larrytxeast
Member
This was initially a "HOW?" post, but upon figuring it out, I figured I'd make it an informational post, in case anyone has this problem as I did.
That is--Apex Launcher, it's a wonderful launcher, but there is NOTHING ANYWHERE that I could find that tells you how to restore the data if you've backed it up prior to a wipe and now want to restore it post-wipe. Nothing. To be blunt, that's just plain inexcusable, and it bugs me badly enough to almost want to use another launcher just because of this one thing, even though I like it otherwise.
I finally had to figure it out by experimentation, so I'm going to take it upon myself to document it for myself in the future and in case anyone else is wondering how to do it.
I initially backed up the settings knowing I was going to "wipe" the phone, then saved them to my microSD card. I couldn't recall where it saved them initially, and I made the huge mistake of not noting the location, because--again--it's not documented. Naturally, after wiping the phone, I wanted to access these 2 files for restoral. Trouble is, it doesn't let you navigate to where they are, and again there is NO DOCUMENTATION ANYWHERE (at least which I've found) that TELLS you where to now put these files so it finds them in the "established" location.
I figured it out, simply by making a new backup and noting where it stated it had saved it. I copied-pasted these 2 files there, letting it overwrite the just-made files I didn't want, then did a restoral of settings and backup. That FINALLY did it.
The location:
Android/data/apexlauncher/
Note: this folder does NOT exist until you do a backup. Again, I had to very carefully watch the prompts that came up when I did the "fake" backup after wiping the phone, so as to know where to navigate, as there is nothing anywhere on the entire Internet I could find that tells you, step-by-step, how to do a restoral of the data.
Consider this the post that tells you how.
Again, this is assuming that you are wanting to "wipe" the phone but wanting to preserve your Apex desktop icons and Apex settings, so you can quickly restore those as you set up your "clean" phone. Here's how, I'm going to SPELL IT OUT, the way it SHOULD be spelled out.
Making the Initial Backup (Before Wiping Phone)
(1) Do it under the Apex settings (backup and restore) "backup Apex settings" and "backup desktop data"
(2) Navigate to Android/data/apex_launcher and copy the 2 backup files to whereever on your microSD
(3) Wipe the phone
Restoring Data On "Clean" Phone
(4) Upon installing Apex, make a backup (apex settings, backup and restore) of the settings and desktop--again, this is just to "establish" where the desired backup files should go
(5) Navigate to your microSD, select the 2 files for a copy action
(6) Navigate to Android/data/apex_launcher, paste these 2 files, overwrite
(7) Return to Apex settings/backup and restore, and perform a RESTORE operation for data and desktop
There. That's much better.
That is--Apex Launcher, it's a wonderful launcher, but there is NOTHING ANYWHERE that I could find that tells you how to restore the data if you've backed it up prior to a wipe and now want to restore it post-wipe. Nothing. To be blunt, that's just plain inexcusable, and it bugs me badly enough to almost want to use another launcher just because of this one thing, even though I like it otherwise.
I finally had to figure it out by experimentation, so I'm going to take it upon myself to document it for myself in the future and in case anyone else is wondering how to do it.
I initially backed up the settings knowing I was going to "wipe" the phone, then saved them to my microSD card. I couldn't recall where it saved them initially, and I made the huge mistake of not noting the location, because--again--it's not documented. Naturally, after wiping the phone, I wanted to access these 2 files for restoral. Trouble is, it doesn't let you navigate to where they are, and again there is NO DOCUMENTATION ANYWHERE (at least which I've found) that TELLS you where to now put these files so it finds them in the "established" location.
I figured it out, simply by making a new backup and noting where it stated it had saved it. I copied-pasted these 2 files there, letting it overwrite the just-made files I didn't want, then did a restoral of settings and backup. That FINALLY did it.
The location:
Android/data/apexlauncher/
Note: this folder does NOT exist until you do a backup. Again, I had to very carefully watch the prompts that came up when I did the "fake" backup after wiping the phone, so as to know where to navigate, as there is nothing anywhere on the entire Internet I could find that tells you, step-by-step, how to do a restoral of the data.
Consider this the post that tells you how.
Again, this is assuming that you are wanting to "wipe" the phone but wanting to preserve your Apex desktop icons and Apex settings, so you can quickly restore those as you set up your "clean" phone. Here's how, I'm going to SPELL IT OUT, the way it SHOULD be spelled out.
Making the Initial Backup (Before Wiping Phone)
(1) Do it under the Apex settings (backup and restore) "backup Apex settings" and "backup desktop data"
(2) Navigate to Android/data/apex_launcher and copy the 2 backup files to whereever on your microSD
(3) Wipe the phone
Restoring Data On "Clean" Phone
(4) Upon installing Apex, make a backup (apex settings, backup and restore) of the settings and desktop--again, this is just to "establish" where the desired backup files should go
(5) Navigate to your microSD, select the 2 files for a copy action
(6) Navigate to Android/data/apex_launcher, paste these 2 files, overwrite
(7) Return to Apex settings/backup and restore, and perform a RESTORE operation for data and desktop
There. That's much better.
