock shortcuts on my phone.

I also just checked and Flicker is not installed on my phone. I downloaded it from the Play Store and it shows up in my app drawer. I checked that Polaris Office and it does NOT show up in the Play Store when I do a search for it which tells me it is not yet compatible with the new Android OS?
 
Thanks for confirming it on your Verizon-bought phone, Jamala. I've contacted both HTC and Verizon; if I get anything useful I'll report it.

Yes, the Voice Search is incorporated into the general Google search, in the same way that the Voice Recorder is incorporated into the Notes app, but they are in fact separate apps with their own icons, and in other ICS phones where they appear in the app drawer it's possible to put direct shortcuts to them on a homescreen, thereby saving a few steps. Neither of those really matters to me much, but posters in other threads have complained about both of them. The real problem is with standalone apps like Polaris Office (which I was in fact hoping to use, at least until I find something I like better), since they are not accessible or launchable at all.
 
lazymoon said:
Thanks for confirming it on your Verizon-bought phone, Jamala. I've contacted both HTC and Verizon; if I get anything useful I'll report it.

Yes, the Voice Search is incorporated into the general Google search, in the same way that the Voice Recorder is incorporated into the Notes app, but they are in fact separate apps with their own icons, and in other ICS phones where they appear in the app drawer it's possible to put direct shortcuts to them on a homescreen, thereby saving a few steps. Neither of those really matters to me much, but posters in other threads have complained about both of them. The real problem is with standalone apps like Polaris Office (which I was in fact hoping to use, at least until I find something I like better), since they are not accessible or launchable at all.
Click to expand...

Ya, I see what you mean. If you go to all apps there is a separate app for each voice command. But they do not show up in the app drawer. I had the same issue with the clock app on my Inc2. I had to use a 3rd party "widgetsoid" app to create a shortcut to it. I can't find Polaris Office in the Play Store to even install it. Ya, let us know what you find out from HTC. Verizon Tech Support will be NO help. They will say... "It isn't on this phone in my hand either, so that's the way it's suppose to be"... That's what they said about the clock app on my Inc2 also...
 
So I see from browsing through the forums for other HTC phones that this is an HTC feature, not a bug. Or at least a deliberate design decision, although it's one that I find inexplicable. Apparently HTC deliberately hides a lot of apps as a matter of course when applying the Sense overlay. At any rate, I see lots of posts from owners of EVOs and Rezounds with the same comments about apps missing from the app drawer, including a few puzzled users who had no idea that Polaris Office or PDF Viewer was actually installed on their phones until they tapped on an Excel or PDF attachment in an email and the app magically opened. This kind of philosophy (making sure the document will open, but protecting the delicate user from exposure to the software and the system settings that do the job) seems more suited to Apple than Android, so I don't know what HTC was thinking here. It's not hard to bypass the Sense filter and create home screen icons with third-party apps like ES File Explorer (which I was probably going to install in any case), but I still find it a really odd decision on HTC's part.

My wife doesn't see what the big deal is, but I can't stand not having complete control over any device I own :). I thought about getting the GNex with plain vanilla ICS for precisely this reason, but the smaller size (4" is the sweet spot for me, personally) and better battery life on the Dinc pushed me in this direction. And apart from this (and a weaker wi-fi radio than I'd like), I really do love the phone.
 
Ya, there are ways around it, but I agree, you shouldn't have to. If there was another good option for a 4" device on Verizon's network I would maybe consider it, but there isn't. You can wait till there is a root option, but this time around I do not plan on rooting my phone. Like I mentioned widgetsoid is another one that will allow you to create shortcuts to the hidden apps.
 
For the record, here's what HTC support said:

"Thank you for contacting HTC. It not fun when applications are not displaying, and I would be happy to help with this matter. Some application on the phone open only when certain needs them, but I know some people need these applications without opening an attachment or downloading a file from a website. There are 3rd party applications in the play store that can help with creating icons or shortcuts to these applications. However, HTC does not support 3rd party application, but I have heard good things from other customer using AnyCut which can be downloaded from the play store. This application should be able to create these icons for you. I hope this information helps with getting these shortcuts you need. For any future questions or concerns about your device please feel free to contact us here at HTC Technical Support, and thank you for being an important part of the HTC community."

So they acknowledge that by design some apps open only when needed, while at the same time admitting that "some people" do in fact need access to these apps at other times as well. If that's the case, why hide them? Only the users who need them will go looking for them in the app drawer in any case; the others will just ignore them the way they ignore the Verizon bloatware.

Oh well. It's good to have confirmation that it's intentional, not a glitch in the Dinc. Plus I'm an important part of the HTC community, which gives me a warm fuzzy :).

P.S. You were 100% correct about Verizon support. Comically hopeless.
 
thanks for the update. I may download one or two of the mentioned 3rd party apps to see which I like best. As of right now I haven't needed to use one.
 
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