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Android Restore Decent, Not Great

I’m loving Android. My Google Nexus One is easily the best phone I have owned, and I’ve owned lots. It’s fast, it’s comfortable to hold and use, the screen is superb, the virtual keyboard is the first non-tactile keyboard I can actually use and use well, and I really appreciate the fact that you can carry a replacement battery (cough cough). In fact, I like it so much that I have been willing to overlook the Bluetooth issues with my car!
I actually have two of these babies, and one of them has a bad secondary mic (the mic used for noise cancellation). So, just had it swapped out, which meant restoring all apps and settings.
The good news is that Google just kind of figured it out. As I set the phone up, and entered my account information, installed apps just auto-downloaded and restored themselves. Nice. But, unfortunately, the restore process only restores apps, and not app data and all settings.
That’s a real shame, and one area where iTunes + iPhone has Android beat, swapping out and restoring an iPhone is about as close to perfect as that process can be (with the only major limitation being the need to actually plug-in to the computer with the backup). I’ve not heard that this is an area planned for improvement in Froyo (Android 2.2), but here’s hoping.

4 responses to “Android Restore Decent, Not Great”

  1. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    There are also several backup utilities out there for Android that can backup all of your apps & data. I just had to wipe my Droid for a new custom rom, and was able to restore everything (quite easily too)

  2. Raymond Camden Avatar
    Raymond Camden

    Any movement on the Bluetooth/Car issue?

  3. Ben Forta Avatar
    Ben Forta

    Not yet. Lots and lots of people running into the same issue though, but no confirmation as to what exactly the issue is or when it’ll be fixed. Bummer.

  4. Brian Swartzfager Avatar
    Brian Swartzfager

    There is no central storage mechanism in Android that Android app developers can use store settings or data related to their apps.
    But I believe one of the things coming in Froyo is the ability to install apps on the SD card instead of in the phone’s internal memory. If that’s the case, then you could probably just install your apps on your SD card and simply transfer the card from your old phone to your new phone, thereby retaining all of your app data and settings along with the apps.

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