I think I asked before but never got a solid answer. I have a s23, I disable all google and Samsung services I can etc, but I am still stuck with stock android. I plan to move to a better phone in the next year.
However I need a solution for a full phone backup. Not even a sync right now, just plug in and backup all my apps notes and photos (photos are backed up already but I don’t care about doubling up for now.
The reason being I dont want to lose or have my phone stolen and have no backup. I do have FMD installed but still.
This is one big downside of not being fully self hosted yet but refusing to use google products… No instant sync to a new phone if mine is lost.
The only way to do a truly full backup of apps and their data is to have root access. Unfortunately, many phones these days have “security” features that void the warranty and/or break apps like banking, Google Wallet tap-to-pay, etc. Or even some apps like games that rely on that for anticheat will break. And some security features make that last even if you relock the phone. So be careful to read what your phone has and what you’ll be permanently giving up.
I have a Pixel 10 and installed GrapheneOS which has some backup capabilities built in, but I can’t use Google Pay, some banking features, a bunch of games, the official UPS app, etc. But if I gave in and went back to Google Android it would all work. Samsung and other manufacturers are often not as generous.
Well I guess apps I dont really care. I can reinstall. Just all the data. Could i literally just copy all my folders onto my desktop? I did use appliast backup to get a list of my apps backed up and I threw my contacts backup on my nas
You don’t need a full backup of your phone, you need a backup of all the relevant data! What do you need to backup other than contacts and media in your home folder? (documents, downloads, music, podcast, DCIM etc…)
If there is relevant data “locked up” in your apps can you export it in some form to somewhere like your downloads folder and sync that folder?
yeah you’re probably right. really I just need the data and I used Appslistbackup for a list of apps so i could reinstall them if needed. I think Syncthing-fork is gonna be my goto!
one question though, lets say my phone did get lost and I got a new one. Would I just put syncthing on the new phone to send it all back?
It helps to take a step back and think about Syncthing as a file sharing utility in general.
Syncthing allows you to share any number of folders with any number of other devices with any type of sharing structure you want (2 way file sync = filesharing, 1 way file sync = backing up). You can also set up file versioning on files within a Syncthing folder’s settings.
Note: Syncthing is not intended to be a true file backup utility, and some people will get quite upset if you portray it that way, which I get, but also it just works… and you just need to be reasonable about how you do things, just remember it is a general filesharing tool that you are USING to backup files.
You are the cloud with Syncthing, but unlike something like Nextcloud there is no special central file server nonsense, there are just Syncthing devices sharing folders to other Syncthing devices so you can do it however you want. You do need two devices of course, your phone you want to backup and the device you are backing up onto (which could be a computer with usb drive attached), but from there you can add new devices and share the same folder/folders to them and leapfrog important files without needing to sit there and think out some complicated system or architecture ahead of time.
Syncthing is very “organic” because it is so simple, but it is also very powerful, I have relied on it for years in a variety of contexts and have never really been let down.
One tip, if you want your own personal cloud, a raspberry pi type device, or an old phone plugged into the wall can serve as your server that is always listening for file edits/updates from devices in a folder share. Otherwise you have to make sure Syncthing devices are on the internet at the same time to sync files, though there is actually a quite nice GUI interface for resolving file conflicts if they do happen (I have used it quite a few times and resolved issues).
If your files are smallish, just setting the “file versioning” setting under a Syncthing folder’s settings to a number like 5-10 versions can provide even more confidence you won’t lose something but I digress…
I love Syncthing!
edit you can also do weird little hacks if you need to by doing things like setting up a Syncthing folder share on a Dropbox folder to sync files in ways you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do, it isn’t a recommended practice but shrugs I have also done this many times too and haven’t had any serious issues.
you will need to import those exported backups to your newly installed apps. You can’t sync android’s protected directories.