App order lost after restart

[Papabear73]

Whenever the device restarts, the order goes to some weird order my main apps at the end. I then set them up the way I like them and then, after a restart, they go back to the strange order. I found this reported by someone else, too, but the topic was closed without any answer. I have an external SSD connected via a hub. I use an Ethernet cable via the same hub.

I use this configuration for almost two years, but this problem started in the past few months.

Does anyone have the same problem? Can anyone help, please? 

[eorent]

Yes, I talked about this in another thread. Similar configuration (external storage) and similar timing.  It's quite annoying.

[JenniferV]

Hi folks,

Thanks for reaching out. Could you please plug in the Chromecast with Google TV (4K) directly to the TV and not use the hub and external SSD, then rearrange the apps? After that, restart it then test. Check if you'll be encountering the same issue. 

Regards,

Jennifer

[eorent]

Well, since the apps are installed on the external SSD, when you restart none of them appear installed.  So that really doesn't work.  

One thing that I have noticed is that even with the hub/SSD attached, if I restart, there is no app bar, either on the normal home screen or in the app tab.  Until you open up one of the apps, then the app bars come back.  Also, I have noticed that I get the message about the external storage being recognized at least a minute after the restart.  I'm thinking that maybe since it can't see the apps stored on the SSD after restart, it doesn't create the app bar.  And when it does it just creates it with this random order.  I'm pretty certain that the SSD reconnected much faster prior to the last major update we recently received.

[Papabear73]

Thank you for your response. I am not really sure if I understand the point. Removing the SSD would remove the availability of the apps. I will try it, but I do not expect the apps on the SSD appear at all, therefore the order would not be the same. Will get back to you soon. 

[Jeran]

Thank you for helping out on this thread, Jennifer!

Hey there Papabear73,

I'm just checking up on this thread, were you able to give Jennifer's troubleshooting a try?

Best regards,
Jeran

[Papabear73]

Hi Jeran, 

Thank you for the response. Can you please help me understand how do we precisely expect the order of the apps not to be changed if we literally remove some of the apps? 

Will get back with the results soon

[Jeran]

Hey there Papabear73,

No problem at all! The Chromecast with Google TV UI is supposed to have saved data to remember the ordering of your applications. However, it may be the case that adding an external storage is somehow messing with the Chromecast's usual way of handling app ordering by putting all of the SSD applications ahead of the native applications. Technically, side-loading applications onto the Chromecast with Google TV is not intended, so it may have unexpected results.

I look forward to your response, and if you have any other questions or concerns for me, please let me know.

Best regards,
Jeran

[Jeran]

Hey there Papabear73,

Do you have any more questions that we can address? 

Thank you,
Jeran

[Jeran]

Hey Papabear73,

Do you have any more questions? If not, I'll go ahead and lock up this thread in 24 hours.

Just checking up,
Jeran

[Papabear73]

Please don't close it. Apparently people have problems here which remained unsolved. 

[Papabear73]

I just made a test right now. Removing the drive removed most of the apps. By re-connecting it added them back to the end of the app list. So, the original app order is gone. 

[Jeran]

Hey there Papabear73,

Just to double-check, were the apps that disappeared the same ones that were installed on the drive you removed? If so, it would make sense for the icons to disappear when the drive is disconnected and reappear when the drive is connected. Once again, side-loading applications is not approved by Google, and the functionality of the apps being reordered when you reinstall the drive would be unlikely to change in this case. If this is something you'd like to see change in the future, please feel free to submit feedback via Google TV.

Best regards,

Jeran

[Papabear73]

Dear Jeran,

I have made another series of tests in the past few days. Again, my Chromecast with Google TV has not enough memory, therefore I attached an external (SSD) drive. Using applications installed on this external drive is not side-loading (as far as I know), is it? 

So, I experience the loss of the app order, almost every time I restart Chromecast.

Can you please help me to clarify if installing an app to an external drive is something that is approved by Google? 

If it is, why do you think it cannot store the original order? I really spent a lot of time in the past few days rearranging applications. It would be nice to attach screenshots here. 

Thank you for your help.

[Jeran]

Hey there everyone,

Does anyone have any more questions that we can address? 

Thank you,
Jeran

[Jeran]

Hey everyone,

Does anyone have anything I can help with? If not, I'll go ahead and lock up this thread in 24 hours.

Just checking up,
Jeran

[eorent]

Not unless someone tells us this is being looked at. It's a real issue.

[Jeran]

Hey there eorent,

Were you able to submit feedback via Google TV regarding this?

Best regards,

Jeran

[Jeran]

Hey there eorent,

I'm just checking up again, did you have a chance to submit feedback to Google?

Thank you,
Jeran

[eorent]

Honestly, I can't remember if I did or did not.  This has been going on for a while.

[Jeran]

Hey there eorent,

No problem at all! Submitting feedback is the best way to pass along information to Google officially. In the event that your device is also throwing any errors, those device logs are also sent to the Chromecast engineering team to look over. If you have the time, it only takes a minute to do so, and it's very helpful.

Best regards,

Jeran

[Jeran]

Hey there everyone,

Does you have any more questions that I can address?

Thank you,
Jeran

[Jeran]

Hey everyone,

Does anyone have any more questions? If not, I'll go ahead and lock up this thread in 24 hours.

Just checking up,
Jeran

[Papabear73]

I still do not see any solutions for the lost app order. Why the rush to close?

[lightrush]

Extraordinarily annoying and likely easy to fix by the Google TV launcher team as this is handled by the launcher on mobile Android devices by greying out those apps instead of removing them outright.