I root then use TWRP to backup the data partition to memory card.
I'vr also used Titanium Backup (paid version) in the past (non-root phone) with good results, but not w/in past 3 years so ymmv.
Ask HN: How do you back up your Android phone?
11–20 of 57 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you back up your Android phone?
#12For those who haven't encountered it yet, titanium backup (per-app) and TWRP (full partitions) are the gold standard... Assuming you control your phone. I'm not aware of any solution if you don't have root or an unlocked bootloader; AFAIK Google's official solution is sync to Drive (or ... Google One, now? If that's different?), but last I checked support was spotty, and of course that requires internet.
I have found titanium backup to work well however in my experience it does not restore device accounts with passwords, while TWRP does.
Re: Ask HN: How do you back up your Android phone?
#13I'm lazy, I set up Syncthing folders for everything and it procedurally backs up those folders as I add stuff to it.
Came here to mention syncthing, it's really easy and useful and I set it up after loosing 6 months of pictures/videos... roughly 6 months after my daughter was born :/
Re: Ask HN: How do you back up your Android phone?
#14I just use the built in Google backup stuff. I save my NovaLauncher layout before I get a new phone.
I have 200 gigs of music and I don't bother to back it up because I have multiple copies of it backed up.
Re: Ask HN: How do you back up your Android phone?
#15For those who haven't encountered it yet, titanium backup (per-app) and TWRP (full partitions) are the gold standard... Assuming you control your phone. I'm not aware of any solution if you don't have root or an unlocked bootloader; AFAIK Google's official solution is sync to Drive (or ... Google One, now? If that's different?), but last I checked support was spotty, and of course that requires internet.
I have found titanium backup to work well however in my experience it does not restore device accounts with passwords, while TWRP does.
The catch with Titanium Backup is that it requires root access.
Re: Ask HN: How do you back up your Android phone?
#16Syncthing! I have selected folders (pictures, video, notes) that sync to a NAS, which I then backup elsewhere. My current phone also has an app that is one button backup (for apps + system settings). I press the button and it creates a single timestamped file, which also is placed in a folder that syncthing watches. It's truly effortless.
Re: Ask HN: How do you back up your Android phone?
#17I only buy phones with SD cards, and most of my apps with significant data can save to SD. Almost everything else keeps its data in the cloud, except SMS, and I use SMS Backup and Restore for that.
Re: Ask HN: How do you back up your Android phone?
#18I'm lazy, I set up Syncthing folders for everything and it procedurally backs up those folders as I add stuff to it.
Came here to mention syncthing, it's really easy and useful and I set it up after loosing 6 months of pictures/videos... roughly 6 months after my daughter was born :/
I do this as well and it is the main reason that's keeping me from upgrading beyond Android 10.
Re: Ask HN: How do you back up your Android phone?
#19Is it really necessary to have a proprietary backup solution on Android OS?
Don’t get me wrong, this shall not be a buy-iPhone-be-happy-posting. But it really shocks me (well it’s also kind of amusing) to hear, that you are really talking about rooting your devices, to have a backup solution.
So, back to topic: I’m really curious, doesn’t Android really ship with a working backup/restore-solution out of the box?