Homescreen Icons Disappear??

[geedoh]

Anyone else experiencing problems with the Homescreen shortcuts disappearing randomly??

I'll unlock my phone, only to find the homescreens (all 3 panels) completely blank. The only way to rectify the issue is a battery pull... nothing in particular seems to be initiating the problem.

That being said, I still LOVE my phone - and I'm a 4 year Blackberry convert! Thankfully, restarting the Droid doesn't take 10 minutes...!

 

[largeselection]

Did you actually do a battery pull? You don't have to actually pull the battery from the droid to reset it. You can just hold the power button and shut it down and that will reset it. I'm just curious because if you tried that and still found the only fix was to pull the battery that would be interesting.

To answer your question: This happened to me just yesterday. On one of my panes I had two icons missing. I replaced one and then I couldn't figure out which icon was missing from the other spot. Then it randomly came back (turns out it was the BW vibrate toggle widget). Similarly I also had the pure messenger widget vanish and then I tried adding it and it didn't return. So I tried adding it again, and then it appeared, but there were actually two instances of it on top of each other. As in I could see the next message through the message on top. When I long pressed on the widget and dragged it to the recycle bin, I still had one messenger widget remaining... Pretty bizarre.

 

[geedoh]

Thanks for the reply...yes, i actually removed the battery - must be my 4 years with Blackberry...that used to be the solution for everything!! I'll have to remember that it's unnecessary...

I haven't tried readding the icons when they disappear - it's a fairly uncommon issue, but it has happened a couple times. I'll try to pinpoint a couple possible causes...

 

[dagostin]

this happeend to me when using a home replacement app such as dxtop or home++. It may have happened once on the stock home. All I did was go to settings -> apps -> manage apps -> cilcked menu icon -> filter -> show all -> found whatever program and force closed it and it restored.

 

[Snipperdo17]

This happened to me and also had to do a battery pull..It was after I let my friend play with it I thought he messed something up lol

 

[drnetnow]

I have a Moto Droid for 2 months with about 125 apps installed. About once every 3rd day now my homescreen icons disappear entirely (I can access all the programs via the applications tab) and I regain them usually by power down/up (I've never tried removing the battery to help this out).
I have not installed a home replacement. Wondering if other people have seen this behavior and what fixes it? Perhaps a faulty app?

 

[jlgraham]

This happened to me after installing Android VNC. I was having trouble connecting the Application, and I've found that during the initial setup of the application, if the connection failed (within Android VNC), all my homescreens would be blank. Batterypull, and uninstalled.

 

[ikith]

This is NOT a blackberry! You are doing more hurt than help! Battery pulls are not required! Turning the phone off and on is what you need to do and a battery pull does nothing extra except hurt the phone so stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it!

 

[rip14]

This is NOT a blackberry! You are doing more hurt than help! Battery pulls are not required! Turning the phone off and on is what you need to do and a battery pull does nothing extra except hurt the phone so stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it!

Anyways.... Yes, that has happened to me 3 or 4 times. I do not have a homescreen replacement. A quick reboot always takes care of it.

Oh, ikithme.... Sometimes battery pulls ARE NECESSARY. My phone has locked up twice to the point where I had to pull the battery. Power button didn't work, nothing was responding.

 

[ikith]

Oh, ikithme.... Sometimes battery pulls ARE NECESSARY. My phone has locked up twice to the point where I had to pull the battery. Power button didn't work, nothing was responding.

Uh... Sometimes? Right probably the only time you need to pull the battery is when the phone is hard locked.

 

[drnetnow]

Still having this problem. There's a home-crashing app out there but I don't know which one. Found a helpful link - how to regain the home screen icons without rebooting.
thedroidgeek.com/2010/01/android-homescreen-icons-disappeared.html

 

[corydunbar]

try a homescreen replacement app like launcher+ or launcher2. those run as 3rd party apps. so, they probably won't have this issue.

 

[MedlongOne]

I had this same problem about a month ago. It would also totally lock up. I uninstalled Taskiller and I haven't had a problem since. If you have any type of task manager, get rid if it. You don't need it.

 

[corydunbar]

They're worth keeping to save battery.

 

[MedlongOne]

My battery life is a lot better since I uninstalled it.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

I had this same problem about a month ago. It would also totally lock up. I uninstalled Taskiller and I haven't had a problem since. If you have any type of task manager, get rid if it. You don't need it.

I've seen a lot of mixed results from task managers. Some people have horrible battery life after installing one, others seem to not be affected. Maybe the ones who have been experiencing battery issues are keeping the app running in the background?

Anyway, sorry if I'm taking this thread off topic. If I were you, I would go through and uninstall apps you feel may be the culprit and see if it helps. It might be a very painstaking process, but it's better than doing something such as a hard reset if you don't really need to.

 

[Dapke36]

This happens to me once or twice a week. The interesting thing is, I NEVER got it when using Home++, only stock android. Once in awhile just turning off/on the screen and unlocking would bring them back, but usually I had to power down the phone (no battery pull).

In my opinion battery pulls are only necessary if the phone is 100% locked. Not to restart the phone.

 

[primodroid]

Anyone else experiencing problems with the Homescreen shortcuts disappearing randomly??

I'll unlock my phone, only to find the homescreens (all 3 panels) completely blank. The only way to rectify the issue is a battery pull... nothing in particular seems to be initiating the problem.

That being said, I still LOVE my phone - and I'm a 4 year Blackberry convert! Thankfully, restarting the Droid doesn't take 10 minutes...!

This happens to me on occassion...but they always come back after 10-20 seconds. I never had to do a battery pull (yet) when they dissappear. Just wait next time it happens and they should reappear.

 

[Dapke36]

My battery life is a lot better since I uninstalled it.

Mine too. Haven't used a TK in a month, and my battery is lasting 30 min to an hour longer.

 

[bconley007]

when i bought my droid, the verizon sales person downloaded tasKiller and said i needed it to keep programs closed. i barely use it and havent noticed any difference in performance or battery usage