what sort of disaster can the android 4.x backup protect you from?

[Fred P]

if i use the stock settings/backup my data (backup apps / wifi / other settings ) to google servers

what sort of disaster am i protecting myself against?

non responsive phone/ malwared phone? can i use recovery mode to restore this backup or is this backup for restoring onto a new device (if my old one was stolen/ destroyed)

is it intended to be used after a settings/factory reset to bring the device back to how it was (but if it did that, whats the point of the factory reset? you wouldnt fix the problem if you restored *everything* back to way it was)

thanks

 

[Golfdriver97]

if i use the stock settings/backup my data (backup apps / wifi / other settings ) to google servers

what sort of disaster am i protecting myself against?

non responsive phone/ malwared phone? can i use recovery mode to restore this backup or is this backup for restoring onto a new device (if my old one was stolen/ destroyed)

is it intended to be used after a settings/factory reset to bring the device back to how it was (but if it did that, whats the point of the factory reset? you wouldnt fix the problem if you restored *everything* back to way it was)

thanks

That back up is more for apps to be restored on your phone after a factory reset. Now the reset itself depends on why you did it. If because of an app, then you can stop that particular one from installing.

This backup is on Google's servers. So this isn't really like the backup to restore the device to an earlier date. Something like that is what is called a Nandroid, which cannot be done on a stock recovery.

 

[someguy01234]

I think it does what it said, which is back up your apps data, so when you reinstall those apps next time its supposed to restore their data. And syncing your Google account backup whatever you selected to be synced.

Btw does Hangouts sync your messages? I don't use it so I'm not sure.

It doesn't backup your offline data stored in the phone's internal storage. You can either copy them to your PC, or use DropBox to sync photos and stuff on your phone.

Personally, I use Helium to backup my apps data, it doesn't require root like Titanium Backup if you install its desktop program.

 

[Rukbat]

All backups are done for the same reason.

Phones and computers are cheap. (You can even buy 100%, within 24 hours, to your door, replacement warranties.)

Data is not only irreplaceable, it can be worth a company the size of GM or Mobil Oil. (Imagine losing ALL your Accounts Receivable. You may have enough cash left to declare bankruptcy, but you may not.)

You back up data that you don't want to lose and can't replace. I don't back up something I can download from the Play store in 30 seconds. I back up the data that app produced.

An old saying in the computer field - any data you don't have backed up - at least twice to two different devices (and preferably at two different locations) is data you didn't need. Anecdotal data. Two days after the earthquake hit SF in 1989, I wanted to file a medical insurance claim. The building that the insurance office had been located in was a heap of trash. It was an 800 number, so I tried it anyway, Nice young lady answered, took my claim, told me it would be processed within 48 hours. I didn't know whether to laugh in her face or pick my jaw up off the floor, so I asked a few nice polite questions.

No one had been in the office at the time. The next day they had a new computer network installed in a building they were able to rent (probably at n exorbitant price), reloaded with all their data. The tech people worked through the night, so the total "office" time lost was less than an hour. They were back in business almost as the last brick fell off the last destroyed building. The data? Delivered to the new building by the company that kept it for them in a bomb-proof location. (Some of you guys know them - "ferric high pile of dirt"?)

What can you restore the data to? Your phone that you had to wipe because of data corruption. (A factory reset doesn't put back your apps and data, it restores the phone to the way it was when it left the factory.) Your phone was lost? Here's a new one. Restore your data to it. It's time to get rid of this old phone and get a new fancier one? Restore the old data to the new phone.

You totally bricked the phone, and now it's a $500 door stop? WAIT! Joe, down the block, knows how to get the phone working again - but you'll lose all your data. No problem - it's backed up on your laptop.

The only disaster you're defending yourself against is losing your data. Which can be so trivial that you don't care. (I don't care what my solitaire scores are.) Or it can be the phone number of that guy who offered you $25,000 more for your house than it's worth. Or it can be the data you need to prove to the IRS that your last income tax return is NOT fraudulent.

What data you're backing up, and what that protects you from, varies from case to case, but what you're protecting yourself from is loss of data. My phone backs up to my laptop every night. The folder it's backing up to is in the cloud. If my laptop, my phone and Microsoft all blow up at the same time, I have a little more to worry about than my data.