Is it possible that he used Google for D/L’ing his apps (ie VPN) b4 switching to SS? I was thinking Google and autupdating etc…That whole system played havoc with my Linux/Win/Android laptop.[ I had missing apps to on tthe Android 8.0 OS.
What is this about? Your missing apps is no proof Google is spying on you. Cmon Man!
The update wiped out x86 only version of apps and tried to update/replace them with ARM7 versions which were not allowed/compatible and failed the auto update process. Hence the icons disappeared as did the directories.
Drove me nuts for a week.