
Google warns that ADB backup, restore may be removed in a future Android release - nyuszika7h
https://www.xda-developers.com/adb-backup-and-restore-depreciated/
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kevin_b_er
This would mean that google intends to make it fundamentally impossible to
backup an android phone, complete with app settings.

Why, I'm unsure, but I figure it part of the increasing lock-in and removal of
openness in Android that Google has been trending toward for a few years now.

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mmastrac
> fundamentally impossible to backup an android phone

... to anything other than Google services, I'd wager.

It's been tough backing up Android phones as-is. I have yet to figure out a
way to get codes out of the Google Authenticator app other than via sqlite on
a rooted phone.

~~~
pyt
Google disabled backups for their Authenticator app so I don't think they will
ever let you export the secrets.

I wrote an application to automate OTP secret extraction for just about every
app out there after trying to migrate a few dozen tokens from Google
Authenticator to AndOTP. You might find it useful:
[https://github.com/puddly/android-otp-
extractor](https://github.com/puddly/android-otp-extractor)

~~~
ganeshkrishnan
Dont you need root access to get the app private data?

I switched from Microsoft to Google because they advertised as having backup
and now I am stuck with Google authenticator without any backup.

The only saving grace for Android was adb backup and restore but Google is
shutting that down

~~~
pyt
You do need root access, unfortunately. Even backing up the filesystem with
`tar` is troublesome:
[https://github.com/dlenski/tetherback](https://github.com/dlenski/tetherback)

I really hoped Google would have allowed some way to locally make full Android
backups by now but I guess that's not compatible with their business model.

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aequitas
They need to step up their backup game. It's the only thing I truly miss about
switching to android. With iOS you could always restore your device to what it
was before. But with android, even with the Google backup service there are so
many gaps left. Homescreen icons organisation, app settings, even android
settings themselves or not always properly saved or restored.

~~~
Morialkar
The hard part with Android, especially in regards to icons organization, is
that this is entirely Launcher dependent, so it would more be the job of your
launcher's developers to allow those data to be properly backed up.

~~~
aequitas
I've been only using stock android phones, first nexus now Nokia, no custom
launcher or anything. If even the Android core developers don't do it right
what can you expect from 3rd party?

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techntoke
I really like the idea of using adb to manage a phone from a terminal. Please
don't do this!

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gruez
Of course, Google's backup service still works. How nice of them!

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olejorgenb
Most apps I tried to backup using adb has already disabled backup themself..

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PascalW
Indeed, this is a huge pain. ADB is, as far as I know, the only generic backup
method that does not require root. The fact that it doesn't work with a lot of
apps is highly frustrating.

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ncmncm
Has adb backup/restore actually worked for you? Not for me. Backup, sure.
Restore, not so much.

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curiousgal
And _that_ , is why I root my phones.

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TheRealPomax
That statement makes literally no sense. ADB still works just fine, so either
you meant "and that is why I will be rooting my phones in the future", or this
is absolutely not why you root your phones.

~~~
mixedCase
I think it's fairly obvious the poster meant _that_ as in _that kind of
behavior, that takes power away from the user_ as opposed to _exactly that
particular reason_.

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londons_explore
This will be because you can't backup DRM keys and other hardware secrets, and
that makes life hard for app developers.

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Fire-Dragon-DoL
So i'm supposed to waste a day setting up my phone now... Amazing

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dplgk
Cool. I recently used adb to backup a phone that's screen broke.

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debatem1
Good. Backup and restore has always been clumsy and broken.

~~~
bpye
I would personaly much rather they fix backup and restore rather than removing
the feature. I do not understand why an application can opt-out from an
encrypted backup. The lack of good backup/restore for Android sucks.

