Un-hide Android Apps in the App Drawer

[Austin]

groovyPost reader, Mike, asks:

After I got my 1st smartphone, an htcWildfire S by T-mobile, last year Iwas, "Cleaning it up" a little andfollowed an article something likethis one that I just read, possibly toaccess a setting:

http://www.groovypost.com/howto/howto/access-hidden-menu-android-phone/

and hid the shortcuts in my appsdrawer to a couple of apps likeStocks, Voice Recorder, etc. I can'tremember how/what I did. I'd like toreverse it. I can see those apps inLauncher Pro's app drawer, but not inHTC Sense's. They're not listed inthe Personalize>>Add app to Homeeither, but are inApplications>>Manage>>All.

They're not disabled in SDK. Ichecked, and besides if they werethey'd be hidden in Launcher Pro also.

I am fairly computer literate and thusmight, alternately have done somethingin SDK...although I was brand new tosmartphones, I remember being nervous,but understood enough to follow thearticle.

I've spent a LOT of time trying tofind this, and just can't. I'd reallyappreciate any info/insight you mightoffer.

Thanks, Mike

[Austin]

Hi Mike. This problem is rather specific to certain Android phones and is determined by the UI that the phone is running. It seems both stock HTC and Samsung offer the ability to hide apps from being visible in the app drawer. There are also some custom launchers that allow it, such as Launcher Pro.

In the cases for for either of the stock launchers of those brands, the hide function can be found by opening the app drawer and then pressing the menu button. There should be an Edit option that lets you change whether or not an app is hidden, and provide a list of hidden apps.

If you are using Launcher Pro, it's slightly different. From the Homescreen (or app drawer) press the menu button and browse to:

Preferences > General Settings >Hidden Apps

You should be able to un-hide the apps from there. Screenshots can be found in this Launcher Pro support article.

Let me know if that solves your problem! Thanks Mike.