[miata54]

Hello:

First time poster and new Smartphone user,

Yes, there are numerous posts on Duplicate Icons, but a search on Google does not yield an answer to my situation.

My OS is Marshmallow 6.0. What I have are four duplicate icons on my MENU page, those being Google Play Store, File Manager, Gallery and Contacts. These are not on my homescreen. Just the MENU page. Can these be removed from the MENU page. and if so, how?

Thanks

[Rukbat]

What are you calling a menu page? The app drawer? Or one of the home pages? (You can have the same app in different folders on a home page.)

[miata54]

I am referencing the page, or window, that appears after tapping on the bottom row middle icon on the home screen (where the wallpaper is displayed) that has three dots over it and contains a square comprised of nine dots, that square being in a white circle. The page that comes up contains all the apps that is in the system. It is on this page that I have the four duplicate apps. I guess you refer to it as the App Drawer.

[Javier P]

Welcome to the forums. Yes, that's the app drawer. What phone do you have? What happens if you long press one of these duplicated icons? Can you post an screenshot with those duplicates?

[miata54]

Here you go. The only duplicate you can't see is the Play Store app. The others are seen below the top row of icons. The phone is an Alcatel A466BG Pixi Unite.

[Javier P]

Oh, I see what you mean. Those are not duplicated apps, that looks like the launcher 'app suggestions' feature to make, in theory, easier to access your most used apps.

Not sure about the stock launcher on Alcatel devices, but you could try this. Open the Google app - open the side menu (hamburger icon top left or swipe in from the left edge) - settings - scroll down and switch 'app suggestions' off.

Tell us how it goes.

[miata54]

Thanks Javier. I tried your suggestion, but in my Google App, there is no 'app suggestions' category. What is listed, in order, are these, under 'Settings':

Notifications
Accounts & Privacy
Search Region
Search Language
Voice
In Apps
Offline Search
Your Feed
Screen Search
Autocomplete
Video
About

I looked through each selection but could not find 'app suggestions'. A further query on Google Search on my PC brought up a host of other Android users who have complained about this problem with updates since 4.4. None of the solutions offered fixed the problem. It is not a critical issue to proper operation. Just an annoyance that it happens. Will just live with it.

Thanks

[chanchan05]

It's launcher dependent and not a feature on Android. For instance the Samsung launcher (TouchWiz) doesn't have that as far as I know.

One option you have if you can't turn it off is simply download a replacement launcher from the Play Store. One of the most recommended is Nova launcher (I use it too). It has thay feature, but I know for certain it can be turned off on Nova, since I turned it off.

[Rukbat]

Either that or try a different launcher. You're not limited to the one that came with the phone. Go to the Play Store, put launcher into the search box and start looking around at all the different launchers. (A lot of us here use the Nova Launcher.)
(Two minds, one thought.)

[Javier P]

Yeah, that's a launcher dependent option and I'm not sure if that can be disabled in the Alcatel stock one. Those instructions work in phones using the Google Now/Pixel launcher. As commented above, if you can't find that option in your launcher settings your better option is using a custom launcher and set the app drawer as you wish.

[miata54]

Thanks all. I'll give the Nova Launcher a try.

[Javier P]

Thanks all. I'll give the Nova Launcher a try.

I'm sure you won't regret it. Let us know if you need any help setting it up.

This is the Nova setting to enable/disable the app suggestions bar.