I had the Play Store App on my Android running Jellybean. The icon still shows on my main screen, but I can't find it in my apps folder. When I tap the icon I get an App not installed error message. What happened to it, and how can I get it back? Apps don't download anymore. I get message that an app will be installed soon, but I am never able to find it.
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Can you find it in Settings→Apps→All? Could it be you've accidentally "disabled" it? Though in that case it would be strange it still appears on the "main screen", it's worth a look. If so, just "activate" it again.– Izzy ♦Aug 30, 2014 at 12:07
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Thank you, I tried that. It is only on the main screen. It worked at first, and I installed some apps, but now it no longer works and I get the message that the Play Store app is not installed. I don't know how that happened, but my Android is slower than I would expect a Quad Core to be, so maybe I was impatient and accidentally swiped it away without realizing it.– JaimeWJrAug 30, 2014 at 20:02
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That's unlikely. Playstore is installed as a system app, so without root access it cannot be really removed. However, you might have picked some malware which is interfering. You're sure it's not even listed in the app-list in settings – either in alphabetical order, or at the end of the list? Another place to check is whether some app made it into the device-manager (also in settings). If there's something in you wouldn't expect, that might be your culprit.– Izzy ♦Aug 30, 2014 at 20:06
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I appreciate your assistance. I can't find either of those in Settings. I suspect you are correct about the malware. I think I used to see Device Manager, but it isn't showing anymore either. I can use File Manager, but only for the internal SD card. What can I do?– JaimeWJrAug 31, 2014 at 4:27
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That sounds really strange: never heard about any malware being able to hide entries in settings! The only "remedy" I can think of is a complete factory-reset then. Though with the menu alteration I'm almost afraid that malware got root-access and might have made itself a system app, in which case a factory-reset wouldn't help; in that case, all that's left is to flash the system with a stock or custom ROM.– Izzy ♦Aug 31, 2014 at 11:32
3 Answers
Who is the manufacturer of your phone? If the phone comes with android per-installed and its a licensed one from Google, Play Store should be installed and working in it. In that case, you should contact Customer Care and get your phone flashed with the Stock ROM.
I had the same issue and it got solved by itself. Play Store was just updating itself to a newer version, so give it a couple of minutes, say 3-5 minutes.
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I don't know why this was downvoted (who ever did it couldn't be bothered to comment), because I just experienced the exact same thing and it was indeed caused by a Play Store update. I'm upvoting to balance out the downvote. Dec 10, 2021 at 15:38