[Bug] Re-installing Fenix shows tabs from previous install

[jonalmeida]

Steps to reproduce

1. Have some tabs open (I'm unsure if the tabs are related; I see oauth ones for me).
2. Uninstall Fenix.
3. Go to the Play Store and install the latest version.
4. Open the app.

Expected behavior

• To see the onboarding screen and no new tabs existing.

Actual behavior

• There are two tabs (for myself) that I had open before uninstalling the app.

Device information

• Android device: Pixel 2
• Fenix version:

Nightly 190716 06:02 (Build #11970611)
📦: 4.0.0
🦎: 68.0-20190711090008

Tuesday 7/16@ 6:10 AM

Video 📹:

HQ

┆Issue is synchronized with this Jira Task

[jonalmeida]

The last frames of the gif seem to get stripped out, you can pause at the end on the HQ version linked above to see that there are two tabs opened.

[pocmo]

Looks like we didn't disable the app backup feature (AndroidManifest).

[colintheshots]

That's an interesting case. The user has already seen onboarding. They had tabs cached before deleting the app. This seems like a product question. Do we want them to restore an app backup or see an empty UI?

From a customer support perspective, it may seem easier to clear all data so any bugs disappear if a database gets corrupted. It's not unusual that a user will try erasing an app and reinstalling. Also, we'd need to demonstrate privacy of app backups, which probably isn't something provable.

Sometimes users return to try an app again. It may be worrisome to users to have data return as it meant uninstalling didn't remove all past browsing data.

I'd lean strongly towards the empty UI with onboarding and not keeping backups.

[kbrosnan]

Do we need to do anything to remove the data that has been uploaded for 1.0.x clients?

[jonalmeida]

Should the ticket stay open for QA testing as well?

[ix5]

This is a horrible "fix". It takes away agency for people who use Android's adb backup feature or expect to set up a new device with their app data restored using Google's backup+restore mechanism.

If users want to get a "fresh start", they should just "clear data" instead of uninstalling/reinstalling.

@colintheshots please reconsider. Please note that restoring app data after uninstalling/reinstalling is standard Android behaviour which you are breaking!

[yoasif]

@ix5 makes some good points here, imo.

Breaking this feature makes the app feel less like an Android app. Perhaps there could be a refresh feature instead to allow for a fresh start if app data has been restored?

[jonalmeida]

What you're asking for has already been done. This bug is fixed.

[yoasif]

@ix5 says that the actual behavior in your report is what he expects. They want the appdata restored after reinstallation.

@jonalmeida

[ix5]

As far as I can see and verify on-device, backing up Firefox Preview data is not possible.
See

fenix/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml

Line 23 in 6ee5932

android:allowBackup="false"

[jonalmeida]

@ix5 says that the actual behavior in your report is what he expects. They want the appdata restored after reinstallation.

My mistake.

This was intentional because Firefox Sync will cover/have this use case and conflicts with app backups. Please file a new issue with the feature request if you feel strongly otherwise.

[Amejia481]

QA team could you please help us to verify if this issue is reproducible on Android 11, we reopened this issue as we want to verify some new behavior changes on Android 11 for more info see #18373

[abodea]

Verified as fixed with Google Pixel 4 XL (Android 11).
Note that I tried with the following versions:

• Latest RC build (86.1.1)
• Latest Beta build (87.0.0b4)
• Nightly 3/10.**
  I've had like 3-5 tabs opened before each reinstall and every time I saw the onboarding.