• Re: Doing a backup

    From Carlos E.R.@3:633/10 to All on Monday, June 08, 2026 21:19:21
    On 2026-06-08 18:51, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E.R. wrote:
    The difference is in the Android/data/* directory, many things are missing.

    I have been doing backup since forever, but I looked up what the
    current state of affairs is, so this is from my search results only.

    As noted, without root, with later Android versions, getting data out of protected sandboxed storage is, well, it's nigh near likely impossible.

    Most people, as we all know, would use Google's marketed method to backup
    and restore an old phone to a new phone, but there may be a better way.

    If they're lucky, they can use an OEM's preferred backup method too.
    a. Samsung Smart Switch (PC backup)
    b. Pixel Switch
    c. Motorola Rescue and Smart Assistant

    My phones are Motorola, and my new tablet is Lenovo. I'm not familiar
    with this tool, unless it is the thing that runs on first boot.


    --
    Cheers, Carlos.
    ES??, EU??;

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Carlos E.R.@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 20:04:17
    On 2026-06-09 04:40, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E.R. wrote:
    c. Motorola Rescue and Smart Assistant

    My phones are Motorola, and my new tablet is Lenovo. I'm not familiar
    with this tool, unless it is the thing that runs on first boot.

    My last Motorola was the Moto G that Google Fi gave me for $100 years ago.

    Here's the European site on the Motorola Rescue & Smart Assistant tool.
    <https://en-emea.support.motorola.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/161942/p/11325>

    (the page tries to switch me to the Spain site)



    I'm not sure why they even have a USA site that seems the same though.
    <https://en-us.support.motorola.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/161942/p/11138>

    Bear in mind it only backs up your media and contacts and the like.
    a. It does NOT back up apps or app data.
    b. It requires a Windows PC (Windows 7/10/11).
    c. The backup is encrypted (but you give it the password)

    It's mainly intended for use before a software repair or factory reset.
    Dunno how well it works though.

    Well, if it is Windows only, I can't easily use it.

    I'll save the link, thanks, for the occasion.


    Whastapp saves its things to ".../Android/media/com.whatsapp", but some
    do under ".../Android/data/", like for instance:

    /au.com.shiftyjelly.pocketcasts 16626M (podcasts) /com.google.android.apps.maps 83037K (cache)
    /com.mobialia.gas.spain 14620K (map_cache.db) /com.pixlr.express 101696K (working files)
    /com.wallapop 33446K (photos)
    /com.xiaomi.wearable 75163K (logs)
    /es.bancosantander.apps 15186K (photo uploads) /net.osmand.plus 16933M (several)
    /org.videolan.vlc 17901K (jpgs?)

    (only the biggest users, there are many more)

    This entire directory is missed when doing a backup by FTP.


    --
    Cheers, Carlos.
    ES??, EU??;

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Carlos E.R.@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 22:26:22
    On 2026-06-09 20:41, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E.R. wrote:
    This entire directory is missed when doing a backup by FTP.

    Bummer that the Motorola tool apparently only works on Windows.
    Sorry about that. I could be wrong though, so doublecheck it, as it seems
    to work on macOS which usually (often?) means it can also work with Linux.

    I did not notice a download link. :-?


    I noticed two things doing that research for you, one of which I've been noticing for the past year or two, which is that almost everything on the
    net about Android backup is outdated by each new Android release.

    Starting around Android 11, each new Android release seems to have added
    more and more protection, such that almost everything out there is wrong.

    I found this out the hard way when I was valiantly trying to get Muntashirakon App Manager's "back up apk" menu to work on Android 13.

    Given we all know and respect Muntashirakon, I was not, at first, willing
    to believe that the "Backup APK" (as opposed to "Save APK") wouldn't work.

    I tried valiantly simply because I couldn't believe Muntashirakon had a
    menu that didn't work, so I even added Shizuku to the mix, to no avail.

    I tried for hours, and finally gave up, where we could blame Muntashirakon, but not really since no non-root app can defeat Android permissions.

    Luckily, the Muntashirakon "Save APK" menu works beautifully, but what's different is the "Backup APK" menu also saved the app's data along with it.

    My main point, in summary, is what used to work, no longer works, and therefore, much of what is on the Internet is wrong for app-data backup.

    Aha.

    --
    Cheers, Carlos.
    ES??, EU??;

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Dave Royal@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 21:57:34
    Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> Wrote in message:

    My main point, in summary, is what used to work, no longer works, and therefore, much of what is on the Internet is wrong for app-data backup.

    Indeed. When I was poking about in Android 13 the other day, I
    tried 'adb backup' which I used to use to extract app data. It
    didn't work. And it warned that backup was deprecated and was
    likely to be removed. And it was not included in 'adb
    help'.

    https://developer.android.com/about/versions/12/behavior-changes-12#adb-backup-restrictions
    --
    Remove numerics from my email address.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)