I am trying to figure out how exactly Android Market knows which apps you have downloaded/deleted on your phone, so that when you flash a new rom, etc., it will automatically download your apps.
The last time I flashed a ROM, market did NOT add the apps from my previous rom, but it has done this every other time.
After logging into my Market account from a computer, but it shows a list of the apps I have downloaded in general. It does NOT "sync" which apps I currently have on my phone, and those I have deleted.
Is there a way to edit this list through the Market so that the next time I format my phone only the apps I specifically choose will automatically be sent to my phone?
The time that the apps did NOT come back automatically, I also formatted my microSD and only put a fraction of the files/folders back on it. Is the "list" saved to the microSD card?
Also I find it strange the way my contacts will come back to my phone. After the first "sync" it will only put a fraction of my contacts onto my phone, and it is the same people every time - a very random selection of the contacts, but the same selection every time. THEN after waiting 5 minutes or so, the rest follow. So I am wondering why the phone grabs this particular fraction of contacts first?
Use titanium backup.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
weregoingunion said:
I am trying to figure out how exactly Android Market knows which apps you have downloaded/deleted on your phone, so that when you flash a new rom, etc., it will automatically download your apps.
The last time I flashed a ROM, market did NOT add the apps from my previous rom, but it has done this every other time.
After logging into my Market account from a computer, but it shows a list of the apps I have downloaded in general. It does NOT "sync" which apps I currently have on my phone, and those I have deleted.
Is there a way to edit this list through the Market so that the next time I format my phone only the apps I specifically choose will automatically be sent to my phone?
The time that the apps did NOT come back automatically, I also formatted my microSD and only put a fraction of the files/folders back on it. Is the "list" saved to the microSD card?
Also I find it strange the way my contacts will come back to my phone. After the first "sync" it will only put a fraction of my contacts onto my phone, and it is the same people every time - a very random selection of the contacts, but the same selection every time. THEN after waiting 5 minutes or so, the rest follow. So I am wondering why the phone grabs this particular fraction of contacts first?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also been wondering this very same thing. Here's what I've learned, so far:
If you bypass the very first Google sign-in after flashing a new rom, market won't restore your apps (as per gtgx65x).
Under settings > privacy, there's a 'Backup My Settings' option. From reading the Google mobile web page, my understanding is that this is what controls app backup/restore, among other things.
Apparently, and I have yet to actually experiment with this, if you toggle it off, it will "clear" the backups that currently reside on Google servers. Toggling it back on would of course back up your app list, and other things, as it exists currently.
This would be helpful for those who find that when market starts restoring things, it restores *too* much, as in apps you had long since uninstalled, as is the case with me. Market is remembering and reinstalling stuff I haven't had on my phone for quite some time.
Inspired Ace 1.0.1¦ XDA Premium
Related
If I restore all the settings labeled green I can't get a location fix with the Genie widget and I can't move apps to the SD card.
sinbot said:
If I restore all the settings labeled green I can't get a location fix with the Genie widget and I can't move apps to the SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is it exactly that you want to restore??? Personally, I wouldn't (and didnt) restore ANYTHING from titanium. It takes like what 5 minutes to go through the settings menu and set stuff back up the way you had it?
Apps have to be coded to allow them to be moved to sdcard. It's up to the developers to add that option in. It's not because you are restoring stuff from titanium, but because you are trying to move something that doesn't have the ability to be moved yet.
gIMpSTa said:
What is it exactly that you want to restore??? Personally, I wouldn't (and didnt) restore ANYTHING from titanium. It takes like what 5 minutes to go through the settings menu and set stuff back up the way you had it?
Apps have to be coded to allow them to be moved to sdcard. It's up to the developers to add that option in. It's not because you are restoring stuff from titanium, but because you are trying to move something that doesn't have the ability to be moved yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can force your phone to allow apps2sd with pm setInstallLocation=2
In anycase your response was not helpful but dismissive. My reasons to backup and restore are valid enough for me to ask and if you can't answer go find another post to respond to.
In any case I have by trial and error found that a number of settings restore just fine and I have put mot of my applications on the sdcard.
sinbot said:
You can force your phone to allow apps2sd with pm setInstallLocation=2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I know all about this. Anything with a widget or service will not work, but will still goto SD (bad). And other apps may not work properly. YMMV, but personally I set that option on, moved a couple of big apps, tested them, then immediately turned it back off (pm setInstallLocation=0). I'm on my third wipe and things are running better then ever since doing it this way. I had apps that do not include a widget or service, were not protected, that should have run fine from there and did not.
sinbot said:
In anycase your response was not helpful but dismissive. My reasons to backup and restore are valid enough for me to ask and if you can't answer go find another post to respond to.
In any case I have by trial and error found that a number of settings restore just fine and I have put mot of my applications on the sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't being "dismissive" by any means... I was simply curious as to what it was you wanted to restore as it helps to answer "what you can safely restore" if people know what it is that you want. My point about it taking 5 minutes was simply trying to point out you may actually save your self some time and frustration by doing it manually.
gIMpSTa said:
I wasn't being "dismissive" by any means... I was simply curious as to what it was you wanted to restore as it helps to answer "what you can safely restore" if people know what it is that you want. My point about it taking 5 minutes was simply trying to point out you may actually save your self some time and frustration by doing it manually.
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Click to collapse
Maybe you should read hat I wrote before just saying not to even try backing things up. Wow I wanted to keep my settings, text messages and call history and be able to toss my applications on the SD and get a location fix. Some setting carried over stops those from working and wanting to know what it is or why it is is a whole lot more intelligent than just throwing my hands up and saying "Well, I paid for an application I guess I shouldn't use it!"
This probably doesn't help but I personally don't like everything about titanium. It seems to restore too much. I still use it for apps but It's hard to identify what you are restoring when it comes to "data". mybackuppro does a better job of choosing what to back up and restored. very clear and concise, everything is labeled, (ie: sms, call log, mms, playlists, home screen icons etc etc). I know I know, its not help with titanium but maybe it'll help.
sinbot said:
Maybe you should read hat I wrote before just saying not to even try backing things up. Wow I wanted to keep my settings, text messages and call history and be able to toss my applications on the SD and get a location fix. Some setting carried over stops those from working and wanting to know what it is or why it is is a whole lot more intelligent than just throwing my hands up and saying "Well, I paid for an application I guess I shouldn't use it!"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay pointless argument. Once again, I wasn't saying "dont even try!" I said "PERSONALLY, I didn't restore anything". That's because after my first install I did restore several things and it caused issues. I was giving you my personal advice on the matter. Sorry it didn't answer the question the way you wanted, but it wasn't by any means trying to put you or what you wanted to do down.
I also paid for titanium backup and use it and love it all the time. I think we are asking a bit much of it to backup stuff from a (assuming here) custom rom, then importing them onto a stock rom and have absolutely no issues.
Maybe I could have worded my initial response better, but it helps people to answer your questions if we know what you wanted to restore specifically rather then trying to answer what can and cannot be restored. Had you said how can I safely restore my texts, and call logs someone may have piped in and said "I restored X in titantium backup and had no issues!"
Again, wasn't flaming, telling you to give up, or anything. Only offering my personal experiences with this.
sinbot said:
If I restore all the settings labeled green I can't get a location fix with the Genie widget and I can't move apps to the SD card.
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Click to collapse
polo79 said:
This probably doesn't help but I personally don't like everything about titanium. It seems to restore too much. I still use it for apps but It's hard to identify what you are restoring when it comes to "data". mybackuppro does a better job of choosing what to back up and restored. very clear and concise, everything is labeled, (ie: sms, call log, mms, playlists, home screen icons etc etc). I know I know, its not help with titanium but maybe it'll help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with polo79. While Titanium is fantastic at restoring apps and their data, It is not very concise on what data is restored. IMO, the most useful feature Titanium offers is it's ability to replace the Market links to the restored apps. While what you want to do probably is possible using Titanium, MyBackup Pro makes it much more clear cut on what you're restoring.
As far as restoring apps go (and I have many of those), after much trial and error, what I did was restore as much as I could using InstallLocation 0 until I ran out of room. Then I set it to 2 and went through and moved what I thought safe to sd. Then went back and installed more using Titanium using 0 again...well, you get the procedure.
And enough bickering. Gimpsta was only trying to help, but maybe a "no reply" here would have been best.
Well I went through and my results are I can restore all applications and the following datasets without issue to location or installing to sd:
[ACCOUNTS] Account and Sync Settings 2.2 - check.
Application widgets - blanks out desktop but can get location lock.
[Bookmarks] Browser 2.2 - check
[Calendar] Calendar Storage 2.2 - check
[USER DICT] com.amdroid.providers.userdictionary 2.2 - check
[CONTACTS/CALLS] Contacts Storge 2.2 - Check
[SMS/MMS/APN] Dialer Storage 2.2 - check
I didn't try the rest because everything was working and I didn't need anything weird in the rest.
Hi, I'm testing froyo roms now, currently very pleased with performance
Tintanium backup is really a great app, I ditch all other backup programs after installing it.
I was able to restore to froyo, APNs, contacts, call history, wifi settings, sms.
cheers,
can somebody shed some light why i can't restore contacts from 2.1,
sms restored perfectly, but contacts say restored successful but i can't see them, only call log
tnx
don't know why, but here's how i got around it
can't tell you why, but i miight be able to show a way around it.
I had the same problem a couple of time. what i did is exporting my contacts to a "vcf"-file on sd card. after flashing the new rom i imported all contacts with now probs.
hope it will work for you to.
the tiny drawback is, you have to nandroid-backup your actual setup. restore the previous, export your contacts. restore the actual and import.
good luck
sidebar:
anyone know what you need to backup when using titanium to back up my contacts ringtones i set for each contact?
Is there any way to do this without having to re-install all my apps on my phone? I have a lot of apps installed and would not want to lose my data for them.
Also: I have a HTC Magic with 2.1 and cyanogen mod. It is starting to really get slow so I would like to do this upgrade.
Moved to Q&A.
bump, same question!
Try using Titanium Backup from the market. It backs up market links, apps, and app data. Also it backs up launcher's settings.
I would personally just do a clean wipe since Android 2.2 will automatically download and install all your apps.
Titanium Backup Fail
Downloaded the free and paid vesions of TB to a rooted ATT Captivate. Installed normally. Got the latest busybox and did a compete back up. All still ok. Flashed the new 2.2beta8.1 (designgears/cognition ROM) onto the device with Clockwork ROM manager. Still normal. Noticed after the restart, that FroYo installed, and as expected, all my apps were gone, only the stock apps remainng. I started the resoration process with market downloads of with TB and then TB Pro downloads (again) to get set up to go forward with the restore function and replace my apps and settings into the device.
I went to restore and here is where the "trouble" begins. I am unable to restore from the extermal SD card. No method for getting to it from within the program. Despite carefully reading everything I could find on your website and the forums, beforo beginning with the first steps for TB free, and then immediately into TBP, and carefully accomplishing the initial backup (which worked without error and stored onto the external sd card) something is not working the way it should, (I feel).
So I turned to the the PC next. I mounted the sd's and found the file. Copied it over to the root directory on the internal card from the ext sd card with the supplied data cable: ran TBP restore again. TBP indiactes back up successful, but it doesn't resotre anything backed up from the device under 2.1 Eclair_update1.
Still I do not have my contacts, deja office, tune in radio, ect. I did not have a lot of apps, but they are not reappearing when I do the restore.
The starred locs in maps came back, tho I actually think those favs, etc. are stored online.
So, working from memory here, the apps that failed to make the trip: Kindle and my one book Moby **** (a fun re-read - btw I realize now that I was too young to appreciate this when I read it in high school), Bar Code Scanner, BT GPS, Deja Office, Tricorder. None of my 1050 or so Conacts, Tasks, Memos, Notes, were restored. When I look at the Android Market app, and go to the download tab, it only remembers the paid apps I installed, none of the free apps show up in my list of downloaded programs. TuneIn Radio and its dozen or so presets are also missing. These are the missing apps I can recall at this instant. Oddly enough, the calendar appoitments did make the trip, maybe because google online is syncing them?
So I guess you could say the TB PRO app has been pretty much of a flop for me thus far, but I am hopeful that it will be fully functional soon. I'm wondering if the 2.2 ROM upgrade has some implication in the inability of the program to restore from the external sd card? Maybe there is something I missed in your documentation?
I could rebuild everything one step at a time, but I'd rather see the back-up program function as advertied and save my time. So I will pause here in my efforts, run with what I have, and wait to hear from you.
Your comments and suggestions are highly anticipated!
Jack Webster
Springfield, MO
rooted AT&T Captivate/2.2v8.1
I've backed up a few times with My Backup Pro and flashed ROMs, restoring data via the same program. It seems, looking at it now, that I have somehow managed to duplicate my contacts multiple times. I now have a huge number of contacts, many of them identical and I keep getting link suggestions for all of them.
Any ideas how I can clean this mess up? I've searched and found a few related threads in other forums, but none of them were quite this problem and none of them seemed to have any solutions.
It seems I'm also having a similar problem with apps. It looks like my apps that were moved to the SD card originally are still there, but not being seen by the system. My Backup Pro restored all my apps to the phone, and those are the ones it's using. If I move all those apps to the SD card, now I think I'll have two versions of those apps.
Is there any way to run something that can check my phone for these kinds of duplicates and consolidate things a little? I'm getting worried that I'll end up filling my phone up with useless repeats of things until it's just a pile of bloated crap...
I had a similar problem with my google contacts duplicating themselves for some reason. If duplicates are google you can go to google.com/contacts to edit them. There is a "Find Duplicates" button on the right.
I actually just found this as well. I tried it and resynced my google account on the phone and it doesn't seem to have removed them. Is there something I have to do to force the phone to get rid of the duplicates as well?
Not the right place for it, but figured since I have a thread going already I might as well ask here. I'm trying to Fix Permissions in ROM Manager, as I figure those might be pretty messed up after everything as well. But, even though ROM Manager has Root Access, it tells me an error occurred while "trying to run privileged commands." I have the paid version, I'm not sure why this is happening. Thoughts?
EDIT: Didn't want to keep bumping this thing, but I found the app Contact Remover to be a big lifesaver in a few ways. Specifically, I had 75 blank contacts that were just sitting there for some reason. This app allowed me to select multiples and delete them easily, in a way the People app wouldn't! https://market.android.com/details?id=com.octabode.dcfd
Silas0220 said:
It seems I'm also having a similar problem with apps. It looks like my apps that were moved to the SD card originally are still there, but not being seen by the system. My Backup Pro restored all my apps to the phone, and those are the ones it's using. If I move all those apps to the SD card, now I think I'll have two versions of those apps.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is actually something I've been wondering about myself.
Most of my apps are on my SD, and I'm preparing to flash a new Rom, for the first time ever (aside from the rooting process, that is).
Seems I recall something similar occurring post-root, with apps I had on prior.
I'm thinking I should move them back on to the phone, do a new backup, then flash the new Rom, restore, and then move them back to the SD.
Inspire 4G ¦ XDA Premium
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!
Hi xda,
Though my thread title may be a little vague and might supposedly be better asked on google or android per se, just patiently read along as I try to explain my dilemma in more detail.
For ICS users, we all know the convenience of the "backup & restore" feature. Everything from wifi passwords, contacts, and installed apps will be magically restored when you install a new firmware on your phone with a full data wipe. And for us flash junkies, that indeed is really convenient.
But even though I have come to love such feature, I've noticed a few quirks as I was using it over time. The backup manifest or shall I say, the list of backed up data gets cluttered as you continue to backup data over time. This leading to a point where my backup data is now so messed up, whenever it auto restores once again, I see previously uninstalled apps back again and duplicate contact entries. So messed up, that I've decided to stop using this much loved feature and just manually backup my contacts, and re-install apps.
So, I am looking for some solution that I might be somehow able to manually edit that current backed up list (over at google or wherever it's stored), and update which will be restored if ever I flash my phone again. Or wipe that list clean and overwrite it with my current phone state.
Sorry for the long post but I've done my googling and forum searching beforehand only to no avail.
You can forgo that feature entirely and use titanium backup instead, for backing up your personal app data...
Titanium acts a little twitchy when restoring system apps and data across roms with different bases...
Your best bet would be to backup your downloaded apps with titanium, backup contacts and msgs (and call logs) from other market apps (I use go backup)...
For bluetooth and wifi access points, I haven't found anything that is truly cross compatible among roms...so better of you just write it down somewhere and refer that later...
Typed using a small touchscreen