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!
I notice that if you want to backup an app and it's data, the apps that do this require root.
This has largely never been of concern to me as usually within a week of a new phone I've rooted and installed a custom ROM.
But now I need Good for Enterprise on this phone so rooting is not an option. But this inability to now backup data is beginning to annoy. It seems to me as a lay person that this should be a basic feature especially if you want people to have a good experience when they upgrade their phone.
Does Google have a good reason for having designed the OS in this manner?
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3010 using Tapatalk
milomak said:
I notice that if you want to backup an app and it's data, the apps that do this require root.
This has largely never been of concern to me as usually within a week of a new phone I've rooted and installed a custom ROM.
But now I need Good for Enterprise on this phone so rooting is not an option. But this inability to now backup data is beginning to annoy. It seems to me as a lay person that this should be a basic feature especially if you want people to have a good experience when they upgrade their phone.
Does Google have a good reason for having designed the OS in this manner?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its mainly for security purposes. If apps were able to read the data of other apps just like that (without acquiring root access from the user) then it'd be quite easy for a malicious app you installed on accident to read the data from that banking app you have installed. And you wouldn't even know until its way too late.
I suppose one could argue that Google could implement it in such a way the backup apps would need to seek permission from the user before reading the data from other apps, but seeing that most users barely pay attention to what it is that they're granting permission to....its probably better to leave it out altogether.
On a final note though, maybe Google would rather have you store your precious & valuable data on their servers instead. As they do offer backup options for your contacts, calendar, passwords, and even certain app's data.
So how does iOS get around this or does the vulnerability you talk about exist?
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3010 using Tapatalk
milomak said:
So how does iOS get around this or does the vulnerability you talk about exist?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've not used iOS in a while so I really don't know. I sincerely doubt iOS has apps that can backup data though. Seeing that they're only just getting a file manager in iOS 11.
milomak said:
I notice that if you want to backup an app and it's data, the apps that do this require root.
This has largely never been of concern to me as usually within a week of a new phone I've rooted and installed a custom ROM.
But now I need Good for Enterprise on this phone so rooting is not an option. But this inability to now backup data is beginning to annoy. It seems to me as a lay person that this should be a basic feature especially if you want people to have a good experience when they upgrade their phone.
Does Google have a good reason for having designed the OS in this manner?
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3010 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try the Helium app, it's worked for others but as always, your mileage may vary.
Also, the built-in Google backup feature in system settings should backup apps and data then after updating the device(s), during setup wizard, it should prompt asking if you want to restore apps, data and settings from the Google backup.
But....
If you leave the devices on stock firmware and un-rooted, then during stock updates you should only have to wipe the cache partition. Factory reset shouldn't be necessary if you're only updating stock, wiping only the cache partition during/after flashing/updating should be all that you need to do. This should update your device(s) system and leave all your settings and other data intact.
You can also try using a file manager such as ES File Explorer on android to create backups of the apps you installed (this will not work with system apps), in ES File Explorer, the backed up apps will be in sdcard/backups or storage/emulated/0/backups, or something similar. You can copy those apk backups to PC then look in internal for storage/emulated/0/Android/data folder, this folder contains folders for all of your installed apps that store app data, the names of the individual folders should correspond with the app it stores data for. You can copy these folders to PC.
To restore these apps and their data, copy the backed up apk files to your internal to the folder of your choice, then go to system settings>security>unknown sources and turn it on so you can install your apps from the apk files you backed up instead of from Google or PlayStore. Then using a file manager on android, go to the folder you copied the apk files to and click on them to install them from there, then copy the folders containing your app data to your storage/emulated/0/Android/data folder then reboot, you may have to boot to recovery and wipe the cache partition (do not factory reset, only wipe cache). This method may or may not work depending on the app being restored.
I'm not an iOS user but as far as I know, iOS is strictly dependant on Apple/iTunes, you just about can't do anything with iOS that doesn't involve iTunes, including backups probably.
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
This is the first time I have bought a phone without a known method for rooting. I have always used Titanium Backup to backup and restore apps+data whenever I bought a new phone but unfortunately without root, this won't work. Can some one suggest another method to transfer app data from my Oneplus 3T to Pixel 2? I tried Helium but it shows "Backup Disallowed" for several of my installed apps.
Did you try using the data transfer process that is part of the initial setup on the phone? It walks you through connecting a cable between your old phone and new one and then is supposed to transfer everything.
That said, people have had extremely inconsistent results with this. I've seen people say it transferred everything no problem. Others that it didn't work. For me in transferred a lot of phone settings, but not all, wifi passwords, but not contacts or calender data; and all it did with apps was redownload them from the store and not transfer the actual data and settings at all. I had to redo settings myself, manually copy data that was on the sdcard partition, and for any apps that had a feature to export their settings to a file and then reimport them on the other phone I did that by hand.
The other possible option that I'm aware of is to use the settings on your old phone that allows Google to backup your app data to the cloud and then sync it on the new phone. I did not do that, because I don't want Google to have all my personal information. But perhaps that works. I have the sense that the whole data transfer process works best when you just let Google invade your soul as deeply as possible, because that's what they are really after.
But those less than optimal options aside, I think that transferring app data without root is pretty much impossible, since most of it resides in the /data directory which is not accessible without root.
Yeah, this sucks. Personally this is the first and last time I will buy a device at the moment of release, before root is available.
Edit: Never mind, I see you already tried Helium
Android Debug Bridge is what you're looking for. In short: enable USB debugging, install ADB, connect to computer with USB.
You can backup an app with:
adb backup -f backupfileonyourcomputer.ab packagename
You can get the packagename from the address bar if you check the application page on Play Store in a browser.
Restoring an app:
adb restore backupfileonyourcomputer.ab
You could backup all apps at once, but then can only restore the whole bulk later. (Possible to extract apps, but it's tedious)
If you need more details just search for adb backup.
Cloud save is also working really well, as stated above, but some apps don't support it. I use adb to move those from one device to another. Finally some apps have backup disabled by the developers, well.... no luck if you have some of those.
Hello friends,
I have a Galaxy Note 5 from Verizon; Over the years, I've used this phone extensively for sending SMS messages ("texting") and now would like to gain access to the data files/database backing Verizon's Message+ app. As far as I can tell, none of the App binaries and their associated data are accessible via the standard [non-rooted] Phone-->USB-->PC interface?
A couple questions:
1) Can you confirm that Rooting a Galaxy Note 5 WILL NOT wipe the data that is currently on the device?
(I assume the Root process will not require the device to revert to a factory state, wiping the data files I seek to preserve?)
2) Can you confirm that rooting the device is necessary to access the App binaries & their associated data files?
3) Years ago I read that rooting the Galaxy Note 5 would permanently break the "KNOX" security mechanism as some type of tamper fuse would be blown. I assume this is still the case?
(This phone is no longer my primary phone so while I seek not to damage the phone any more than I have to, I'm now willing to bulldoze the KNOX functionality, if it means I can access the data I want)
(I'm aware the messaging data is likely stored in a proprietary data format, though I have heard rumors Sqlite is used. Regardless, the data format is not a concern provided I can access it)
Thank you in advance for your help!
bump
bump
Bump
SMS Backup & Restore – Apps on Google Play
A simple app that backs up and restores SMS & MMS messages and call logs.
play.google.com
Whoa, there is life out there! Thanks for the response
I'll definitely check out the app, but would definitely be interested in gaining access to a low-level filesystem copy of the messaging data directly from my device.
Can you confirm whether rooting an Android device generally leaves pre-exisisting data (before the root) in place?
it depends what root method you use
if you use magisk or supersu via twrp, you need to unlock bootloader which when you unlock bootlaoder it wipes all data (bootloader is safekeeper to phone partitions, so they can be edited)
but if you use some one clikck root (like kingroot) you wont lose data.
and with root, even if you do access database in /data folder, it will be in sqlite database, and a lot, and completely unsorted.
you can copy it to pc, and create app which can read and sort from database, but otherwise is not usable other than archive, you cant use it in any other app again
but with app without root, you gain same thing, even if you cant use in any app again, you can keep it as archive, as it exctracts (without root)
but with app i think you would be able to recover and use again, depends on device, (like, you wont be able to use those messages from samsung to lg messagess app)
Awesome, thank you for the info. At some point, I would like to explore all of the various ways to root a device, but in this particular case where I want to backup all SMS conversation data (text, pictures, etc.) from the existing (non-rooted) device, it sounds like the one click approach is definitely what I need (vs. unlocking the bootloader)
Your comments about using an App (without root) are also very intriguing. Is there an Android app that can give me access to all the data (or at least all the data that the SMS app would have access to) on the phone without rooting it? (Can you recommend one?) The SMS Backup & Restore App you mentioned earlier seems interesting, but I'd like to get something that will generally allow me to get data from the internal filesystem.
Ideally, I just need some way (ssh/ftp/other) to transfer data from the phone to my PC. I'm fully expecting that I'll have to do some reverse engineering on the database/data files that I copy from the device and alsi do some custom coding to extract the messages (including embedded pictures/ movies) that I wish to preserve.
Thank you again for any other advice or suggestions you can offer!
Hello community!
I think this is the best place to ask this question as this is a forum of default for all developers.
Why is Android not providing backup of app data?
On iOS, factory reset and restore is a breeze. The process is extremely simple, and there is absolutely no user intervention required after a factory reset. iOS simply puts everything in its place as if nothing happened. Same is true for macOS, WatchOS & iPadOS. This is just a wonderful implementation. The only limitation is if an existing app is no longer available on the Apple AppStore. In that case, the app data would still remain in the cloud (or iTunes backup), and can be easily restored if the app (.ipa file) is backed up using iTunes (or similar 3rd party software).
Can someone answer why the same is not available on Android, despite it being the more versatile software?
As far as I know, backup over ADB isn't reliable. And more importantly, ADB isn't for everyone.
Thanks.
android is google. there exist native backup option to backup app data in google drive. adb backup is androids native backup option. it will save apps data to PC and can restored even to other devices.
so your question should be, why android provides solution to app developers protecting their app data from backup.
aIecxs said:
android is google. there exist native backup option to backup app data in google drive. adb backup is androids native backup option. it will save apps data to PC and can restored even to other devices.
so your question should be, why android provides solution to app developers protecting their app data from backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The native backup solution doesn't backup most of the apps data. As a result, most things must be setup from scratch after a factory reset. The process isn't automatic and requires plenty of manual work. This is clear from the numbers below:
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Size of actual backup:
It is clear that most apps are not backed up, and only a very few apps' data is included, which I believe is mostly Google stuff.
That said, why does Android allow developers to prevent their apps' data from being backed up? This doesn't make sense because the data belongs to the user, not the developer of the app.
what you don't understand app data can be perfectly backed up. it's just the app developers they decide whether it's allowed or not. It's controlled in AndroidManifest.xml
android:allowBackup="true" API level < 30
android:debuggable="true" API level > 30
https://developer.android.com/about/versions/12/behavior-changes-12#adb-backup-restrictions
btw your screenshots refer to EXTERNAL_STORAGE
https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage
aIecxs said:
what you don't understand app data can be perfectly backed up. it's just the app developers they decide whether it's allowed or not. It's controlled in AndroidManifest.xml
android:allowBackup="true" API level < 30
android:debuggable="true" API level > 30
https://developer.android.com/about/versions/12/behavior-changes-12#adb-backup-restrictions
btw your screenshots refer to EXTERNAL_STORAGE
https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On iOS, the backup doesn't include apps' own data (those that are required for the app to run properly), instead only the data that the app has collected from the user, such as settings, login credentials, etc. So that when the user restores a backup, everything simply works like nothing happened. And this includes crucial apps like Banking apps too.
During the restore process, the system downloads the apps automatically from the Store that comes with the entire database, libraries and other files that the app needs to run properly, which isn't part of the backup. The user doesn't have to worry about any of these things as the system handles EVERYTHING automatically.
I don't understand why App Developers should have a say in whether the user specific data that they collect and store in their working directories should be part of the backups. That data belongs to the user and as such only the user should decide whether it needs to be backed up or not, just how it is in iOS.
On Android, where does the app save all of user configurations and files?
I think we can track it down to simple rule.
if you wanna have control and responsibility about your phone in your hands, use android.
if you don't care a f** about what's stored in cloud - buy iPhone
aIecxs said:
I think we can track it down to simple rule.
if you wanna have control and responsibility about your phone in your hands, use android.
if you don't care a f** about what's stored in cloud - buy iPhone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You missed an important point: on iOS, user decides whether his data that is collected by an app should be backed up to the cloud or not. You get to control what to backup, and what not to backup. If user chooses to save in the cloud, Apple is pretty good in keeping that data secure. Most cases of breach are users' own stupidity.
With Android, it is absurd that the app developers make this decision for the users. And you are saying one should use Android if he wants to take control of this. I don't see a simple or reliable way to do that.
Yes because Android is highly customizeable. I know how to backup my data. There exist TWRP, Migrate, Titanium, and I never used any cloud. Btw the last thing I would backup is /storage/emulated/0/Android this is the first directory I always delete, and I never lost any app data (although I don't know what obb really contains as I never played games, used WhatsApp or any other memory wasting stuff)
It's okay if it is absurd to you, but sure it's not a technical reason. I have linked the documents explaining. To me it would scare me to dead if my device would re-install everything and becomes in the exact same state as before factory reset
TheMystic said:
The native backup solution doesn't backup most of the apps data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you give example app please, let's do reality check
It's simple, main reason is GDPR, cmiiw
Data needs to be separated between application data (config, everything that is not stored any customer/user/client information) and user's data (login sessions, anything that might compromise customer/user/client information).
For most application data, it can be safely assumed, google, huawei, or any third party software, can back it up, stores it in any kind of their backup storage (cloud, ftp, you name it), and restores it as they wished. However, as the user's data, they cannot. At least without user's consent. And it's because of GDPR.
And @Alecxs is correct. Imagine if someone can restore your data in their phone, and then they were identified as you, imagine the horror. If you think no it's impossible, think again. If you think Apple is secure and that's not possible, think again.
And now, why many backup apps exist in play store that can do that? Simple, they don't provide any kind of agreement that they will store your data in their storage, it's always in your local storage or your own cloud storage (dropbox, drive, you name it). And because there isn't any clear protocol from android to do so (separated backup between application or user data), most of them needs to be operated under root.
aIecxs said:
Yes because Android is highly customizeable. I know how to backup my data. There exist TWRP, Migrate, Titanium, and I never used any cloud. Btw the last thing I would backup is /storage/emulated/0/Android this is the first directory I always delete, and I never lost any app data (although I don't know what obb really contains as I never played games, used WhatsApp or any other memory wasting stuff)
It's okay if it is absurd to you, but sure it's not a technical reason. I have linked the documents explaining. To me it would scare me to dead if my device would re-install everything and becomes in the exact same state as before factory reset
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Less than 2% of Android users install a custom recovery and/ or root their device. And a much smaller number use ADB to take care of a few things on their non-rooted device. I'm talking about backup solution for the remaining over 98% users.
Pretty much everyone knows how to backup their stuff. It's just that there is a lot of work to do and requires patience. An automated backup solution helps in saving plenty of time and unnecessary work for the user.
There are, however, some situations where the user is helpless. I was playing a game for a long time, spent a good amount of money on in-app purchases, and when I bought a new phone, there was no way to transfer all that stuff. That game provided no means (either using Google Play Games or Social Media integration) to backup the user account. I wrote to the developer several times, but never got any response. I even complained to Google, but nothing happened for a pretty long time. I stopped buying stuff in that game. Many months later, the developer finally allowed saving game data to Google Play Games. Although I could now move my stuff to my new device, it was just too late. I lost interest in that game. In my case, I still had the old device with me, and working fine. So I could save all my details to Google Play Games. Imagine if someone lost their device, or broke it, or sold it...for them all that money spent in that game would be gone.
'As with your scare me to death' statement, I think you haven't understood how backup & restore works on iOS. iOS will wipe everything on your phone, do a fresh installation of the OS, download all your apps again, and then restore user settings, login credentials, etc, which pretty much takes care of EVERYTHING. The user has no work to do here. But the system is fresh, and all the junk built up over time by both the system and the apps are now gone! It is NOT a system image and restore that will bring everything back, including the unwanted stuff. So your device isn't actually in the exact state like before. It is much leaner, cleaner and much more efficient. The exact same thing happens when you migrate to a new device. Only the things that matter are migrated, the rest are not.
Do note that the user has full control over which apps to backup, and therefore, which ones will be restored/ migrated.
aIecxs said:
can you give example app please, let's do reality check
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I factory reset my Android phone, the backup will only restore call logs, sms, contacts, and a few basic stuff. It will also download all my apps from the Google Play Store. But here ends the similarity. Beyond this, the user has to setup every app from scratch, with the exception of a few like Google's and Microsoft's cloud based apps. User also has to setup all the permissions for apps from scratch. There is a lot of work involved, which can be easily avoided if Android provided an automated way of getting this done.
User configuration files and login credentials belong to the user. You haven't explained why app developers can choose whether this information can be backed up or not. To me, it seems like Android has a big limitation in the way it is designed, and so is unable to provide a simple backup solution that takes care of these things like in iOS.
x3r0.13urn said:
It's simple, main reason is GDPR, cmiiw
Data needs to be separated between application data (config, everything that is not stored any customer/user/client information) and user's data (login sessions, anything that might compromise customer/user/client information).
For most application data, it can be safely assumed, google, huawei, or any third party software, can back it up, stores it in any kind of their backup storage (cloud, ftp, you name it), and restores it as they wished. However, as the user's data, they cannot. At least without user's consent. And it's because of GDPR.
And @Alecxs is correct. Imagine if someone can restore your data in their phone, and then they were identified as you, imagine the horror. If you think no it's impossible, think again. If you think Apple is secure and that's not possible, think again.
And now, why many backup apps exist in play store that can do that? Simple, they don't provide any kind of agreement that they will store your data in their storage, it's always in your local storage or your own cloud storage (dropbox, drive, you name it). And because there isn't any clear protocol from android to do so (separated backup between application or user data), most of them needs to be operated under root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GDPR? Seriously?
Is GDPR not applicable to Apple?
And GDPR is not about backup and restore. It is about collecting user data without authorization AND using it for purposes that benefit someone else.
For the purposes of backup, all data remains with the user account and not used for any purpose other than to restore the same to the user's device(s), subject to credentials verification.
By your logic, there cannot be any cloud based solution either, including emails!
As mentioned before, Apple is pretty good in taking care of their cloud services. And so is Google. Most cases of breach have been found to be a fault at the users' end. Someone keyed in their credentials in the wrong place and then complained that their account is compromised, their photos have been leaked - not Apple's fault.
TheMystic said:
it seems like Android has a big limitation in the way it is designed, and so is unable to provide a simple backup solution that takes care of these things
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please give me example app pkgname so I can double check
aIecxs said:
please give me example app pkgname so I can double check
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You can take any app on your phone which isn't cloud based. Take the file manager app for example. I have set up several remote connections on my file manager. There is no way this information will be restored from the stock Android backup. I will have to setup all remote connections again if I were to uninstall this app and reinstall it. Same holds true if I factory reset my phone or migrate my information to a new device. Android will only reinstall the app for me automatically. I will have to setup all remote connections manually, AND also setup all the custom configurations for the app that I have setup in System Settings.
Only if the app itself provides a built-in way to export all the configurations, will I be able to export them and import it back after a factory reset/ migration. Even then, the configurations (or permissions, etc) for the app under System Settings must be redone manually on Android.
can you please provide pkgname (or google play link) of your file manager, so I can double check?
aIecxs said:
can you please provide pkgname (or google play link) of your file manager, so I can double check?
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Because this is applicable for all non-cloud based apps which are the majority, I don't have to be specific.
But, since you asked, here are a couple :
1. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alphainventor.filemanager&hl=en
2. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher&hl=en
okay I am not going to test crappy google one backup on my daily driver, as I don't want to safe my phone to cloud for reason.
Haven't checked Nova Launcher but for File Manager I can say android:allowBackup="true" is allowed in AndroidManifest.xml, so adb backup and restore of app data will work (I can test it later)
Not sure what you mean with non-cloud based apps, are you trying to say these apps can't backed up from google drive? If so, who decides if an app is "cloud based" or not?
aIecxs said:
okay I am not going to test crappy google one backup on my daily driver, as I don't want to safe my phone to cloud for reason.
Haven't checked Nova Launcher but for File Manager I can say android:allowBackup="true" is allowed in AndroidManifest.xml, so adb backup and restore of app data will work (I can test it later)
Not sure what you mean with non-cloud based apps, are you trying to say these apps can't backed up from google drive? If so, who decides if an app is "cloud based" or not?
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Most of the important/ critical information are already in the cloud for almost everyone. This includes emails, photos & videos, documents, etc. for those who use Cloud Storage (which is pretty much everyone, with an exception of an insignificant minority, insignificant being purely in terms of numbers).
Which also means that all login credentials are already with the service providers in encrypted form, in the cloud. So there isn't really anything critical in the app backups that isn't already there in the cloud. App specific configurations don't come under critical information, and as such all that data should never leave the device, unless it is part of the system backup. More importantly, that data belongs to the user, and there is no reason app developers should have a say in whether that should be available for backup or not. It simply shows that Android is most likely limited by its flawed design on this issue.
Pretty much everyone uses the built-in Backup feature provided by Google, and it makes sense to use that over others like Samsung Cloud because a Google backup is available on all brands of Android devices. I haven't used Samsung Backup or other OEM specific backups, but I guess they are pretty much the exact same like Google Backup, the only difference being the service provider.
By cloud based apps, I mean apps that save all data in the cloud, e.g. Gmail, Outlook, Google Keep, Microsoft OneNote, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc. Apps like file managers, launchers, clipboard managers that don't use a cloud, firewall apps, etc that work locally are the apps whose data must be backed up to the cloud. Again, by app data I mean the user configurations (e.g. remote/ cloud connections set up in a file manager) and login credentials that belong to the user, and not the app or its maker.
user configurations (e.g. remote/ cloud connections set up in a file manager) and login credentials for com.alphainventor.filemanager can backed up, I don't see a problem here besides the fact the app developer seems to agree with your opinion and does allow it (there are good reasons for app developers to deny, I can give you example if you want)
lets stay at facts, regardless of your opinion post #2 applies. Android is providing backup of app data
aIecxs said:
user configurations (e.g. remote/ cloud connections set up in a file manager) and login credentials for com.alphainventor.filemanager can backed up, I don't see a problem here besides the fact the app developer seems to agree with your opinion and does allow it (there are good reasons for app developers to deny, I can give you example if you want)
lets stay at facts, regardless of your opinion post #2 applies. Android is providing backup of app data
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Please, adb doesn't come under official backup feature provided on phones. ADB, root, custom recovery, etc. are for a niche of users who are an insignificant minority of the user base.
So, Android needs to provide a way or redesign itself where it's Backup & Restore function is just as seamless and effortless, as it is on iOS.
Do let me know what 'good reasons' app developers have to opt out of data backups. Hope they do realise that no one is interested in the app specific stuff, they only care for their own configuration files. And those who do, they know how to root and extract all app data.