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[Q] Android: Backups of various different things.

I have recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy S2. I have the phone set up the way i like it but i wish to try different OS versions which will require rooting and wiping my phone so a few questions regarding backups:
1) Currently i have my gmail contacts and facebook contacts "linked" together. I believe this is only stored locally on my phone. Is there a way i can save all this contact info so when i log back in to my profile in the future it will all be seamlessly placed as it was.
2) Currently i have a whole batch of homescreens with icons and widgets and my applications screen with every app in a "folder" can i back these up exactly as they are?
3) Within various different applications there are different options or save games and various things like that, are these easily accessible and able to be backed up
4) Finally can i just do an "image" of my phone and if i wipe it and mess about then simply restore that image back to exactly how it was?
Cheers for any help

boxrick,
Can't answer specifically for the Galaxy S2 as I don't have it, and because Android is "pimped" in various ways by different device makers some of the homescreens/layouts are custom implemented, and best backed up by the methods appropriate for--or offered by--that device.
Having said that, if you are using Google market, a lot of stuff (like the apps obviously) is automatically saved with them. Or the apps themselves can be backed up with any good file manager, like Astro, to an SD card or via USB.
I can't answer you about the Gmail & Facebook contacts being "linked together", but from experience most items are stored in the Google Contacts data-fields and stored remotely in your Google account (and therefore restored from there straightaway)
I have multiple Android devices, and to tell you the truth I pretty much just copy everything "en-masse" to a hard drive. If you're rooted, it's fairly easy to pull down almost everything this way. You're just dealing with files and folders, just like on your regular computer (which is why I'm pretty much done with anything "black-box" like formerly iphone/ipad, btw )
If you're looking for a "set-it-and-forget-it" type app, I don't currently use any, but on my travels I've seen a few "names" tossed around with good reviews. You can research
MyBackup Pro
Sprite Backup
Those two are pretty well known full-blown-backup type apps. They're paid apps, but cheap.
I've heard of The Missing Sync which takes a different approach by syncing all your data to a Windows or Mac desktop for backup and also for re-distribution to other devices. Sort of like a "data-centralizer" type approach, which might be up your alley. I think the app runs about $40 though.
Finally, I do use the free LifeSaver 2 app for important SMS messages and call logs-- picked it up over at F-droid.org. It's for pretty specific data types, but it's this stuff that usually is the hardest to save (since I don't actually know where it is when I backup the entire root directory + subs & files).
Hope the above gives you some ideas. My general advice would be to research, read the boards, with special attention to the threads dedicated to the Galaxy S2, because the other users have gone before you
And btw, if you find something really cool (including if one of the apps above turn out to help you), make sure you come back and post your findings. I'm always on the lookout for a "gem" app that makes my life easier.
Good luck!

Apps: Titanium.
Data: MyBackup.
MyBackup does a much better job at saving your contacts than Google does. MyBackup restores them exactly as they were, Google often loses custom fields and messes up your contact names. Just look at the mess when you sync a contact called "Al's Pizza (open 'till midnight)" back from Google. It also gets the timestamps on SMSs right, which most competitors don't.
You could forget about Tit and backup your apps with MyB too, but then you miss out on all the different batch jobs that come with Tit.
There's one thing that all backup apps choke on: widgets. I always have to set 'em up again after a wipe/restore job.

Can't titanium backup both apps & data?

Titanium can backup user data, sort of.
Restoring user data with Tit is not as straightforward as with MyB. They should add a user data screen so you don't have to hunt for your data in a long list of apps.

One final question, if I was to change from Android Phone A to Android Phone B. Will these "apps" and backups be able to restored to a totally different phone?

rogier666 said:
There's one thing that all backup apps choke on: widgets. I always have to set 'em up again after a wipe/restore job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rogier, what widget app do you use? I use Elixir, and in it there's an option to export widget data. Search for the "edit widgets" button, click it and you'll be taken to a pane where all the widgets are replaceable. Below it, you'll see a "More" button--that's where the import/export widgets button is. After you export widgets settings (you have to type in a name for it), Elixir then saves that exact config. After flashing a ROM and restoring via Ti, you can then choose to add back your widgets via the "Import" button. Remember though: if you want to bring back a 5x5 widget, you have to choose "5x5" widget after long pressing on a blank space, otherwise the widget won't restore properly. With this, you can have as many widgets you want and not worry about the tedious process of reconstructing them after a restore.

do you have to use the paid for version of titanium?

boxrick said:
One final question, if I was to change from Android Phone A to Android Phone B. Will these "apps" and backups be able to restored to a totally different phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can with Google . Go to Settings --> Privacy --> Back up my data.
When you buy your new phone, select restore my data. At first you won't see any difference, but after a few hours your apps will be restored

Borat38 said:
rogier, what widget app do you use? I use Elixir...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now I've got Widgetsoid, DroidStats, Smooth Calendar, PlayerPro, DroidWall, Make Your Own Clock, and seNotes on my home screens.
Some widget apps have a backup option, some only come in one flavor (like DroidWall) so they don't really need a backup option. But others (like most notes widgets) don't have any backup option at all.
This is really annoying for the sticky notes widgets, because it's often impossible to remember what info you'd have to put back in them (which is why you wrote it in a note to begin with).
So I'd really like a one click option to back up and restore all my widgets.

thetinybus said:
do you have to use the paid for version of titanium?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, you don't. The free version backs up everything too. It just takes more clicks to restore your stuff.
The free version of MyBackup only restores to the same phone that it backed up, so if you want to use MyBackup to transfer your data to a new phone you'll need the paid version.

I have purchased MybackupPro. The problem is I am fairly confident it will not back up my linked contacts. Therefore I need to root my phone and use TI backup...
Id like to post here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1125414&page=12 and find out about after unrooting, flashing back to the default kernel ( for warranty purposes ). Need 10 posts
Now it seems I am getting restrictions on the amount of times I am posting. This also doesn't help me much!

to root?

I have had the unfortunate experience in using samsung kies to backup my sgs2 bought in June '11 to upgrade the latest firmware too then realise the kies backup didn't work.
However, before I did the kies backup I copied the entire phone hhd to my pc, just incase.
When I realised the kies backup didnt work, I wasn't disheartened, as I have the info on my pc, right.. well no, as the files (data) I had copied, all of it won't go back to the sgs2 hhd (internal memory).
Can anyone advise?
Also, I now have the latest sgs2 firmware on my sgs2, I read the only way to backup the entire contents of the phone is to root it and use something such as titanium or nanroid.. yet I haven't got a clue what any of these are, or what customs ROM'S are.. is there a newbie site a read I can view to understand what the different ROMS do, and what will be better for my needs, also the most effective way to root my sgs2, as I don't want to brick it, I have read that you can root/unroot it using certain software, this would be good if there is one for the sgs2? as this would allow me to switch between the two, if anything went wrong etc or if I sold the phone.
Can anyone in layman's terms help, advise or guide me.
It would be appreciated, as my need to root is simply to do a full phone backup; once I've sorted out how to get all my data back to the sgs2 (
thanks
smash

ok as I have had little reply to my posting I went ahead and succesdfully rooted my sgs2.
Now I've completed a titanium backup, how can I verify that 'all' my phone's data has been backed up? as I don't later want to find that it didn't work or missed items.
I'm thinking of backup my phone to pc and then using restore to prove it, or is there an easier way?
Now that I'm rooted what ROM's are popular currently? I'm after faster web browsing, better battery life, and for google to sync my calander (completely).
The latter is a problem I've had for about a week; google won't sync my entire calander to droid. I've read a lot and it seems I'm not alone in this; yet I've tried all the work arounds, and still nothing.
Any advice?
Also, if I factory reset my device, will I have to root my sgs2 again? (I had done this prior to rooting and still didn't help google calander sync afterwards, it would only sync 1 month's worth of prior events).
Thanks in advance.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

[Q] Proting SMS from Android to Windows Phone

Hey,
since I've seen that it became possible to backup up and restore SMS on Windows Phone (with backing up the store.vol), i was thinking if it could become possible to port SMS from Android to Windows Phone. Anyone an idea how to do that??

Matts12345 said:
Hey,
since I've seen that it became possible to backup up and restore SMS on Windows Phone (with backing up the store.vol), i was thinking if it could become possible to port SMS from Android to Windows Phone. Anyone an idea how to do that??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently this isn't possible. An interesting solution would be backing up the SMS messages to Gmail under a SMS label, then importing into Android under one of a couple of apps that do this already. The trick is getting a dev to write an app for WP7 that would complete the cycle.

I really do not have an idea of all this developing things, but my first thought was, that it "just" has be possible to backup the SMS of an Android device in the ".vol" format (or convert them into a ".vol" file), so can can just restore them on Windows Phones. Maybe its complete crap what I am talking about, but for me it sounds the easiest way .

Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
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Moving to Q&A

Matts12345 said:
I really do not have an idea of all this developing things, but my first thought was, that it "just" has be possible to backup the SMS of an Android device in the ".vol" format (or convert them into a ".vol" file), so can can just restore them on Windows Phones. Maybe its complete crap what I am talking about, but for me it sounds the easiest way .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was describing a method that is already in place on Android. There are a few apps that back up SMS, MMS, and call logs to those respective labels in your Gmail account. All that needs to happen is for a WP7 dev to create an app which can process those "e-mails" under those labels and sort them to their proper places. This is much easier than having to load a file, since WP7 doesn't support .vol files.

App for backing up linked contacts? (Outlook, Facebook, Twitter etc...)

Is there any app that would do this? Ive been flashing my HTC 7 Pro few times now and the most annoying this is linking the accounts that are not autolinked because they are not spelled excactly the same.
If there is no solution someone with skill should have a look at this. It would be so great to back up the linked accounts just before flashing and then restore. Would save a huge ammount of time.

It's stored in the various PIM databases on the phone. We know where these DBs are, and we have the APIs to read them (though it requires elevated access, so a custom ROM, HtcRoot, or WP7 Root Tools 0.9). So far, though, nobody has written an app to back up the contents of the database from one phone image and restore them to another. That'll be a non-trivial task, since of course none of this stuff is documented. It should be possible with some work, though.

GoodDayToDie said:
It's stored in the various PIM databases on the phone. We know where these DBs are, and we have the APIs to read them (though it requires elevated access, so a custom ROM, HtcRoot, or WP7 Root Tools 0.9). So far, though, nobody has written an app to back up the contents of the database from one phone image and restore them to another. That'll be a non-trivial task, since of course none of this stuff is documented. It should be possible with some work, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wasn't it rumoured that Microsoft's 'full back up' will include this feature somewhere around Apollo?

Would be great to have this so I really hope it comes...

Android Backup directly to PC

Hello everyone,
i searched for this topic and found several threads without an answer, but all of them were years old, so heres my hope that things have changed over the years (And that Android finally catches up with what i would consider basic functionality and damn, even iPhones can do it...)
Im looking for a backupsolution directly to my PC. A tool for either my PC (Both Windows of Linux would be fine) or my phone (which is a rooted LG G4 with the last, and therefore very old, official Lineage OS (i intend to upgrade to something newer.) I want to backup every app including appdata, my contacs, sms and mediafiles.
I dont have a lot of space left on my phone which rules out any backupsolution that backs up to my phone. Which means Titanium Backup (which besides looking ugly and not very userfriendly by my usual standards for a user interface but the Pro version can apparently otherwise do everything i want) or Nandroidbackups (assuming that they dont fully backup my phone including the rom and therefore would be unusuable for migration to a new Rom) are out. Also the need to manually copy this over after the backup smacks me as slighly cobbled together, but well that might be just me.
I also dont want to use any internetbased solution. Both for ideological and paranoia reasons. Its my data and i dont intend to giving it to others. Therefore any cloudbased services are out.
Which leaves me with backing up directly to my PC. When i started looking for such a soltion i thought that would be easyly solved since it is such a basic usecase. But oh boy how wrong i was.
What i have found so far:
Syncdroid: Cant backup Apps+Appdata.
Helium: endless spinning wheel while checking root (even though i triplechecked, helium HAS root) and without root i cant backup two thirds of the apps i want to backup like all my instant messaging apps). Apparently the issues with root are known but the Devs are silent.
Apowersoft ApowerManager: Is supposedly able to do what i want BUT doesnt have a trial so i could test it (the free version only allows backups but no restore or anything which comes down to a trust issue) and its simply to expensive (20$ per month with the current superduperspecialpricejustforyouandjustnowoffer) to just buy blindfolded. Also again Trustissues for a tool this expensive without a way to fully try before...
So in conclusion: Do i have to throw away my LG G4 and switch to an iPhone to get this basic functionality or did i just overlook something (maybe a hidden feature in Titanium Backup)?
Bonuspoints if this works over wifi and can be automated (like PC is running, PC suite pings phone, finds phone and updates the backup)