Moving from stock to another ROM without losing data?

[uberness132]

Is it possible to move to an AOSP ROM on a Nexus 4 without losing apps, photos and other data? Its my understanding that you need another SD card to do a backup, but I'm not sure since this is my first android device.

Also do ROM users (ie cyanogenmod) users get OTA updates?

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[greydarrah]

You wont lose things like photos or other files that are on your virtual sd card. That only gets wiped the one time that you unlock the bootloader. You do have to wipe data from recovery before flashing from one ROM to another. This type of a wipe does not touch your sd card, but it does require you to log back in to your gmail account, download your apps (sometimes this happens as an automated function), and your phone will sync itself to restore all yoru gmail contacts, emails and calendar events. If you use a backup program like Titanium backup, you can use it to restore data from apps that you've installed (not system apps, like Maps, but apps you've downloaded), such as scores from games. It can also restore all of your downloaded apps in a matter of minutes in the event that signing back into gmail doesn't auto download them for you.

If you are running a ROM, you will not get an OTA update, however, most of the time, whatever changes the OTA update contains, have usually already been incorporated into a ROM's update, often weeks before the OTA is released.

 

[uberness132]

Update: took the plunge and got it working, thanks for the help!

Yeah I've already rooted my phone and unlocked the bootloader. Does titanium backup store the backups onto the virtual SD card?

Also I can switch between stock android and CM using clockwork ROM manager right?

Thanks

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