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I'm curious for any insights anyone has into this: it seems like most of my apps can only have their data backed up by Titanium Backup (which of course requires root), but Android itself seems to offer a mechanism for apps to backup any of their data to its servers (described here). Why don't more apps use this? It would make life so much easier if I could restore my apps with their data when I get a new phone without needing to worry about rooting. Are there issues with this mechanism of backing up data that is preventing it from gaining more traction? (or is this function used more commonly than I'm thinking it is based on my very un-scientific and anecdotal observation of the apps I have?)
Maybe the data that these apps use are somewhere in a folder requiring root access to view them. Maybe that's why.
Thanks, but I think you're reading my question to be about why users can only backup app data with Titanium Backup (or other programs that require root access).
My real question is: why don't app makers just use the tools that Google has provided for them to backup their data to Google's servers? This would obviate the need for us to worry about backing up our app data at all. It looks to me like this functionality Google has designed (as described here) should make it so that when I re-install an app (or install it on a new phone), all of my settings automatically return from the cloud without me -- which sounds HEAVENLY! Why isn't this being used more?
just realised android has this.. how do I know if an app are using this? is it in the permissions?
djmickyg said:
just realised android has this.. how do I know if an app are using this? is it in the permissions?
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Yeah, that's a good question, and I'm not sure. I don't recall seeing any permissions about this.
I feel like Android's app data backup service is one of the greatest and most underused and under-appreciated features of the OS. How do we get more developers to use this?
Hey guys,
First of all a little intro. I started playing with rooting, flashing mods and ROMs few weeks ago. I have been reading the general, Q&A and dev forums a lot and I have made sure from my end that this question has not yet been asked. In the case that these questions have already been asked and answered, please direct me to that thread.
So, I started off with just rooting my phone, few days later installed a custom kernel, few days later started modding stuff like battery icons and like and just few days back flashed a custom ROM for the first time.
After flashing the ROM (Turkbey 32.1 ported to i777 by LilChris), I restored whatever I could using Titanium backup PRO (restored only missing apps+data). But there were few things that did NOT get restored and have to reconfigure all that from scratch. Here's the list of things that had to be reconfigured.
AUTO START PREFERENCES: Is it possible to port the auto start settings to a new ROM? I had configured many apps to not auto start at bootup using Gemini App Manager. But after flashing this ROM, I have to do everything again. TiBU apparently couldn't backup/restore those settings from Gemini App Manager.
FROZEN STATES: Is it possible to preserve the frozen state of apps when switching ROMs? I had to re-freeze few selected apps (I have few rogue apps which I keep installed but frozen hoping that a future update will improve that app's impact on battery. Example: Facebook, Kik, ..) because restore using TiBU simply restored those apps but did not re-freeze them.
Thanks.
A request to the mod: Please move this to the correct forum in case it is not. I keep seeing questions of this genre in "General" as well as "Q&A" forums. So I am not 100% sure if this is the right place for this question.
Wow! About 100 views and no replies? Is my question too dumb?
Let me rephrase the question this way:
How do you guys do backup/restore of autostart pref and frozen states of apps? Or do you care to do that?
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "autostart preferences". And, you cant save the "frozen apps" from TiBu. Just refreeze them when you install a new rom. It should only take a few seconds to do that.
I know what he means, and I don't know of a way to take the preferences with you. I've restored an app with data (autostarts) and it didn't take the saved data with it. It makes sense that you wouldn't be able to do it. Restoring nandroids restores it as it was though, but not across roms. I'll keep an eye on this thread in case someone knows of a way.
Sent from my Galaxy SII
nyydynasty said:
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "autostart preferences".
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I use Gemini App Manager to control which apps can auto start under different conditions. For example, I don't want Fluent News to start when the phone boots. If needed I will start the app manually and then let it fetch the latest news. "Autostarts" app can also do the same thing. These apps don't have a way to export my preferences. So when I flash a new ROM, I have to set the auto start preferences of 10s of apps manually. I am looking for a way to avoid this manual step every time I flash a new ROM.
nyydynasty said:
And, you cant save the "frozen apps" from TiBu. Just refreeze them when you install a new rom. It should only take a few seconds to do that.
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I have over 300 apps and I keep quite a few apps frozen and defrost them only when needed. Few examples of such apps: GPS Status, GTalk, bunch of system apps (even on custom ROMs). It takes quite some time for me to scroll through that app list on TiBU, reading the app names one by one and freezing the required.
Well, just today I read somewhere that I could filter the current frozen apps, apply a label to them and export the settings to update.zip. After flashing a new ROM, flashing that update.zip should retrieve my label assignments. I haven't yet tried that, but will on my next ROM flash.
jazzboyrules said:
Well, just today I read somewhere that I could filter the current frozen apps, apply a label to them and export the settings to update.zip. After flashing a new ROM, flashing that update.zip should retrieve my label assignments. I haven't yet tried that, but will on my next ROM flash.
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good luck
Not sure if this will help you, but you may want to have a look at Boot Manager (app)
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
nyydynasty said:
good luck
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That technique worked for freezing my selecting apps using batch operation!
Alright. One problem solved. Now looking for a way to backup/restore my autostart preferences.
jazzboyrules said:
AUTO START PREFERENCES: Is it possible to port the auto start settings to a new ROM? I had configured many apps to not auto start at bootup using Gemini App Manager. But after flashing this ROM, I have to do everything again. TiBU apparently couldn't backup/restore those settings from Gemini App Manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used System Tuner (it's on the Market) to do this, that is disable/re-enable individual apps from startup, in the past. It has a LOT of options, can almost replace TiBu (well not really but it does have some backup options). I couldn't find a setting that would easily export/import preferences but I think it puts some of it's data on the sdcard so it might survive wipes.
If I figure it out either way I'll repost.
I just went from Paranoid Android to CyanogenMod, and expected to have to re-add several apps. If I go from an AOSP ROM back to a TouchWiz ROM, it is treated as a different device, and I get an app list months old. I was pleased to see Android attempting to download my newest set of apps...
However, the sync failed like it does 50% of the time (every app individually fails). Now when I visit the Google Play store, I see my 'new' phone with only a couple of apps installed. I just lost the entire list. Since there's no way to batch install apps with the Play Store, I get to spend a looooong time looking up and reinstalling them by clicking around like an idiot.
Am I missing something? Every element of the story I just described seems like awful design. I'd really not like to resort to AppBrain or something like it. It's incredibly stupid that if the Play Store has some error syncing apps, it makes the new short list the new goal for syncing (so, it won't even try next time).
In short, it would be ideal to have my list of installed apps tied to my account, so that in the event of a problem, I could just push a large "Yes, download ****ing everything" button. Apps that aren't compatible with THIS device can just be skipped I guess. Why is this so hard? Instead I'm going down my 'All' list on my phone, tapping 5 times per app to install them one by ****ing one.
Why don't you just backup apps with titanium and then restore them when you flash a new rom? Titanium has batch commands so it's pretty much one click for each. You can also set up a back up schedule so things are always backed up
Aside from my hesitation to use another app to perform a function that is already supported...
Is Titanium storing the apps themselves, or a list of apps? I really really really do not want to store several MB/GB of data which may or may not be corrupted. If anything, I want to simply store a list of apps, which will all re-download upon restoring the backup.
AndrewZorn said:
Aside from my hesitation to use another app to perform a function that is already supported...
Is Titanium storing the apps themselves, or a list of apps? I really really really do not want to store several MB/GB of data which may or may not be corrupted. If anything, I want to simply store a list of apps, which will all re-download upon restoring the backup.
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Yea it will store all the apps. But if they are working, they probably aren't corrupt.
Also, I have had a few phones over the years linked to my Google account and the play store is never segmented by phone. All my apps that I have been using since my OG Droid show up on my note 2. The times I have let the play store sync my apps they all downloaded fine as long as your screen doesn't turn off which you can force to stay on in the dev settings
I have been using titanium for 5 years now. And have restored my apps literally hundreds of times. Never once did it not work. Never had a single failure. I also have only had the play store re install my apps once. That was the very first time time I flashed a rom back on my droid. That was the first and only time it did that.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda premium
Simply as a matter of principle, I am not concerned with storing the apps themselves. The entire point of the app sync is to keep track of what I have installed. Backing up the apps themselves strikes me as a different goal entirely.
I've had many successful restores myself, but just as many failures. It isn't that difficult of a task... and if it does fail, when every app for some reason (even if it is a legitimate one) isn't installed , there's no way to retry the process. Your new list of synced apps is now the tiny amount that succeeded, the rest are lost to needing to manually reselect. This is absurd.
Multiple phones are definitely treated as separate app lists. I have 5 devices on my Play Store account; each has its own list of associated apps.
This is because every time you flash your phone, or factory reset for that matter, your phone gets a new device ID. That makes it look like a new device to the play store. This will happen anytime you flash a ROM and wipe data. Dirty flashes do not change the ID.
If you use titanium back up, it automatically stores your device ID, so it will prompt you to revert it back the first time opening it after flashing the ROM. This will allow you to maybe reinstall apps through play store, or at least keep the "app list".
I personally think you are being petty about this. It's not Google's fault you are constantly flashing your phone and creating new app ID's.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
I have had the play store fail upon sync before, but it has never failed to keep the list of all the apps I've installed on any device tied to my google account. Strange that said list got wiped for you.
I'd just install a backup app and call it a day. I use Ultimate Backup Pro, by Jrummy. The newest version will sync your apps (a list, or the data) to Dropbox, Box, or Google Drive.
^^^ +1 for this
nrfitchett4 said:
This is because every time you flash your phone, or factory reset for that matter, your phone gets a new device ID. That makes it look like a new device to the play store. This will happen anytime you flash a ROM and wipe data. Dirty flashes do not change the ID.
If you use titanium back up, it automatically stores your device ID, so it will prompt you to revert it back the first time opening it after flashing the ROM. This will allow you to maybe reinstall apps through play store, or at least keep the "app list".
I personally think you are being petty about this. It's not Google's fault you are constantly flashing your phone and creating new app ID's.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
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I'd like to agree that it is petty, or believe the terms of the problem as you describe them.
It isn't petty that a feature is not working correctly. Flashing a phone gives a new device ID, but so does losing it, or replacing it. You're passing off the lack of harmony as my mistake.
The mere fact none of us can find a way to retry the app sync proves my point; this argument alone brings me a bit of closure, because at least I am not the only one with the issue. If you are all happy with backing up actual program data instead of realizing the power of a synced list, fine. To suggest this behavior is the intention of Google, however, is nonsense.
...and one last word: if it were as simple as getting a new device ID upon each flash, surely I'd be able to log in to the Play Store and view the list of apps on my 'old' device, right? How does Google know that device no longer exists? How are the two ideas of "syncing apps, but not across different devices" and "getting a new ID upon flash, then attempting to sync" both able to exist?
Perhaps I'm wrong about all of this, but can you really say using 3rd party software to remedy a failed sync is not noteworthy? I specifically remember myself mocking the idea of avoiding 3rd party software when a user wanted to solve a problem... this is much different. This is a legitimate issue with an existing feature.
AndrewZorn said:
If you are all happy with backing up actual program data instead of realizing the power of a synced list, fine.
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No one said you should backup/restore app data, just the app itself. The app data is actually frowned upon for the most part. Although I have done it numerous times and have never had an issue, but that's a whole different can of worms
But in the end, you do what you want to do.
You are tilting at windmills.
There is a reason everyone uses an app backup program like Titanium or My Backup Pro (those are the two I use). It's the easiest/fastest way to restore apps. Google backup and restore was not intended for 'us' who root. No amount of believing its wrong the way it works is going to change that.
There are apps that will only backup the market link (to your storage) but the only one I know of does not have a one button restore. But it's called App List Backup if you want to check it out.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda premium
I love titanium backup. The fact that I can backup all of my apps and restore them plus restore data, such as the music that's already buffered on Google play music is great. Is a time saver! Imop
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
I still feel like you guys are misunderstanding me (mostly, yes, I've tried App List Backup, and it's alright, "Google should already do this better" aside)...
Backing up programs themselves to create some huge file is a completely different thing than maintaining a list of installed apps on Google's servers. Completely different things. You may be willing to say they accomplish the same goal, something I disagree with. Let's stop talking about rooting and flashing, and start considering the idea of a lost/broken/corrupted phone. If the Google app sync worked better (in terms of reliability or feature set), it would be a painless task to have a new phone redownload all apps installed on the old one.
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AndrewZorn said:
I still feel like you guys are misunderstanding me (mostly, yes, I've tried App List Backup, and it's alright, "Google should already do this better" aside)...
Backing up programs themselves to create some huge file is a completely different thing than maintaining a list of installed apps on Google's servers. Completely different things. You may be willing to say they accomplish the same goal, something I disagree with. Let's stop talking about rooting and flashing, and start considering the idea of a lost/broken/corrupted phone. If the Google app sync worked better (in terms of reliability or feature set), it would be a painless task to have a new phone redownload all apps installed on the old one.
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You like to find problems instead of solutions. Sure it's a little bit of work to go down the Google Play list and install the one you want but how often are you planning to break/lose/corrupt your phone?
Backup file size. Backup to dropbox. Backup to your SDCard. Move your backup file to your PC.
Restoring a device to the way it was. Do a nandroid. Use your extSDCard. Root the new phone and restore. Boom exactly the way you left it.
I think you already mentioned that you didn't want to use AppBrain. But that is another potential solution.
I realize you want a perfect native Google solution but we are not the ones who can solve that for you. It would be a nice feature, but I still wouldn't use it. App backup gives me more control with really no downside. And nandroid is a perfect system restore with data intact.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda premium
Hi guys!
Anyone can tell me why pls? I dont know exactly what i can do after that.
Subzeromot said:
Hi guys!
Anyone can tell me why pls? I dont know exactly what i can do after that.
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I would recommend reading the official XDA introduction guide to rooting that will answer all your questions and more on root found here. Let me know if you have any additional questions I'll be happy to answer them for you.
Subzeromot said:
Hi guys!
Anyone can tell me why pls? I dont know exactly what i can do after that.
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There are many articles on the internet that explain this. I'll give you the gist of them though:
Debloating. "Bloat" is unwanted/unneeded apps. They take up space, they slow things down, and they bug you for updates. You can't always delete what you don't want because these apps are installed by the manufacturer or carrier as "system" apps, rather than "user" apps. With root access you can uninstall system apps. Be careful in what you delete though, and always do a back-up first.
Back-ups. With apps like Titanium, ROM Tool Box, and Helium, you can do full back-ups of your apps. It's a good idea to do a back-up before updating some apps, as you might prefer the older version vs the new one. Or, you can back-up a game that doesn't save to a server/cloud and you don't lose your progress. And you can back up system apps before deleting them so you can always restore them if things go awry.
Ad blocking. With apps like AdAway you can block ads within apps/games and also ads within your web browsers. Besides making things cleaner and less annoying, this improves load times and reduces data usage because the ads don't have to load.
Customization. Root access can let you use certain apps to customize the appearance and function of your OS. Most notable is the Xposed framework, an extremely powerful tool that utilizes individual modules to not only change how your phone looks, but how it can fundamentally operate.
Performance. Even without a custom kernel, you can still use a kernel controller app to tweak your phone for better performance or better battery life. Exactly what can be done and by how much depends on the phone.
Free wifi tethering. There are apps that bypass your carrier and phone's built-in tether provisioning.
Tasker. Tasker is an app that can automate your phone to do whatever you want whenever you want it to happen. It's nearly limitless.
I was wondering if anyone out there has made or adjusted there rom to strip out all the things that aren't used and make it just focused on the core operations (radio, calls, navigation, music, poweramp, dvd with a couple of extras like torque) - the aim would be to make the device as quick as possible.
For example, I don't use the email client or video on this; don't plan to add a reversing camera etc. But all the MTC keys, etc are useful to get it work properly so you would need to do this. So has anyone done this before? Just interested to know if the device/stock rom could be speeded up by any reasonable margin.
If you wish to remove unwanted apps from a MTCB head unit ROM, after rooting (generally it's very easy) you can freely delete all the useless apps you don't need.
I do intend to do that - you can do that using titantium backup right?
Would this speed up the headunit much - or unlikely to that much as most of it is probably not running in any case?
Would be helpful if there was a list of apps you can remove safely and apps you can't. Last year I uninstalled a load of telephony related apps which messed it all up. Error messages everywhere. I had to reinstall Android.
Mr Bigglesworth said:
you can do that using titantium backup right?
Would this speed up the headunit much - or unlikely to that much as most of it is probably not running in any case?
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Yes, you can use Titanium Backup or other root disabler apps.
General speed might be however only slightly increased but it depends on which apps were running automatically as startup.
If you want to try to speed up the boot time you can find some useful information here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3246437