What counts as 'Other files'?

[SuperAnarchyMan]

I'm not the biggest expert when it comes to phones.

But I connected my iPad to iTunes the other day, I learned I had a lot of space being used up in the 'Other files' tab and learned it's related to unused Cache information and stuff, and other corrupted files etc, and the way to get rid of it was to backup my iPad, restore it and put the backup back on the iPad - which worked.
So I decided to connect my phone to my PC for the first time in a long while to find a similar problem on my phone, but would it be a similar issue? iTunes has an Apps tab unlike Android so I'm not sure if it would be space used by them, or the same problem as the iPad.

Furthermore, if I'm going to do the backup then restore thing, how do I backup my phone? PC Companion is a freaking pain in the *** and I hate it, constantly telling me to update when it has been etc. So I really don't know how to work it. Help would be much appreciated.

Phone is an Xperia Play R800 btw.

 

[srkmagnus]

Hi Super, welcome to Androidcentral!

What phone are you currently using? You can start the backup by sync'ing with your Google account. Contacts, along with any other Google app you have installed, will sync and be ready for restore when you log back into the phone after a fatory reset.

Depending on your phone manufacturer, there might be a desktop client that will allow you to do a backup of certain data. Also, if you have root access let us know so we can recommend solutions that require root.

Keep in mind that you can't backup application data unless you have root access and use certain utility apps, like Titanium Backup Pro, Mybackup Pro or Helium Backup.