androidreact-nativereact-native-permissions

Are we able to read the cache files of other apps?


I am creating a cache cleaning android application in react-native and I'm able to delete the other apps cache. Is that possible to clear the cache of others apps. Please help me. I have created all the other logics to get the caches of other apps installed in the android device.

Thanks

write a logic to delete all the cache

@ReactMethod
fun clearAllCache(promise: Promise) {
    try {
        var deletedFilesCount = 0
        val context = reactApplicationContext

        // Clear internal cache
        deletedFilesCount += clearCacheFolder(context.cacheDir, System.currentTimeMillis())

        // Clear external cache if available
        if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.FROYO) {
            deletedFilesCount += clearCacheFolder(getExternalCacheDir(context), System.currentTimeMillis())
        }

        promise.resolve("Deleted cache files count: $deletedFilesCount")
    } catch (e: Exception) {
        promise.reject("Error", e)
    }
}

private fun getExternalCacheDir(context: Context): File? {
    return context.externalCacheDir
}

private fun clearCacheFolder(dir: File?, curTime: Long): Int {
    var deletedFiles = 0
    if (dir != null && dir.isDirectory) {
        val children = dir.listFiles()
        if (children != null) {
            for (child in children) {
                if (child.isFile && child.delete()) {
                    deletedFiles++
                } else if (child.isDirectory) {
                    deletedFiles += clearCacheFolder(child, curTime) // Clear subdirectories
                }
            }
        }
        if (dir.delete()) { // Delete directory itself if empty
            deletedFiles++
        }
    }
    return deletedFiles
}

Solution

  • If you're developing an app for a rooted Android device, you might be able to access and delete other apps' cache by executing commands with root privileges (such as rm commands) or by directly accessing the /data directory where cache files of all apps are stored.

    fun clearOtherAppCache(packageName: String): Boolean {
        val runtime = Runtime.getRuntime()
        return try {
            val process = runtime.exec("su -c rm -rf /data/data/$packageName/cache")
            process.waitFor()
            process.exitValue() == 0
        } catch (e: Exception) {
            e.printStackTrace()
            false
        }
    }
    

    However, this method requires root access, which means it will only work on rooted devices, and it's not recommended for production apps due to potential security risks and violation of Google Play Store policies.