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App Data Backup w/o root

L

Luminance

Lurker
Hi There,

New to these forums and fairly new to Android, i've picked up an Xperia Arc a couple weeks ago and I have to say it is absolutely wonderful to use and the Android OS is so much more pleasant to use over Symbian.

But enough about that, I have a problem with my phone and i'm gonna need to reinstall the OS on it but before I do that I want to be able to back up the app data so that I don't loose all my personalisations, high scores, progress and other data from my apps.

I've done some searching around and i've found out that the easiest way is to root the phone but that invalidates the warranty which I don't want to do. I've also saw that Android SDK Manager might be able to do it but i'm not sure how to use it (I have it installed though).

So can anyone walk me step by step on how to back up my app data using the Android SDK Manager (i'm thinking the Back up Agent might be helpful) or any other way I can do this?

Thanks,
 
I had my Optimus S replaced twice. First time, I got some backup program, had problems with it, wound up starting all over. Then I used two apps for a do-it-yourself backup system:

MyAppsList creates a text file of all installed apps.

ShootMe takes screenshots of your desktops to replicate placement.

I used that method for the second replacement and it just took a few hours to get everything back where it was. But now that I’ve been adding apps ever since, a complete restore will take longer. Anyway, it’s a cheap alternative.
 
I want to be able to back up the app data so that I don't loose all my personalisations, high scores, progress and other data from my apps.
Click to expand...

You have to have root to backup the data that you are talking about.

I've done some searching around and i've found out that the easiest way is to root the phone but that invalidates the warranty which I don't want to do.
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with that phone, but many models have methods to temporarily root, allowing you to backup and restore your data that you need, and then when you reboot, the root access is gone. Even if there isn't a temp root method, rooting is always reversible. As long as you dont install a custom rom, you can just root, backup, reset, then root, restore, and then unroot.
 
If you can save apps to your sd card, your data will still be there. Unfortunately, not all apps support that, and you have to be on Froyo for that functionality in the first place.
 
@jefboyardee, looks like Shootme is only for rooted phones so can't use that i'm afraid.

@sitlet, could you explain how I could tempoarily root my phone? Or perhaps point me to a good guide or something?

I saw that I needed to unlock the boot loader first and that is a irreversible process, could that be bypassed?

@mrsbelpit, i'm on 2.3.3 Gingerbread does that support it?
 
Luminance said:
@jefboyardee, looks like Shootme is only for rooted phones so can't use that i'm afraid.

@sitlet, could you explain how I could tempoarily root my phone? Or perhaps point me to a good guide or something?

I saw that I needed to unlock the boot loader first and that is a irreversible process, could that be bypassed?

@mrsbelpit, i'm on 2.3.3 Gingerbread does that support it?
Click to expand...


Yes, Gingerbread supports it. the last time I reset my phone, I put the apps that I could on the sd card (settings, manage applications, all and then click move to sd card)
took out the sd card and reset.
 
mrsbelpit said:
If you can save apps to your sd card, your data will still be there. Unfortunately, not all apps support that, and you have to be on Froyo for that functionality in the first place.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, no it doesn't. Moving apps to the sd card only moves certain files, like cache files. This works fine, until you get a new phone or do a reset, then android wont recognize those files on the card. So no, technically this does NOT backup an app's data.
 
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