“I swear it’s there,” I explained. “I’m looking on my phone and on the computer’s web browser. I see the app. Click the Install button.”

My insistence was pointless. No matter how I tried, my friend just couldn’t see the app. It was frustrating.

“Are you logged into your Google account?”

Of course, he was. The link didn’t work. I was frustrated, but he was the one who found the solution.

After a brief search, he responded that the app had been pulled from the Google Play Store. It was no longer available. That is, unless you already had the app. In that case, from your perspective, the app still showed up, not only in the Play Store app on your Android, but when you visit the Google Play Store on the Internet.

Specifically, the app is Google Finance, which I recommend as a good free app in most of my Android books. That app has been pulled from the Play Store. The problem? I’ve already installed the app on my phone. So from my perspective, the app is still available to my account and I can download it at will.

If you have the same app, then you can easily find it at the Play Store. You’ll see it listed under the All category when you examine your apps. No one else can.

When Google eliminates an app, it lingers on devices owned by people who formerly had the app. That’s why I could still install and use the original Flappy Bird after the developer pulled it from the Play Store. I could even install it on my new tablet, simply because I already had a copy on my phone.

My guess with Google Finance is that Google will eventually stop providing the data the app uses. That’s happened before; Google once offered XML data to anyone who wanted to look up stock prices. The old Wambooli Stock Index worked that way. Then Google stopped offering the service. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the ultimate fate of the old Google Finance app.

As a replacement, I can suggest Yahoo Finance. Here’s the Play Store link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yahoo.mobile.client.android.finance

As with Google Finance, Yahoo Finance is connected to your Yahoo account. You can sign up and keep track of stocks and portfolios, if that’s your bag. You just can’t do the same thing by using the Google Finance app unless you already have the app.