Best way to backup phone before factory reset.

[paradroid]

I have two ongoing issues with my Pixel XL2 phone.

1.) The phone speaker sound goes up and down while listing music or audio books.

2.) Earpiece speaker often does not work when answering a call. If I switch to speaker I can hear the person. I have found if I bang the phone a few times on the desk the earpiece will start working.

Google support wants me to do a factory reset before they will RMA me a replacement.

It took a few weeks to get everything set up on my phone just right and I am not in the mood to fiddle with my phone for a week to get it like I want it again. When the phone is new, it is fun to mess around setting it up and learning the phone. Now it will be a chore.

I know there is a built in backup/restore feature but it seems pretty limited to a few apps.

Is their a way to back up my phone so I can get it back to how I like it more quickly?

Either way, if the factory reset magically fixes these problems or I get a replacement, I want to get things set up again as quickly as possible.

 

[idiotekniques]

I use GCloud for music, sounds, call log, SMS, documents and photos/videos, although Google Photos is kinda taking over the photos/videos part for me now.

Nova Launcher backs up my desktop.

Tasker gets backed up.

Everything else is in the cloud for me. The one thing that I wonder is the apps you have installed how recently they are restored from google's own backup. Like for instance if I install 10 apps yesterday and factory reset tomorrow would Google know to restore them from the cloud or does it take longer?

For app data you have to be rooted but I remember reading about an app called Helium that could do it unrooted, but I am unsure.

 

[paradroid]

I use GCloud for music, sounds, call log, SMS, documents and photos/videos, although Google Photos is kinda taking over the photos/videos part for me now.

Is this done through the standard settings/system/backup ?

 

[idiotekniques]

Is this done through the standard settings/system/backup ?

G Cloud is a third party app. You get some gigs of storage for free, I think 7 gigs? I pay $1.99 a month and I have 32GB total

 

[paradroid]

Just installed G Cloud and backing up. It did not offer an option for paid version (yet).

 

[idiotekniques]

Just installed G Cloud and backing up. It did not offer an option for paid version (yet).

It's a good app, good features, lots of useful settings, and well reviewed. It doesn't shove ads or upgrades down your skull like others do. You won't need to buy storage if you don't need it anyway. Let us know how it goes!

 

[sixty_four]

For app data you have to be rooted but I remember reading about an app called Helium that could do it unrooted, but I am unsure.

Helium worked well with my 2013 Moto X and intermittently with my Nexus 6P. I haven't tried it with my Pixel 2. When it worked, it worked brilliantly to restore my app data/settings/preferences to the state they were backed up. It does not require root but you'll need to run a helper app on a desktop with your phone connected before it can run.

These days, I just use app-provided backup/restore function when available. Data is backed up to "the cloud" or I use adb to pull specific directories to my PC...and then to Google Drive for restoration. It can be a gigantic pain in the 4ss. There's certainly room for improvement with Android's backup/restore process.

 

[paradroid]

Well, factor reset done, earpiece still works on and off and phone speakers go in and out. New phone on the way.

One more chance and then back to Samsung if still problems.

 

[paradroid]

Ok, got my replacement Pixel 2xl Backed phone up with the built in back up and G Cloud. G Cloud worked great. However, I screwed up my backup of Nova Launcher, I think I saved it to the device when I thought I was saving to a cloud.

Anyway, a real PITA resetting launcher settings back up like I had it. Still a few things aren't quite right with my settings but I'll tackle them as I run into them.

I also have a Gear 3 Watch and that is tied closely to the phone so the watch had to be reset and connected to the new phone.

I know a lot of you nerds (no offense) on this board love messing with this stuff, and I don't mind it much when a phone is brand new out of the box. But resetting up on a replacement device is painful.

Anyway, the good news is my ear piece has worked 100% and the phone speakers are loud and don't fade out.

As an extra bonus, so far I am able to take calls on my watch or phone without any issues.

Since this phone looks like it works I will maybe lose my thin case and attempt to apply a DBrand skin I designed and purchased a few weeks ago but did not want to waste on my malfunctioning phone... Oh boy more fun to be had.

 

[PowrDroid]

Thanks for the reminder to me to back up my Nova settings to Google Drive.

Hope everything works out for you. Yeah, setting up phones can be a PITA, but satisfying when completed.

 

[idiotekniques]

Glad to hear the phone is working properly and that G Cloud worked out for you. I like that app.

Yeah I backed up Nova to my device also, but then emailed it to myself and that worked out when I got the replacement phone. Downloaded it and put it in the proper folder using ES file explorer.

I did that with Tasker also but that didn't work out, it didn't recognize the backup as a valid file. Beats me since Tasker made the damn file. Oh well.

 

[TraderGary]

Am I a Nerd? I've used NOVA premium for years and thoroughly enjoy setting up my phone from scratch. In fact I frequently do a factory reset just so I can totally reset everything up from scratch again! I also frequently do a factory reset so that I can start with a totally clean system because everything runs fast again just like when new because after a factory reset it "is" just like it was when new.

 

[chriskwarren]

Am I a Nerd? I've used NOVA premium for years and thoroughly enjoy setting up my phone from scratch. In fact I frequently do a factory reset just so I can totally reset everything up from scratch again! I also frequently do a factory reset so that I can start with a totally clean system because everything runs fast again just like when new because after a factory reset it "is" just like it was when new.

I like to do factory resets too, especially when there is a major update or patch. I also like to try out a lot of apps so a factory reset clears everything up. Typically I have always had phones with SD cards and I used that for most of my backup stuff. Now I need to be more careful when I do this.

To backup and restore my SMS and call logs, I usually try to use the solution provided by my phone's manuf when I can (ie. I'll use LGs backup or Samsungs backup software for that particular device). If I'm moving to another manuf or the manuf did not provide one, I'll use SMS backup and restore: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore&hl=en

I have never tried Oreo's new SMS and call log restore function as I have not done this on Oreo yet. Next time I do a reset I'll backup as I normally do, and then I'll try Oreo's default restore first.

That said, I do use Nova to back up and restore my launcher settings. Makes it so much faster to get up and running again, but I never restore my phone's settings otherwise as I want those to be fresh.

 

[C5Longhorn]

This is one of the main reasons I'm rooted. I use Titanium Backup. It's really handy when restoring.

 

[chriskwarren]

I'm getting ready to to a factory reset now (have not done one since December so I figured I would freshen things up a little). Not really having any major issues (except perhaps a little bit more battery drain since the Feb. update). I'm really hoping that 8.1 does a good job backing up all my calls and sms. I have backed these up manually already in case but I'm more curious as to how good of a job Google does natively these days.

 

[paradroid]

Am I a Nerd? I've used NOVA premium for years and thoroughly enjoy setting up my phone from scratch. In fact I frequently do a factory reset just so I can totally reset everything up from scratch again! I also frequently do a factory reset so that I can start with a totally clean system because everything runs fast again just like when new because after a factory reset it "is" just like it was when new.

I'd rather stick a fork in my eye than do factory resets.

This is one of the main reasons I'm rooted. I use Titanium Backup. It's really handy when restoring.

Do you have a link to rooting a Pixel 2xl ? The rooting section of this forum has zero information. Is anyone doing ROMs ?

Last phone I was able to root was my EVO about 5 years ago, mainly want to get adblocking and Titanium.

 

[chriskwarren]

I'd rather stick a fork in my eye than do factory resets.





Do you have a link to rooting a Pixel 2xl ? The rooting section of this forum has zero information. Is anyone doing ROMs ?

Last phone I was able to root was my EVO about 5 years ago, mainly want to get adblocking and Titanium.

XDA is your friend for rooting: https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2-xl

Check trthrough the Guides subforum first, and then the ROM section. Make sure you have checked out the first few pages of the ROM thread and then the last few pages before asking any questions over there, as they can get snippy sometimes. Be aware that the 2XL also goes by the codename "taimen" and that name (and the 2XL) are used interchangeably.

I don't root as I don't really have the need to and I use Android Pay (rooting breaks it). The "Magisk" method of rooting is the latest method, and you need to be careful about applying any updates as they can break root so you need to let other folks figure that out before applying any updates (either OTA or by using ADB to apply the update manually).