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
Related
I figured these questions would have been answered somewhere but my forum searches didn't turn up anything, so if it has been, feel free to direct me to the correct location. Here goes:
I have Titanium Backup Pro, and am getting ready to flash the Cognition ROM (I have a Samsung Captivate). I have in many places seen people recommend to only backup and then restore user apps and app data when switching from one ROM to another (or from stock to a ROM). However, when I look in the batch list (I have version 3.6.7 of TB) there is an option for user apps, system data, or user apps and system data but no option for user apps and app data. Is app data included in the batch file for apps?
Also, a wiki I read (can't post the link, too junior) claims that you can restore apps without restrictions across ROMS, which to me means that restoring system data shouldn't be a problem.
Essentially, I am worried that if I only back up user apps using the batch file, when I restore, the apps will be there, but their data (like my prized angry birds progress, heaven forbid I lose it) won't be. Is that the case or does the user apps backup include that kind of stuff?
Also, it seems like system data includes things like SMS history. Should I go through and backup specific parts of the system data like texts and contacts and restore those but just not use the batch file?
Thanks to anyone who can either answer these questions or direct me to the correct thread/website.
cdenney said:
I figured these questions would have been answered somewhere but my forum searches didn't turn up anything, so if it has been, feel free to direct me to the correct location. Here goes:
I have Titanium Backup Pro, and am getting ready to flash the Cognition ROM (I have a Samsung Captivate). I have in many places seen people recommend to only backup and then restore user apps and app data when switching from one ROM to another (or from stock to a ROM). However, when I look in the batch list (I have version 3.6.7 of TB) there is an option for user apps, system data, or user apps and system data but no option for user apps and app data. Is app data included in the batch file for apps?
Also, a wiki I read (can't post the link, too junior) claims that you can restore apps without restrictions across ROMS, which to me means that restoring system data shouldn't be a problem.
Essentially, I am worried that if I only back up user apps using the batch file, when I restore, the apps will be there, but their data (like my prized angry birds progress, heaven forbid I lose it) won't be. Is that the case or does the user apps backup include that kind of stuff?
Also, it seems like system data includes things like SMS history. Should I go through and backup specific parts of the system data like texts and contacts and restore those but just not use the batch file?
Thanks to anyone who can either answer these questions or direct me to the correct thread/website.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always backed up user apps and data and system data. The trick is to uncheck anything you're not sure of when you go to restore.
The only system data I restore is my wifi access points. You should have your angry birds progress, but I've never had my sms restore.
Make a nandroid before you restore so that you can go back if it starts acting wonky on you.
I hope this helps!
you said you back up user apps, <i>data</i>, and system data. TB for me doesn't have an option of apps and data. It only has apps or apps and system data, which is why I'm worried.
Sent from my Samsung Captivate
cdenney said:
you said you back up user apps, <i>data</i>, and system data. TB for me doesn't have an option of apps and data. It only has apps or apps and system data, which is why I'm worried.
Sent from my Samsung Captivate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it automatically backs up the app and the data
you can restore apps accross roms but your asking for trouble if you try and restore data.
there should be an option in the batch to "restore missing apps with data" when you click "run" it will pop up with all the apps and at the top it will have a radio button to select app, app + data, or...um something else perhaps just data? (sorry flashing something else on my phone right now)
always select just app when flashing a different rom, else you might end up with a soft brick or atleast some FC.
hope this helps.
If I have helped please click my "Thanks" button!
I've just got a Nexus S after having a Desire for 6 months but how would I transfer over my app settings? I know that once I log in with my Gmail account, this'll transfer over a lot but there are other things like system preferences, app preferences, game saves etc that probably won't.
I haven't rooted my phone - I've customised it extensively (as much as possible without rooting) and don't want to root and lose that now as that defeats the purpose of this migration. So I can't use Titanium Backup or most of the other backup options.
Could I just copy everything from my SD card, transfer that to a computer, and then transfer that to the internal memory of the Nexus?
Any help would be much appreciated.
you can only transfer user apps + settings
no system settings
Ah ok so leaving system preferences alone, would I transfer the apps and settings by moving the entire contents as-is from my Desire SD card to the root folder of the Nexus? Are the only things stored on internal memory system settings/preferences?
sort of...
do a full backup using titanium backup
then copy over the titanium backup folder from your Desire to SNS
then when you run TI on SNS, make sure to select only restore "User Apps + User Settings"
Ah, I haven't rooted my Froyo Desire - is there any way to transfer without rooting?
The Desire's going to someone who isn't going to want root privileges as they'll want OTA updates without flashing custom ROMs.
that wont work then
all the apps available on market that lets you do full backup requires root
the ones that does not requires roots, does not save your settings, it only saves the APK
That's quite a large oversight by those developers that don't back up to the cloud in that case. I understand the limitations posed by not having root privileges, but for many end-users that is going to put an unnecessary sting in migrating between Android phones.
Thanks for the info AllGamer.
developers can't do much about it.
it's the OS security limitation, if you have no root, you can't get access to the settings data which are protected by default if you are not rooted
sandeepg said:
That's quite a large oversight by those developers that don't back up to the cloud in that case. I understand the limitations posed by not having root privileges, but for many end-users that is going to put an unnecessary sting in migrating between Android phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cloud backups are not the only way. An application could also export settings to sdcard and be able restore them.
I think that Google should also draw some guidelines and even integrate them in the framework to ease the life of the developers and users.
Why not put something like:
/sdcard/backup/<packagename>.settings
When this file was present and no settings in the phone (new install/clean data) a dialog could popup asking if the user would want to import the settings.
Google should also allow to backup this files (basically the contents of each app data) from the settings menu. It could be on demand and/or scheduled.
Security risks aside, migrations would be easier.
by all means you can report this issue to Google and make it a BUG or FEATURE REQUEST. then it'll be a matter of time before enough people STARTs it and flags it as a high priority item for Google to have it integrated
DoomFragger said:
Cloud backups are not the only way. An application could also export settings to sdcard and be able restore them.
I think that Google should also draw some guidelines and even integrate them in the framework to ease the life of the developers and users.
Why not put something like:
/sdcard/backup/<packagename>.settings
When this file was present and no settings in the phone (new install/clean data) a dialog could popup asking if the user would want to import the settings.
Google should also allow to backup this files (basically the contents of each app data) from the settings menu. It could be on demand and/or scheduled.
Security risks aside, migrations would be easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that people have had the device for a few days, I was hoping their to headstart could help potential switchers and as the SR doesn't have it's own forum yet so I'm asking here.
Newbie alert!!!!
I am wondering how easy it will be to move from the Gs2 to the skyrocket? Basically any recommended ways of moving my apps, texts, pictures, etc to the SdCARD and back from the SdCard to the new phone? Contacts are synced with Google Contacts so no problems there, my main concern is with paid apps, I'd rather not pay for them again.
Can I back up apps via TiBU and restore them on the Skyrocket? Or can I just reinstall them on the new phone?
End of Newbie question!!!!
Paid apps are in your google account as well, you will be able to reinstall all your paid apps through the market (without repaying) by just signing in to your same google account.
The only thing you need to backup is your pictures/music.
Here's what I did to migrate to my Skyrocket from my Captivate:
*Duh Alert* Have your original phone rooted and Titanium Pro installed.
Original Phone
1. Backup APK & Data with Titanium.
2. Locate where backup directory is on your phone. Mine was \sdcard\TitaniumBackup
3. Mount original phone and copy backup directory to your computer.
New Hotness
1. Root that bad boy. Search the site, its here.
2. Install Titanium Pro from market.
3. Back up 1 app, pick something silly. That will create the backup directory.
4. Mount the new hotness and copy your saved directory from your computer to the Skyrocket.
5. Restore apps. I did one at a time cuz I didn't want everything installed on the new phone.
95% of the apps and data restored properly.
Simplistic, yes....but it works. Go forth and multiply.
If you want the smoothest experience on your Skyrocket, do NOT use a backup tool to bring over apps, just reinstall them from the Market.
Copying apps and app date with a tool like Titanium does and WILL cause some issues.
crawlgsx said:
If you want the smoothest experience on your Skyrocket, do NOT use a backup tool to bring over apps, just reinstall them from the Market.
Copying apps and app date with a tool like Titanium does and WILL cause some issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To partially agree with you I tried using MyBackUp Pro and almost everything failed. That's what I deserve for buying that one first back in the day. BUT....Titanium worked great. All of my paid apps were as good as gold.
Plus, if you want your saved data, wouldn't you have to use a backup tool?
gheck911 said:
To partially agree with you I tried using MyBackUp Pro and almost everything failed. That's what I deserve for buying that one first back in the day. BUT....Titanium worked great. All of my paid apps were as good as gold.
Plus, if you want your saved data, wouldn't you have to use a backup tool?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your just trying to backup like game saves then sometimes. A lot of times that data can be backed up by just mounting your sdcard to your computer and copying the files. Some games do save the data in funny locations so you do need (easier) to use something like Titanium, but you are always better off starting from as scratch as possible to avoid issues later.
Moving an app to save you from entering your login info for example, is just a bad idea. Most apps have no real data to backup, simple 2 second settings etc....
crawlgsx said:
If you want the smoothest experience on your Skyrocket, do NOT use a backup tool to bring over apps, just reinstall them from the Market.
Copying apps and app date with a tool like Titanium does and WILL cause some issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have found that most issues with TiBu are do to you trying to restore System Information......i used tibu to restore my apps on the Skyrockert. i just picked APPS only with out system data.
worked fine i have not seen a hickup on any device or install after a flash of new Rom.
the2rrell said:
i have found that most issues with TiBu are do to you trying to restore System Information......i used tibu to restore my apps on the Skyrockert. i just picked APPS only with out system data.
worked fine i have not seen a hickup on any device or install after a flash of new Rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
TiBu works great, usually, for restoring NON-System apps and their data.
Avoid restoring system apps/data.
Also, if you do happen to run into a problem with a particular restored app, all you need to do is uninstall/reinstall it and then use TiBu to restore the "data only" for that app.
This has always worked for me.
y?
Its basically the same phone, screen tiny bit bigger and it edges r round, and the. 3 faster CPU is not noticeable, and if u don't live in the handful of citys that have lte network what's the point by the time LTE gets fully activated skyrocket will be old phone something way better out, now if u didn't have the gs2 already if say hell ya but since u do wasted money IMO
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.
Hey guys,
I want to update to Android 12 on my S21 Ultra. But since I'm not rooted, I can't use my lovely TitaniumBackup from back in the time.
Last time I made a backup, some people said not to use SmartSwitch because it's causing problems on the newer OS and may slow down recovered apps.
I also want to know if SmartSwitch saves all the app data such as settings inside of apps etc.
Are there any better options on backing up app data without root?
Greez,
skrippi
skrippi said:
Hey guys,
I want to update to Android 12 on my S21 Ultra. But since I'm not rooted, I can't use my lovely TitaniumBackup from back in the time.
Last time I made a backup, some people said not to use SmartSwitch because it's causing problems on the newer OS and may slow down recovered apps.
I also want to know if SmartSwitch saves all the app data such as settings inside of apps etc.
Are there any better options on backing up app data without root?
Greez,
skrippi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are ways to backup app data for user apps without root but not ways to backup system data. Also, if you're switching from one device to another, backing up system app data would not be useful because restoring system app data from one device to another would probably cause issues. In this case, backing up only your user app data is what you need.
Here are two relatively simple methods.
1) You can connect the device to your PC, then use Windows file explorer to open the device's storage, find the Android/data folder, inside that folder you will find a folder in which each user app stores its data. Make a copy of all the folders that contain app data that you want to keep and dave them on your PC. Then connect the new device and use Windows file explorer to transfer those copied folders to the Android/data folder on the new device then reboot the device. This will transfer all data for each user app, including its internal app settings.
2) You can use the adb backup method, using the proper command to backup only user app data then use adb commands to transfer that data to the new device.
[GUIDE] Full Phone Backup without Unlock or Root
Like a lot of you, I have been putting off unlocking the bootloader on my Nexus because I didn't want to have to go through the hassle of backing up everything manually and restoring individual application data; logging back into apps; saving...
forum.xda-developers.com
You can likely safely use SmartSwitch to backup at least your homepage settings.
Apps it may or may not work when going between different devices or OS versions.
On my new N10+ running on 10 I inadvertently backed up the apps to be copied from my other N10+ running on 9. It worked, including the Goodlock physical navigation buttons migrated as well.
So if you're having issues after using SmartSwitch*, do another factory reset without it.
Otherwise it may work fine even with the apps going from 11 to 12.
I would go from the full tour...
Another Adroid mad scientist experiment
*always backup critical data redundantly to at least two hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. SmartSwitch can fail miserably. Backup all critical data separately from SmartSwitch backup!!!
@skrippi
SmartSwitch is a tool provided by Samsung to transfer virtually all data you can think of from one Samsung phone to another Samsung phone via Wi-Fi.
Personally don't think it doesn't properly work: Samsung cannot afford such a disgrace.
xXx yYy said:
@skrippi
SmartSwitch is a tool provided by Samsung to transfer virtually all data you can think of from one Samsung phone to another Samsung phone via Wi-Fi.
Personally don't think it doesn't properly work: Samsung cannot afford such a disgrace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Last time I used SmartSwitch it copied all my apps, but not the settings I made inside those apps which makes this program totally useless for me.
xXx yYy said:
@skrippi
SmartSwitch is a tool provided by Samsung to transfer virtually all data you can think of from one Samsung phone to another Samsung phone via Wi-Fi.
Personally don't think it doesn't properly work: Samsung cannot afford such a disgrace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, you never used Samsung Kies, it was much worse
skrippi said:
Last time I used SmartSwitch it copied all my apps, but not the settings I made inside those apps which makes this program totally useless for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bare in mind the reason one is doing a factory reset is they lost control of the situation and can't troubleshoot the device effectively. It's meant to be a full nuke of user data.
Most app data isn't critical. Some of that data may be the root cause of the problem requiring the reset.
All critical data should already be backed up. Apps that don't support backup for their critical data shouldn't be used in the first place. Quality apps like PowerAmp, DIGI Clock and Color Note offer full offline backup support. Going through your other apps as you're setting them up refamilarizes you with them and allows you to correct setup mistakes made previously.
The goal of factory reset is to iron out the mistakes you made on previous loads.
This N10+ running on Pie has been factory reset 3 times (2 of those where boot loops). The last load was finally a clean one, after 22 months it remains fast, stable and fulfilling its mission with minimal maintenance. Any occasional problems since the reload were solved without a reset.
Stock Androids can be very stable and secure if you are careful what you load, and do regular maintenance as needed. I use Device Care, SD Maid, Karma Firewall, Package Disabler to do maintenance along with clearing the system cache. I never update the firmware and rarely update apps. I also keep installable copies of all apps and app updates (multiple versions) for repairs and reloading. I can do a full reload from my SD card with no internet access with no critical data loss. Intial setup with a full app load up takes about an hour.
If you put some thought into it a stock Android can be one of the best PCs on the planet. If you do a factory reset, be prepared and think it out beforehand.
Always redundantly backup critical data to at least two hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. Verify the data is readable and all there. Never encrypt or clone data drives*!!!
Go for the clean load you missed on previous loads... that's the goal of a factory reset.
*If you use SmartSwitch make sure all critical data is backed up independently of SmartSwitch; folder by folder cut/paste.