Apps not showing up on screen

[jrb363]

After the latest update my phone has gone crazy. (Lumia 950XL)

When it restarted my home screen tiles were different sizes and all over the place...not to mention over half were missing. This included Microsoft apps like Messenger, Excel, Outlook, etc and nearly all 3rd party apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, and (sadly) Shazam.

When I search under the start menu (swiping left) they're not there, even when I type in the name of the app.

When I go under Settings > Apps > Apps & features I can visibly see all of my apps, including those that no longer show on either the home screen or the 'start menu' (swiping left). It includes the space they're taking up and they're all on internal storage.

I don't believe this is a case of apps not working due to being un-optimized for the latest OS updates since the Wells Fargo and Amazon apps (long since abandoned) still show up and work.

What's crazy is for the apps on the store like Messaging which are on the Microsoft app store it will launch but I have to go to the store, look up the app and click 'Launch'. Yet, for this same app, I don't have the ability to move it to the local SD card or even uninstall the app. I'm stuck having to search for it in the store every-time in order to send a text message...it's ridiculous.

Also, I am unable to pin these apps to the home screen as that option is greyed out as well. I'm at a total loss here. I've tried turning it off/on, pulling the battery, removing the micro SD card...everything short of wiping the phone completely which I obviously don't want to do since I'd lose apps that still function but are pulled from the store. (like Shazam)

Sorry for the length, but I wanted to be as descriptive as possible with my problem. This issue has me very distraught as I wasn't wanting to look towards a new platform until 2020 or so but if I lose access to nearly all remaining 3rd party apps (not to mention freaking text messaging) I won't have a choice.

Thanks in advance!

 

[fin11]

I think you should hard reset your phone and install all apps fresh without restoring from backup, just login with your account. Contacts and messages will come back (may take a while though) if you have set messages to sync between devices. You should be able to reinstall your apps from Store - my library (you can check your library list before hard reseting to be sure). Make sure to backup whatsapp before reset first if you dont want to loose history in that app. If you cant reinstall Shazam (I dont have it in my library since it was installed on my phone when it was new) you can still download it from store here http://cdn.marketplacecontent.windo...93aa2d6ff37e?downloadname=Shazam-4.7.8.0.appx and save it. Just did this on my lumia 925 on WM10 AU and it worked. I've done a hard reset and fresh install twice on my Lumia 950XL after AU and after Creators Update. I know it takes a couple of hours reinstalling everything and setting your phone up fresh but its well worth it, your phone will run faster and smoother once everything is done. Also you shouldn't move your apps to SD card, I have no apps installed on my card, I dont even think you can move Microsofts system apps there, I dont have that option on my phone either.

 

[jrb363]

Wow, thank you so much for the link to Shazam, I had all but given up hope on having it again and was ready to bite the bullet and 'just deal with it'. I almost pulled the trigger on a Nexus 5X but seeing as how it'll stop receiving updates in a few months and we'll have support (sort of) until the end of 2019 I couldn't bring myself to do it.

More than anything I love how fluid the OS is and, to my eyes, the camera is one of the Top 10 available. I've taken nearly 10,000 photos with my camera phone over the past ~2 years I've owned it and nothing else compares...except the stupidly expensive Pixel 2 XL which will lose support around the same time as my trusty Lumia 950 XL.

I also looked at iPhone but they're even more stupidly expensive but at least Apple truly supports their devices. My wife was given an iPhone 6 by my sister-in-law and I was shocked to see it running the latest OS flawlessly.

I've saved the Shazam app and will try to complete the reset next weekend since it seems time intensive. May I PM you if I have any questions?

Thank you so much!