Unexpected behavior with ViewModel and MutableStateFlow when navigating between Activities on Android 14
I'm reviewing some code and I'm experiencing an issue when navigating between two Activities that both use a `ViewModel` with `MutableStateFlow`. The problem arises when I update the state in one Activity, and I expect to see the changes reflected in the other Activity, but it doesn't seem to work as intended. Here’s a simplified version of my setup: In my `ViewModel`: ```kotlin class SharedViewModel : ViewModel() { private val _data = MutableStateFlow("Initial Data") val data: StateFlow<String> = _data.asStateFlow() fun updateData(newData: String) { _data.value = newData } } ``` In `FirstActivity`, I update the data: ```kotlin class FirstActivity : AppCompatActivity() { private lateinit var viewModel: SharedViewModel override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState) viewModel = ViewModelProvider(this).get(SharedViewModel::class.java) findViewById<Button>(R.id.updateButton).setOnClickListener { viewModel.updateData("Updated from FirstActivity") startActivity(Intent(this, SecondActivity::class.java)) } } } ``` In `SecondActivity`, I’m trying to observe the data: ```kotlin class SecondActivity : AppCompatActivity() { private lateinit var viewModel: SharedViewModel override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState) viewModel = ViewModelProvider(this).get(SharedViewModel::class.java) lifecycleScope.launchWhenStarted { viewModel.data.collect { value -> // Here, I expect to see 'Updated from FirstActivity' Log.d("SecondActivity", "Received: $value") } } } } ``` The issue is that when I navigate to `SecondActivity`, I see the initial value "Initial Data" logged instead of the updated value. I've also checked that both Activities are using the same instance of the `ViewModel` by implementing it in a way that would share the scope if I use a Fragment, but this doesn't seem to apply to Activities. I thought about using a `SharedViewModel` scoped to the application context instead, but I'm unsure if that's the best approach. Is there a recommended way to share data across two Activities using `ViewModel` and `StateFlow`? Or am I missing something in the navigation process that would allow the updated state to propagate correctly? Any insights would be greatly appreciated! Could this be a known issue?