Where does Market app keep my list of installed apps?

[leftbrain99]

I have bounced around trying ROMs for weeks, but I have never lost the ability to see all my downloaded apps in the Android Market. But in the process of loading a new ROM today, I now only see Google Maps and ASTRO in my download folder. The other 58 or so are no longer listed. It's no problem as they were all free apps, and I loaded them all back using ASTRO to restore them, but I am wondering where the list is managed. I thought it was managed through my google account, but I am synced up and it still does not show them listed.

[droidfannd]

As far as I know, the only place the Market keeps a list is in the 'downloads' tab. If they're not there anymore...it may be that Market believes/thinks you've uninstalled them previously and aren't interested in them anymore.

[leftbrain99]

I'm looking for an actual location in the phone's file system or whether it is kept in my google account. So, where is the information pulled from when I click on the Downloads tab in the Market app?

[droidfannd]

It WOULD be helpful if there was a place in your Google Account settings where you could see a list of previously installed applications and send them back to your phone automatically...similar to how I can log into my Amazon.com account and re-send purchased books for my Kindle.

[zathus]

I have bounced around trying ROMs for weeks, but I have never lost the ability to see all my downloaded apps in the Android Market. But in the process of loading a new ROM today, I now only see Google Maps and ASTRO in my download folder. The other 58 or so are no longer listed. It's no problem as they were all free apps, and I loaded them all back using ASTRO to restore them, but I am wondering where the list is managed. I thought it was managed through my google account, but I am synced up and it still does not show them listed.

This might not be much help but I do know that the list of your apps is saved on the phone. if you install differnt roms ect but never clear the catch in the reboot image, the apps are all there listed in the downloaded section of the market. if you clear the catch, the list goes away. no clue were its stored though. but it is on the phone it self and not stored on a server or something

[leftbrain99]

I've cleared the cache many times while switching between ROMs and never lost my listing of downloaded apps before. I can usually load the new image, immediately pull up Market, click the Downloads tab, and see all 60 apps, though they are not yet reinstalled on the device. I can either reinstall them through the Market or recover them using the backup I made with ASTRO. Now, ASTRO is my only option, and Google doesn't see that I had downloaded those with my account.

[zathus]

interesting because the only time I loss the list of apps is when iIclear the catch

[leftbrain99]

But this is what I don't understand. If I were to swap phones, when I activate the new phone with my google account, all the apps I have downloaded would be synced up with that new device. So, clearing data or cache on a device should not make a difference. And even if Google thought I had intentionally uninstalled those apps, they would still be listed in the Downloads page, just not listed as installed.

[leftbrain99]

To follow up, I recovered cache from my last nandroid backup and it did not show any more than the two downloads in Market. I went further to completely recover that previous backup and it installed all the apps, but still only show the two downloads. Somehow I have affected how my google account is recording what apps I have stored. I just want to figure out how/why.

[droidfannd]

And even if Google thought I had intentionally uninstalled those apps, they would still be listed in the Downloads page, just not listed as installed.

I seem to recall that when I've uninstalled applications previously...they've remained in my 'downloads' list for a short period...but eventually they seem to go away.

EDIT: Looking at my 'downloads' list in the Market now...I am 100% certain there are plenty of applications I downloaded and tried/uninstalled that aren't currently listed.