You try to stifle back a tear as you pick up your phone,
noticing just how broken it really is. Suddenly, all of the good times you'd
had together flash before your eyes. You and your partner in crime... and now
it's gone.
You have insurance through your carrier and you'll have a new
phone in two weeks, but what you didn't have was the insurance that your
memories with your smartphone remained intact. You had never backed it up, not
even once.
Of course, I'm talking about myself. In second person.
All of my photos text messages were gone, never to be seen
again. After that realization, the biggest blow came. My Flappy Bird score,
gone. Along with my Candy Crush level progress, because I refused to sign in
with Facebook.
All gone.
One day, you too will know my pain. Unless you back up your
phone.
Most of the applications you’ll find below are capable of doing
much more than just backing up and restoring applications. To keep things
simple, I’ll be discussing how easy it is to back up and restore applications
first and foremost, and go on to more notable features from there.
Helium
Helium was released a little over a year ago and has become a
fan favorite. Not only can you backup your apps and data to your phone or cloud
storage services, but you can also sync data from one device to another.
By default, Helium backs up only app data so your file size is
smaller, saving you time in the process. Of course, it’s just a swipe and tap
away to save the entire application to the internal storage of your phone, if
it’s not a protected application.
Outside of regular apps and app data, you can just as easily
backup SMS conversations, Wi-Fi connection settings, user dictionaries, and
more. For simple backups and restores directly onto the phone, it doesn’t
get much easier.
Titanium Backup
Titanium Backup has been around for many years, and is one of
the most popular backup applications among those who like to mod and hack their
phones. It requires root out of the gate, so this isn't the app for unrooted or
inexperienced Android users.
While Titanium Backup may be one of the oldest and most
comprehensive applications found on the Google Play Store today, someone needs
to tell the developer that applications can be both powerful and pretty.
Seriously, this app makes any calculator application look like an elegant and
sophisticated work of art.
No one said that a utility application needs to be beautiful,
but Titanium Backup would greatly benefit from a dramatic UI refresh.
I wouldn’t recommend this application for someone that’s just
looking to back up applications and app data. It almost offers up too
much for the
unseasoned Android user.
My Backup
Another application that’s been around since the early days of
Android, My Backup used to be my go-to application.
Easily backup applications and media or app data to your phone’s
internal storage, or Rerware’s cloud servers (you're given a limited amount of
space). Upgrading to My Backup Pro will allow for application data backup and
data migration between more than one device.
Outside of applications, My Backup Pro allows for SMS backups,
along with system settings, alarms, access point names, and more. Really
riveting stuffgoing on with this app.
Other applications may offer up more functionality for the same
price, but this is an option that’s easier to use than others. That has its own
value.
Ultimate Backup
Ultimate Backup offers up a ton of options and is possibly the
best-designed app in the category.
The app offers of a ton of utility features, and even a few UI
tweaks. You can set the layout of how applications are displayed, but also
choose what screen transition animation you’d like to see when swiping through
the panes. This is hardly helpful, but it’s a nice touch. Titanium Backup could
learn a thing or two from this app.
Apps, app data, SMS, contacts, and other phone data options are
all accounted for, and rooted users can even restore from Nandroid
backups.
It's ok to judge this app by its looks. It knows it looks good
and it has the features to back it up.
App Backup & Restore
This is by far the simplest application on this list, and it
does exactly what it claims to do and little more. Consider this one the baby
backup app.
Very few options are available, and that’s actually a good
thing. If you want a way to simply back up your applications with no fuss and
don’t care for saving app data, this is going to be the easier option for you.
There are a few modest features that you’ll have access to, like
the option to auto backup applications every time you install one, but nothing
out of the ordinary for a free application.
Which insurance package is right for you?
If you’re just looking to backup applications and no data, My
Backup and App Backup and Restore might be what you’re looking for. If you’re
rooted, the former can backup data for you, too.
The middle of the road app for content backup is Helium. It’s
well-designed and powerful without being overwhelming. Helium also doesn't
require root to backup your application data, which is a big plus. After all,
you can easily re-download your apps; it's the app data you don't want to lose.
Still, this is the only app that allows for app data backup without requiring
root access.
Ultimate Backup and Titanium Backup are definitely on the
advanced side. Both applications can backup and restore applications easily,
with Titanium offering up more functionality and Ultimate Backup bringing more
style to the table. Of course, between the two, I’d probably go with Ultimate
Backup. I'm a sucker for pretty things.
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