Question Reboot wrecked my home screen and apps

[Godfrey]

My battery went flat so I had to restart my phone (after charging it. My home screen has changed (and I cannot restore it from backup) and my apps have dissappeared. Further I cannot uninstall any apps (most of the google apps that I don't want).
Help.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Which phone? Were you using a 3rd party launcher (like Nova), or the stock launcher?

 

[Godfrey]

I have a Samsung A32. I use the stock launcher (as far as I know).

 

[B. Diddy]

Did you somehow turn on Easy Mode? https://www.samsung.com/au/support/...Zlx2_gtgcYq7E1oj6uF8-GKjnh0J8tzbXVAd6qZUVj6BD

Can you show us a screenshot of your homescreen?

 

[Godfrey]

Did you somehow turn on Easy Mode? https://www.samsung.com/au/support/...Zlx2_gtgcYq7E1oj6uF8-GKjnh0J8tzbXVAd6qZUVj6BD

Can you show us a screenshot of your homescreen?

Easy mode was (and is) disabled. Here is the screenshot.

 

[B. Diddy]

When you say your apps have disappeared, do you mean just from the homescreen? Do you see them if you bring up the App Drawer?

Which Google apps are you trying to get rid of? Some Google apps are considered essential to the system and can't be uninstalled, while others can only be Disabled (in the Settings>Apps menu).

 

[Godfrey]

When you say your apps have disappeared, do you mean just from the homescreen? Do you see them if you bring up the App Drawer?

Which Google apps are you trying to get rid of? Some Google apps are considered essential to the system and can't be uninstalled, while others can only be Disabled (in the Settings>Apps menu).

My home screen lost about 6 apps.
If I scroll down (is that what you mean by the app drawer?) I see some but not all of the apps I want and a lot of apps I don't. Examples that I cannot uninstall include Thunderbird (which I tried to install and don't want), Email, Facebook, Messages (blue inside bubble.
Then there are apps which I cannot see but I can open by going to play store, searching for them, they show as installed, and I click open.
What on earth is going on?
Thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

You bring up your App Drawer by swiping up on the homescreen. Review this: https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/mobile-devices/navigating-galaxy-smartphones/. Since it sounds like you're not very familiar with how Android devices work, it's worth looking through the other parts of that link.

You should be able to uninstall Thunderbird, but not Email and Messages (which are presumably Samsung's own stock apps). Facebook can probably be uninstalled, but if it was preinstalled by the carrier, sometimes they only let you Disable it.

When you bring up the App Drawer, long-press any of those apps. If you see an Uninstall option, then you can uninstall it. If you only see Disable, then you can't completely remove it from the device, but at least you can prevent it from opening or updating.

 

[Godfrey]

You bring up your App Drawer by swiping up on the homescreen. Review this: https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/mobile-devices/navigating-galaxy-smartphones/. Since it sounds like you're not very familiar with how Android devices work, it's worth looking through the other parts of that link.

You should be able to uninstall Thunderbird, but not Email and Messages (which are presumably Samsung's own stock apps). Facebook can probably be uninstalled, but if it was preinstalled by the carrier, sometimes they only let you Disable it.

When you bring up the App Drawer, long-press any of those apps. If you see an Uninstall option, then you can uninstall it. If you only see Disable, then you can't completely remove it from the device, but at least you can prevent it from opening or updating.

I found the app drawer - it is what I said.
When I long click on most apps the only popup I see is "App Info, nothing else.
When I long click Thunderbird I see Widgets and App info - nothing else.
Nothing shows me Disable or Uninstall.
You have not answered why I have installed apps (which I want) which do not appear in the app drawer.
What will I lose if I reset the phone to original factory settings?
Thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

What about if you go to the system settings menu, then Apps? If you select Thunderbird there, what options do you see?

I have not answered your question yet because I have not yet determined the underlying issue based on the information you've given so far.

Have you already tried rebooting the phone? Can you confirm that you're logged into the phone with your primary Google account, and not some secondary account?

 

[Godfrey]

What about if you go to the system settings menu, then Apps? If you select Thunderbird there, what options do you see?

I have not answered your question yet because I have not yet determined the underlying issue based on the information you've given so far.

Have you already tried rebooting the phone? Can you confirm that you're logged into the phone with your primary Google account, and not some secondary account?

At least some of my installed apps do not appear in the app drawer, so I cannot move them to my home screen.
I never used to have these problems. It seems that Android has done a radical redesign (e.g. app drawer instead of app screens) that has just messed everything up. What am I missing?

Thanks

I can (and have uninstalled Thunderbird from the Settings/Apps menu

I have had to post my reply in parts as Android thought it was spam
I have rebooted my phone. I still cannot uninstall apps from the app drawer.

How do I see how I am logged into Google?

When I long clicked on a non Samsung app, I did not see Uninstall

 

[B. Diddy]

I merged your recent posts together. Since you're a new member, the forum software tends to be less forgiving about things like posting several messages in close succession, since that can be seen with spammers.

There has been no radical redesign. Android has always had an App Drawer (which distinguished it from iOS, where every single app on the phone had to be on the homescreens). But many launchers do have an option to show every app on the homescreens (and therefore eliminate the App Drawer) -- here are the steps on a Samsung phone: https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS10001342/. See what happens if you do that -- do all of your apps show up on the homescreen again?

You can see which accounts you're logged into by opening your system settings, then Accounts, then Manage Accounts.

 

[Godfrey]

I merged your recent posts together. Since you're a new member, the forum software tends to be less forgiving about things like posting several messages in close succession, since that can be seen with spammers.

There has been no radical redesign. Android has always had an App Drawer (which distinguished it from iOS, where every single app on the phone had to be on the homescreens). But many launchers do have an option to show every app on the homescreens (and therefore eliminate the App Drawer) -- here are the steps on a Samsung phone: https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS10001342/. See what happens if you do that -- do all of your apps show up on the homescreen again?

You can see which accounts you're logged into by opening your system settings, then Accounts, then Manage Accounts.

I opened the link and clicked it. It took me to "Access and organize the apps on your Galaxy phone", and I then clicked "Show all apps on your Home screen". It told me to go to Settings/Home screen. There is no Home Screen shown under Settings on my phone.
I verified I am logged into my normal Google Account.
This is getting very frustrating. Is there a better way to troubleshoot this problem? Might I have inadvertently installed a bandit launcher?

 

[B. Diddy]

To get to the Home Screen settings, you can also long-press any empty part of your homescreen, then tap Settings, then look for Home Screen Layout.

You can also search for any setting in the system settings. When you bring up the system settings, look for the search bar and type "Home Screen."

 

[Godfrey]

Thanks Diddy
I am still getting nowhere.
It just feels as if my phone has been hijacked by malware.

 

[B. Diddy]

Malware is highly unlikely. It would make no sense for malware to cause such disruption in a device, since malware is usually meant to hide in the background and do malicious things like steal data.

Can you show us a screenshot of what happens when you long-press any empty part of the homescreen? Also, show us what comes up when you search for "Home Screen" in the system settings search bar.

I'm a little hesitant to suggest the following, since it's a bit more advanced, but it's always worth a try when things seem to malfunction on a phone -- you could try wiping the system cache partition, which won't affect your account or data. Follow the steps here, and make sure to select Wipe Cache Partition (and NOT Wipe Data): https://www.hardreset.info/devices/samsung/samsung-galaxy-a32-5g/recovery-mode/