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Apps disappearing, background changed and can't reach Google Play

hakataramea

New Member
Hi. I have a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. One month ago it got some problems, I think all at the same time. Is it malware or something else?

1) Before my background was blue. Now it is black. But I am not really sure about this point, I could remember wrong. I also got an analog watch showing when the phone is locked. Never seen it before (for sure).

2) Above my camera icon I had my photos (showing the last one taken). I could tap it and access them, or swipe through them. Now I only have my photo icon. To access my photos, I must now tap that icon (getting ready for a photo), and then tap on the photos afterwards.

3) Several apps have disappeared. Colornote, Snapchat and more. Some are still there, though. However, I do find all all apps in Settings-Programmes. But I can not access them, only uninstall and clear caches (and more).

4) I can't access Google Play anymore. "Google Play Services has stopped", I am being told three times when I unlock my phone. I also got the message "Error: You haven't accessed the Google Play Store app on your device with this email account". Well, I know I have.

This is what I have done: Cleared cache and uninstalled updates in Google Play Services. I have also made sure I use the same Google account on my mobile and pc. Whatever account I try on my mobile, it does not work.

My new situation: I can't open several of my other apps, like Skype. It says I must update my Google Play Services (as said, I uninstalled the updates). I am offered to update it, and push "yes". Then I get a fail message, obviously because Google Play Services is not working. I also planned to download a malware/virus scan program (360 Security, adding to my AVG), but I can't use Google Play Store either. So I am kind of trapped in this problem.

My screen had a problem, that it loosened from the phone itself (I had it changed last year). This happened around the same time, or they rather started some time before. I have had my phone for repair, and they fixed the screen. I underrated my other problems, and should of course have asked about that too.

Do I need to factory reset everything? It would be nice to reach my apps first, like my written notes from Colornote. Could it be malware/virus, that may still be there after the factory reset? This is of course frustrating, and after reading and trying to fix it, I still have the problem. What do I do?? Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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Welcome to the forum.
Do you have sync set up on Colornote? If so they'll sync back when you resolve the issue keeping you from accessing the app.
As far as apps being there but not usable, it sounds as though they've been locked into a "secure folder" somehow. If you've got ant security or privacy apps installed I'd check there before a factory reset and at worst try deleting said app if need be. If malware is blocking things there's usually a spam message to go to wherever and pay whatever amount to get rid of your infection. If you're getting any type of message like that then yes you've been infected and a factory reset is your best solution. If you're not getting spammed I'm not sure what, other than an app locking things, is going on.
Hope that helps or at least others with more knowledge chime in as well.

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Do / Did you have an SD card in the phone before this all started? And if so, did you move any applications to the SD card, to free up internal storage?

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Thank you for replying. I don't have sync set up for Colornote. The security I have came with the phone (AVG, which is also "hidden"). And no, I have no spam message. Yes, I have an SD card, but I have never moved anything to it. By the way, if I go to Settings-Programmes-Colornote, I can't push/tap on "Move to SD-card". On Storage it says 24 kb data on SD card, 40 kb on cache, 392 kb on device and 2,92 MB on app on device.
 
Okay, I was just asking about the SD card, as I've seen / experienced similar issues when I had applications, wallpapers, etc, that either unmounted, came loose, failed, or something went wrong with the encryption (if it was enabled).

I wish I could offer more "in depth" troubleshooting tips, but by the sounds of it, either your OS is corrupted, or something else is really messing with your system.

If you're getting any type of message like that then yes you've been infected and a factory reset is your best solution. If you're not getting spammed I'm not sure what, other than an app locking things, is going on.
Hope that helps or at least others with more knowledge chime in as well.
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Mark has a valid point, at this point, your device is pretty much unusable. A full factory reset, or a factory reset with a reload of your phones Android firmware is probably the only sure fire way to get it back up and running.

Just remember, anything you have saved will be deleted when you do this. If you can get access to anything you don't want to loose, copy it to your SD card prior to the reset.

Good luck.


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