ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[Peter Bittner <peter.bittner@xxxxxxx>]

David, thanks for the reply.

> We have a set of hooks to delete the cache and cookies when uninstalling
> webapps. By definition the cache and cookies are re-provisioned by the
> hosting service when re-installing and running the webapp.

What does "re-provisioned by the hosting service" intend mean? In the
end the re-installed webapp will just find the old state when it was
uninstalled last time. Doesn't that mean that a re-installed app won't
find a clean room where it's installed?

I know, sometimes it may be nice to re-install an app and find the old
settings and data already in place. And sometimes not. (It's a bit
like "when do I run `apt-get remove` and when `apt-get purge`. It's
largely a matter of personal taste.)

> As a suggestion, we could make that active for apps like Gmail or other
> Google apps which may run into problems when using multiple accounts.

I fear picking some apps almost randomly, because we know or suspect
them for being problem kids is not the optimal strategy. If a package
maintainer knows about issues, yes, it's their duty to safeguard
against that. But in general, what if I have problems with an app
(that has not been suspected for being a problem child before), how do
I fix the cache and/or configuration issues?

As an end user I would either expect that uninstalling and installing
again fixes issues of an app ("by magic"), or that there is some
cleanup mechanism that I (as a power user) can trigger (e.g. from some
App Settings or the System Settings). Or maybe both? I can't tell what
would be best for everyone.

Here is my suggestion:

- When you try to uninstall an app, and you click on the [ Uninstall ]
button in Applications, you're taken to a confirmation screen.
- On this confirmation screen place a checkbox (or the like) below the
[ Confirm ] button, labelled "Remove application data", unchecked by
default.
- There could be some additional small print explaining what this is
all about, either immediately or as soon as the checkbox is being
checked (preferred). There's plenty space on the confirmation page. At
least on the Aquaris E5.
- (In addition, I feel the [ Confirm ] button should say [ Uninstall ]
to make it more explicit what's going to happen.)

Does this sound good enough for a feature request that has chances to
be implemented?

I know this additional choice clutters the confirmation page a bit,
but ... it's for a good purpose.

Cheers, Peter