Improve Android App Security with Git Ignoring

gitignore.md

First Versión

### AndroidStudio ###

# Built application files
*.apk
*.ap_
*.aab

# Files for the ART/Dalvik VM
*.dex

# Java class files
*.class

# Generated files
bin/
gen/
out/

# Gradle files
.gradle
.gradle/
build/

# Signing files
.signing/

# Local configuration file (sdk path, etc)
local.properties

# Proguard folder generated by Eclipse
proguard/

# Log Files
*.log

# Android Studio
/*/build/
/*/local.properties
/*/out
/*/*/build
/*/*/production
captures/
.navigation/
*.ipr
*~
*.swp

# Keystore files
*.jks
*.keystore

# Google Services (e.g. APIs or Firebase)
# google-services.json

# Android Patch
gen-external-apklibs

# External native build folder generated in Android Studio 2.2 and later
.externalNativeBuild

# NDK
obj/

# IntelliJ IDEA
*.iml
*.iws
/out/

# User-specific configurations
.idea/caches/
.idea/libraries/
.idea/shelf/
.idea/workspace.xml
.idea/tasks.xml
.idea/.name
.idea/compiler.xml
.idea/copyright/profiles_settings.xml
.idea/encodings.xml
.idea/misc.xml
.idea/modules.xml
.idea/scopes/scope_settings.xml
.idea/dictionaries
.idea/vcs.xml
.idea/jsLibraryMappings.xml
.idea/datasources.xml
.idea/dataSources.ids
.idea/sqlDataSources.xml
.idea/dynamic.xml
.idea/uiDesigner.xml
.idea/assetWizardSettings.xml
.idea/gradle.xml
.idea/jarRepositories.xml
.idea/navEditor.xml

# Legacy Eclipse project files
.classpath
.project
.cproject
.settings/

# Mobile Tools for Java (J2ME)
.mtj.tmp/

# Package Files #
*.war
*.ear

# virtual machine crash logs
hs_err_pid*

## Plugin-specific files:

# mpeltonen/sbt-idea plugin
.idea_modules/

# JIRA plugin
atlassian-ide-plugin.xml

# Mongo Explorer plugin
.idea/mongoSettings.xml

# Crashlytics plugin (for Android Studio and IntelliJ)
com_crashlytics_export_strings.xml
crashlytics.properties
crashlytics-build.properties
fabric.properties

### AndroidStudio Patch ###

!/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar

Best versión

# Android Studio \ IDE files
.idea/
*.iml

#Include IDE copyright and code style
!.idea/copyright
!/.idea/codeStyles

# Gradle files
#(for multi-module projects)
**/build/
.gradle/

# Log/Crash files
*.log

# Local configuration files
*.properties

# Configurations files
#(only for open-source projects)
*.json

# Keystores
*.jks
*.keystore

#Screenshots
captures/

#NDK generated files
obj/
.cxx/
.externalNativeBuild

# Mac OS files
.DS_Store

Tips

Pattern	Description	Example
*.ext	Matches all files with a given extension	*.iml
file.txt	Ignores an exact file	api.properties
folder/	Ignores a specific directory	build/
.folder/	Ignores a specific hidden directory (dot → hidden)	.idea/
**/dir/	Recursive ignore for a directory	**/tmp/
!pattern	Excludes a file from being ignored	!important.txt
#	Used for notes	# todo

Folders

Category	Folder/File	Why Ignore It
🏗️ Build Outputs	build/	Generated and compiled files, reports, and outputs
⚙️ Gradle System Files	.gradle/	Contains local Gradle caches and dependency data
🧩 IDE / Android Studio	.idea/	Contains local workspace settings
🧾 Logs & Reports	*.log	Temporary build/test logs
⚙️ Native Code / NDK	.externalNativeBuild/ .cxx/	Auto-generated when building native (C/C++) code
🧭 Local Configs	*.properties	Stores SDK paths, signing keys, or API keys
🔑 Signing configurations	*.jks *.keystore	Contains signing keys
🔒 External Services configurations	*.json	Configuration files. Should stay private for open-source projects
🧪 Test Data	captures/	Contains screenshots from Android instrumented tests.
💾 OS-specific files	.DS_Store desktop.ini	Hidden OS metadata files. Mac / Windows (use one)

Not Ignore

Folder/File	Purpose	Why Commit
copyright/	Stores copyright profiles used for automatically adding headers to new files	Ensures license/copyright headers are uniform
codeStyles/	Stores IDE code style rules	Ensures everyone on the team formats code the same way

Prompt

In an Android project, is it safe to remove [CONFIG_OR_FILE_NAME] from .gitignore?
Explain briefly what it does, if it should be committed, and what could happen if I remove it.
Here’s my config file: (paste your existing config file)

Test a specific file or directory

git check-ignore -v <file_pat