Why Do I Have This Phantom Apps Reappearing?

[Mykei00]

Recently I was clearing out apps I don't use anymore from my HTC One X and thought that after going through the simple uninstall process that'd be the end of dealing with the apps. To my surprise though, I keep getting these icons that list the apps by name but when I select them I get the message "app not installed". The only thing I can do with them is to uninstall them but they keep randomly coming back. I'm not sure what to do and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[VidJunky]

What are the apps?

Were they being used with any other app? Like a font app for a notepad app?

Where are they popping up? In your app drawer, in your app manager, notification bar?

Have you restarted the device since the uninstall? Have you restarted the device using the shutdown function, not the restart option?

Have restarted with fastboot off?

The reason I asked about which apps is because there could still be some portion of the app still present after the uninstall. This is rare but depending on which apps may be tied together not everything may have been unlinked. If they are popping up in your drawer, or manager it could be that they are not fully uninstalled until you restart. Restarting with fastboot on can sometimes cause this phantom effect also.

 

[Mykei00]

Here's a screenshot if that helps. As far as I can tell they aren't being used with any other apps, they only show up there in the drawer, and I've tried all 3 methods of shutdown after I uninstall them and seem to go away for a bit, but then return seemingly at random.

 

[VidJunky]

This is a different one... I have to say that I've not seen anything like this. What I would try would be to install one of them again and then uninstall it just to see if a second uninstall will stop the phantom. If not there are several uninstall apps at the PS, Uninstaller was one that I used and liked, then install the program and uninstall it with the app. It seems like the stock installer is missing something.

 

[wess580]

Are you rooted? If so maybe you saved them to your SD card delete them from your SD card then the problem will be solved ...this happened to me once felt silly once I figured it out

 

[Mykei00]

I'm not rooted, at the time I thought about doing it there wasn't a kit out for my version of Android. Also, unless I've really looked over my phone it doesn't have a SD card slot, which is what confuses me about the icon being just that.

 

[VidJunky]

Have you had any luck with getting rid of them?

Looking at your screenshot those aren't even the app names, those are the folder names that the apps would be in when installed on your root drive. Meanwhile, if you haven't been able to remove them I would try a File manager like, Astro, File Manager, or ES File Explorer, and see if you can't track down those folders and try removing them. Backout as far as you can on the root drive and navigate to one of the folders that is not your SD Card. On one device I had 4 folders I could see, with one being the SD Card. In one of those you should see a lot of folders named like the ones seen in your screenshot, com.xyz ect ect.