Help recover a "lost" app - Android

August 14, 2015 2:54 PM

Last night I tried to apply an update to the app "7 Little Words" and something went wrong. Now I don't have the app, and am having issues reinstalling it.

I have an HTC One Max, running android 4.4.2. I had downloaded and installed 7 Little Words using the Amazon App Store a couple years ago, and have applied updates whenever they seemed to pop up. Last night another update alert flashed, and started to run. There seemed to be issues with the download from the start as it would stop and retrigger a couple times, but ultimately it downloaded and ran.

Soon after I started getting alerts that a process associated with the Amazon App store kept stopping. I also noticed the icon for 7 Little Words was replaced by the Android Droid icon, so I rebooted my device. After the restart the 7 Little Words app was completely gone, and it was no longer listed in the device App Manager Settings screen. I went back to the Amazon App store to see if I could re-download, but the store "thinks" I have it installed and only presents an "open" button. Clicking it does nothing.

I then tried to download 7 Little Words from Google Play, to see if I could trick the install. It appears to download, but I get an "Incomplete Update" error and the installer terminates with nothing done and no app.

Solutions I've read say to clear the app cache, but since the app doesn't show up in the manager there's no cache to clear. I don't know where to look to clear out "bad" files, and there's no way to trick Amazon Store to think it's uninstalled. I really don't want to wipe and redo the phone, so any non-extreme solution is appreciated.

posted by jazon to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

In settings, go to either "applications" or "application manager" or similar (I am running 5.02). Scroll down the list in the downloaded tab until you come upon 7 Little Words (should be near the top as it starts with a number). Tap it once and another screen will open. Wait for that information/data to populate. There is a button there for clear cache, and I would try it, but I am not convinced it will help. I would go to the same page and uninstall then try to re-install from either Amazon or Google Play.
posted by AugustWest at 4:21 PM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks AugustWest, the issue is the app doesn't appear in Settings -> Applications, so there's no way to get to the clear cache button or to "uninstall". It's just... GONE!
posted by jazon at 6:17 PM on August 14, 2015

Do you know anyone else that has the game on an android device? IF they can save it as an apk file, you can side load it. I did that with a Grateful Dead streaming app that no longer is listed in the Google Play store. Especially if it is an older version of the game. I will have to look into what app I have that allows me to save apps as apk files. Could be an app that requires root, but not sure.

Also, read the reviews on Google Play. There could be an issue with the latest update. There may be info about your situation or at least others facing similar issue.
posted by AugustWest at 8:07 PM on August 14, 2015

Best answer: ultimately, I had to downgrade the Amazon App Store App, and through a bit of trickery where I would search for the app and the install button would appear, I was able to re-install 7 little words. Kind of weird, but I finally have it in place.
posted by jazon at 2:50 PM on September 14, 2015