Wondering if this should be split into two spikes based on how the description as been split?

Here are my evolving disappearing reading list hunches.

In the last exported library I explored, I noticed they had saved article files still on device, but their database (i.e. what Saved articles tab displays) was cleaned out. This is why sometimes users have an empty Saved Articles screen, but the callout in Settings > Article storage and syncing still mentions a large amount of data (“Erasing your saved articles will free up about {nnn} MB of space”).

I don't know how they got into this state, but it may be possible to work backwards and restore this (i.e. loop through all their saved article files, figure out the article title, and add them back into the database). That last user complaint said they had low storage, so maybe something about low storage is causing our Core Data database to be dumped upon update.

I also think we have lots of pop ups related to saved articles that may be confusing to the user. We do not allow a user to save articles only to the cloud - they must also use up device space on their app to persist articles in order to benefit from the Saved articles feature. Maybe users are deleting their local articles but not realizing that they won't be able to restore once they delete their local articles. It's also possible that there are fleeting issues with authentication which could cause a prompt asking the user if they want to delete their saved articles. Here is a prompt I receive in the app after changing my password on Desktop and relaunching my app:

Ideas:

See if QA can reproduce losing reading lists by testing on a device with lots of saved articles, low/no storage and updating. If they can repro, go from there. If not, here are some things we could try:

1. Build in that restoration step, add a button in Settings. Work backwards from our persisted files and add them back into the database.
2. If user is low on storage, give them a warning and say that saving new articles are disabled until they get more storage or delete some old saved articles.
3. Audit our popups and confirm they are appearing at the appropriate time, and communicate the ramifications clearly.
4. Maybe have a "recently deleted" saved articles folder before actually deleting, so that a user can restore if they accidentally pushed the wrong button in those popups.