App version: F-Droid, probably 3.2, but may have been 3.1.1 (cannot remember when installed)
Android version: 11
Device model: T790Z (REVVL 5G)
Expected behaviour: data still exists upon re-install
Current behaviour: all data disappeared upon accidental deletion of app
First occurred: 2 hours ago
Steps to reproduce:
- Accidentally uninstalled via Google Play
- Re-installed via F-Droid (3.2)
- No data restored
- Restored 3 year old backup after panic
- Realized 3 year old backup was 3 years old and does not include many newly followed podcasts
- Uninstalled via F-Droid
- Re-installed via Google Play
- No data restored
- Uninstalled via Google Play
- Re-installed via F-Droid
- No data restored
- Banged head on desk in self loathing
- Uninstalled via F-Droid
- Installed version 3.1.1 just in case a directory misconnected
- No data restored
- Lost all hope
The Full Story:
Okay. So this is embarrassing, because I usually consider myself at least moderately tech-knowledgeable, but I’m at an impasse here, and could use some assistance. This may end up being more of a “ask android people” thing, and that’s fine, but Reddit apparently didn’t like my post, so I’m trying here in case someone knows. Anyways.
As part of my mission to begin de-googling my life, I use F-Droid to download apps on my phone whenever I can find one that I need that is available.
I had AntennaPod downloaded via F-Droid (R.I.P. Stitcher).
AntennaPod shows up on the google play app whenever I have to update the other apps on my phone.
Tonight, as I was going through things, I had a moment of sheer insanity and FORGOT that this is normal.
So I thought to myself “huh, why is AntennaPod on google? That’s weird. I don’t need it twice.” And I then uninstalled the app.
A few minutes later, I noticed that the AntennaPod logo was missing from the folder it was normally in, and that’s when I realized my error. Google Play had uninstalled the F-Droid app.
Easy fix, right? I re-installed it.
Except NOTHING CAME BACK WITH IT.
Dozens of followed podcasts, multiple podcasts with listening in progress and I have no idea what episode I was on. Something like a dozen episodes downloaded. All my data for this app. Gone.
I freaked out and started searching for the app’s metadata, and I cannot find it for the life of me. I have scoured the files app on my phone. I have connected my phone to my computer and scoured the directory from there. I cannot find this deleted information.
Every promising article I find that swears I can find deleted info is either about photos and documents, or tells me to re-install the app from the google play store (which I did TRY just as an experiment, but no dice. It was never saved from google play, so I gave that one <1% of actually being useful, but I still had to try), or wants me to pay money for some extremely shady recovery program.
Before anyone asks, no, I did not have it backed up. I have been putting it off. I am yelling at myself a lot. I’m too embarrassed to admit the last time I backed up my phone to my computer.
But I know these files have to be on my phone SOMEWHERE. Does anyone have any idea WHERE?
It has 60+ gb of internal storage available as well as an SD card with ~4GB available, so nothing should have been immediately overwritten. So then where the planned obsolescence did it GO?!