Android “remembers” shared preferences after complete app uninstall

Question

In my Android app I use a set of randomly generated file names to store some data. In order to ensure that the same set of file names are generated at app restart - and are

Answer 1

On (re)install, your app may be restoring files from Google auto-backup (via Google Drive). To disable this feature, you can explicitly set it to false in the manifest:

    ...
    
        ...
    

If you'd like more granular control over what is backed up/restored and what is not, you can include or exclude specific files from the backups.

See auto backup documentation: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/data/autobackup#EnablingAutoBackup

If you don't want to disable auto backups, but want to reinstall with a "clean slate" (for testing purposes), you can do one of the following:

• Clear app data after reinstall. This will wipe out files that were restored automatically on install
• Clear app data prior to uninstall, then force a new backup (so old one gets reset) by using this command: adb shell bmgr backupnow

See how to test backups documentation: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/data/testingbackup#TestingBackup