SMS Backup+ ordering problem [solved]

[Mooncatt]

I've been trying to backup my texts with the SMS Backup+ app, but they appear all out of order in gmail, and a lot of times it won't even upload some texts. It would be impossible to follow a conversation for more than ten texts before something went fubar. I tried changing the settings on it, how things are listed in gmail (which wouldn't solve the missing text issue anyway), clearing app cache/data, resetting the sync, and reinstalling it. With nothing working, I emailed the developer and never got a response. The help section of their site is also pretty confusing, looking like a bunch of community help threads following a weird posting standard I've never seen before.

So I resolved the issue to "it is what it is", and didn't worry about it anymore. This was also happening on my fianc?'s Razr, but she just upgraded to the S3 and now she has no problems with the backups at all. Everything uploads and displays in the right order. So I'm guessing there is some quirk with my phone, and wondering if there's a way to fix it.

Or is there another backup app I could try that uploads right to gmail in a similar fashion? I tried looking around, but the only other apps I found backup locally to the phone.

 

[srkmagnus]

Re: SMS Backup+ ordering problem

I've been trying to backup my texts with the SMS Backup+ app, but they appear all out of order in gmail, and a lot of times it won't even upload some texts. It would be impossible to follow a conversation for more than ten texts before something went fubar. I tried changing the settings on it, how things are listed in gmail (which wouldn't solve the missing text issue anyway), clearing app cache/data, resetting the sync, and reinstalling it. With nothing working, I emailed the developer and never got a response. The help section of their site is also pretty confusing, looking like a bunch of community help threads following a weird posting standard I've never seen before.

So I resolved the issue to "it is what it is", and didn't worry about it anymore. This was also happening on my fianc?'s Razr, but she just upgraded to the S3 and now she has no problems with the backups at all. Everything uploads and displays in the right order. So I'm guessing there is some quirk with my phone, and wondering if there's a way to fix it.

Or is there another backup app I could try that uploads right to gmail in a similar fashion? I tried looking around, but the only other apps I found backup locally to the phone.

If the application settings are the same on both devices but hers works as it should, then it's likely an issue with the way the app and your Droid Bionic work together.

I'd start with reading up on the FAQ (https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/#readme) then send an email to the developer if you still can't resolve the problem.

 

[Mooncatt]

Re: SMS Backup+ ordering problem

Already done both of those. And as I said in my post, the developer didn't respond to my email.

 

[srkmagnus]

Re: SMS Backup+ ordering problem

Already done both of those. And as I said in my post, the developer didn't respond to my email.

Sorry about that, I overlooked that part of your post. I don't use any Gmail sms backup solutions, so can't recommend a good app. I'll see what I find that is worth looking into.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mooncatt]

Re: SMS Backup+ ordering problem

I've found a work around, if nothing else. I was looking about the various other sms backup apps out there (and SMS Backup+ seems to be they only one out there for backing up as gmail conversations) and buried deep in the comments of one, someone mentioned a bug in some Motorola Droids' OS where the phone time stamped incoming messages wrong. This has nothing to do with the backup app. Even though the comment was for predecessors to the Bionic, I looked at my stock text app and saw the texts there were messed up in the same way the backups were in gmail and incoming messages had a time stamp one hour ahead of when they actually came in. I never noticed this because I use Handcent and it, GoSMS, and other texting apps have a way to self correct for display ordering. They just don't modify the actual time stamp.

After poking about more, I found an app on the Play store called "SMS Time Fix" that actuality modifies the time stamp of the incoming texts. It has several methods off modifying the time stamp, and for now I've settled on the manual adjustment amount. After fine tuning and testing to get new messages showing right in the stock messaging app, I made use of a great feature in SMS Time Fix that lets you go back and apply the fix to old messages as well. After everything was straightened out, I reset the backup app, and things seem to be working fine now.

Just a word of note that it applies changes automatically to new texts when active, and changes are made based on the current time stamp of a text. Once you find out how far off the stock message app shows, I suggest texting someone back and forth with a no nonsense conversation that you don't mind getting ordering fubared as you make adjustments. Once the current
conversation(s) is ordering right, then have it apply the corrections to old messages. If you try that first and then make adjustments and re-apply to the old ones, it adjusts from the already adjusted times and not the original ones, risking turning conversations into even bigger jumbled messes.

Hope this helps someone else out there.