why my ionic 3 apk installs old code

Question

I'm experiencing a very strange and annoying behaviour in ionic 3: after a build, signing the apk, uninstalling all version and install new version the app shows a mix of new code and all code (one page is like the old version and other page is in the new version).

config.xml

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<widget id="com.haicku.arias_contactos" version="1.4.0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/ns/widgets" xmlns:cdv="http://cordova.apache.org/ns/1.0">
    <name>Arias Contactos</name>
    <description>Contactos y chat para l@s emplead@s de Arias</description>
    <author email="jgp@sens2web.es" href="http://haicku.es/">Javier García</author>
    <content src="index.html" />
    <access origin="*" />
    <allow-intent href="http://*/*" />
    <allow-intent href="https://*/*" />
    <allow-intent href="tel:*" />
    <allow-intent href="sms:*" />
    <allow-intent href="mailto:*" launch-external="true" />
    <allow-intent href="lifesize:*" launch-external="true" />
    <preference name="ScrollEnabled" value="false" />
    <preference name="android-minSdkVersion" value="16" />
    <preference name="BackupWebStorage" value="none" />
    <preference name="SplashMaintainAspectRatio" value="true" />
    <preference name="FadeSplashScreenDuration" value="0" />
    <preference name="SplashShowOnlyFirstTime" value="false" />
    <preference name="SplashScreen" value="screen" />
    <preference name="SplashScreenDelay" value="2000" />
    <preference name="ShowSplashScreen" value="false" />
    <preference name="AutoHideSplashScreen" value="false" />
    <preference name="auto-hide-splash-screen" value="false" />
    <platform name="android">
        <allow-intent href="market:*" />
        <icon density="ldpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-ldpi-icon.png" />
        <icon density="mdpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-mdpi-icon.png" />
        <icon density="hdpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-hdpi-icon.png" />
        <icon density="xhdpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-xhdpi-icon.png" />
        <icon density="xxhdpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-xxhdpi-icon.png" />
        <icon density="xxxhdpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-xxxhdpi-icon.png" />
        <splash density="land-ldpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-ldpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="land-mdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-mdpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="land-hdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-hdpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="land-xhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-xhdpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="land-xxhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-xxhdpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="land-xxxhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-xxxhdpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="port-ldpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-ldpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="port-mdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-mdpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="port-hdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-hdpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="port-xhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-xhdpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="port-xxhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-xxhdpi-screen.png" />
        <splash density="port-xxxhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-xxxhdpi-screen.png" />
    </platform>
    <platform name="ios">
        <allow-intent href="itms:*" />
        <allow-intent href="itms-apps:*" />
        <icon height="57" src="resources/ios/icon/icon.png" width="57" />
        <icon height="114" src="resources/ios/icon/icon@2x.png" width="114" />
        <icon height="40" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-40.png" width="40" />
        <icon height="80" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-40@2x.png" width="80" />
        <icon height="120" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-40@3x.png" width="120" />
        <icon height="50" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-50.png" width="50" />
        <icon height="100" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-50@2x.png" width="100" />
        <icon height="60" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-60.png" width="60" />
        <icon height="120" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-60@2x.png" width="120" />
        <icon height="180" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-60@3x.png" width="180" />
        <icon height="72" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-72.png" width="72" />
        <icon height="144" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-72@2x.png" width="144" />
        <icon height="76" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-76.png" width="76" />
        <icon height="152" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-76@2x.png" width="152" />
        <icon height="167" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-83.5@2x.png" width="167" />
        <icon height="29" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-small.png" width="29" />
        <icon height="58" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-small@2x.png" width="58" />
        <icon height="87" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-small@3x.png" width="87" />
        <icon height="1024" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-1024.png" width="1024" />
        <splash height="1136" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-568h@2x~iphone.png" width="640" />
        <splash height="1334" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-667h.png" width="750" />
        <splash height="2208" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-736h.png" width="1242" />
        <splash height="1242" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Landscape-736h.png" width="2208" />
        <splash height="1536" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Landscape@2x~ipad.png" width="2048" />
        <splash height="2048" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Landscape@~ipadpro.png" width="2732" />
        <splash height="768" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Landscape~ipad.png" width="1024" />
        <splash height="2048" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Portrait@2x~ipad.png" width="1536" />
        <splash height="2732" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Portrait@~ipadpro.png" width="2048" />
        <splash height="1024" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Portrait~ipad.png" width="768" />
        <splash height="960" src="resources/ios/splash/Default@2x~iphone.png" width="640" />
        <splash height="480" src="resources/ios/splash/Default~iphone.png" width="320" />
        <splash height="2732" src="resources/ios/splash/Default@2x~universal~anyany.png" width="2732" />
    </platform>
    <engine name="android" spec="^6.4.0" />
    <engine name="browser" spec="^5.0.1" />
    <engine name="ios" spec="^4.5.4" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-app-version" spec="^0.1.9" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-background-mode" spec="^0.7.2" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-contacts" spec="^2.3.1" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-device" spec="^1.1.7" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-ionic" spec="^2.0.4">
        <variable name="APP_ID" value="6367ee3b" />
        <variable name="CHANNEL_NAME" value="Master" />
        <variable name="UPDATE_METHOD" value="background" />
        <variable name="UPDATE_API" value="https://api.ionicjs.com" />
        <variable name="MAX_STORE" value="2" />
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-ionic-webview" spec="^1.1.16" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-local-notification" spec="^0.9.0-beta.2" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-nativestorage" spec="^2.2.2" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-network-information" spec="^2.0.1" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-sim" spec="^1.3.3" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-splashscreen" spec="^4.1.0" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-statusbar" spec="^2.4.1" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-uniquedeviceid" spec="^1.3.2" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-whitelist" spec="^1.3.3" />
    <plugin name="cordova-sqlite-storage" spec="^2.2.1" />
    <plugin name="ionic-plugin-keyboard" spec="^2.2.1" />
</widget>

build

ionic cordova build android --prod --release //->phone where I install the apk presents the issue
ionic cordova run android //->emulator presents the issue
ionic cordova emulate android //-> after emulating start to show only new code

I've tried to change the widget id and version in config.xml, to change the app name installed, but still happens.
I can't give the code to reproduce.
Any guideline describing the way ionic 3 handle the files transpiled from angular will be apreciated.

Is there something in the build process I'm doing wrong?

Answer 1

The problem was comming from the ionic deploy service. I did setup my app to allow quick testing with ionic view. What I did not read carefully is https://ionicframework.com/docs/pro/deploy/setup/#different-methods-of-applying-updates-background-auto-none

By default the cordova-plugin-ionic sets an updating mechanism that updates your www code with the ionic repo. So, if you're not maintaining this repo (as is in my case, I just used it for initial testing, after continued working only in github) ionic was taking old code from the ionic repo and installing it without even notify to the user.
This updating system has pros and cons, but from the official docs of ionic is to do not use it in production:

Warning: Beta

Ionic Deploy is currently in beta. While we still do not recommend using Ionic Deploy in a production app, the API of Ionic Deploy should remain similar now that it is out of alpha.

So the final solution to these problem... change the variable UPDATE_METHOD in package.json (don't change it in config.xml as it is overwritten on build)

package.json

"UPDATE_METHOD": "none",

It should be set to none by default, as it is confusing, and not production ready.