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Users continue to encounter frustrating issues when trying to deploy Android Backup. It’s an ongoing concern, one that hasn’t been addressed to the satisfaction of the digital search powerhouse known as Google, not to mention the actual users themselves. Recently, only compounding the problem, a kernel buglocked some of the Android faithful out, cutting them off from their data. What’s to be done in a situation like this? Typically, while awaiting the rollout of a fix, factory resets and data backups come to the rescue.
The core of the problem is this: factory resets work when smart devices temporarily go kaput, but the same can’t be said forAndroid Backup, not right now, and that’s not acceptable. It’s not acceptable for keeping users loyal, nor is it acceptable for building a larger Android fellowship. A remedy is forthcoming, at least it should be, right?
Overlooking the current status quo
Android’s backup system promises to seamlessly restore many settings and a lot of app data. In an ideal world, most of your backed up data should slide back into place as if a user’s identity has been invisibly lifted by gentle hands and inserted back in place, perfectly cloned. There are too many moving parts, though.
An automatic backup options exists for apps since Android 6, but for more advanced backups, app developers have to get active themselves. The automated solution also usually only saves preferences and user data,limited to 25MB, meaning that any further data or downloads from the apps isn’t retained. Most apps offer cloud storage or their own, but it might not be clear to everyone that they need to save some of their data by themselves even when relying on Google’s backup.
That’s likely why restored data has been reported by some baffled device owners as being incomplete. So, are Android users disgruntled by gaps in restored data? They, for sure,aren’t posting glowing reviewsabout a service that has let them down one time too many. Reddit users are quick to point out many moreissues they have with Android’s backup system, and when Reddit gets in on the blame game, the echo chamber of complaints is only going to get louder and more vocal.
What can users do to communicate their dissatisfaction?
While there are competing data backup services available, many of which offer cloud syncing features, it’s tough to find one that seamlessly hosts and then restores every Android setting. Samsung devices are covered withSamsung Cloud, providing a reliable data safety net that can temporarily savealldata from a phone.OnePlus Switchprovides similar functionality. Pixel phones are stuck with Android’s native backup solution, though, provided by Google One. There are not many alternative third-party solutions around, either, unless you’re willing to root your device. App data is sensitive, so it makes sense in the name of security.
But perhaps we’re drifting away from the broader issue, and that, of course, is the mixed level of professionalism practiced by Google. It makes sense that it’s normally the sole company able to provide backups on Android for security reasons, but if it’s the only option, it needs to be better than barely good enough. At best, backing up your device is a tedious prospect; at worst, it’s a high-stakes gamble. A user’s entire identity can be held suspended inside a lean, mean phone machine, and it can be lost in moments by what’s essentially an unreliable backup solution that’s done little to improve in years.
So, what do you do? Simple, make a noise and let Google know about your grievances wherever you can, which is precisely how articles like this get written, when users have had enough and it’s time to relay that frustration in the press. This is Android Police after all, and it’s high time Google did something about Android’s unreliable backup system.
A proactive product of personal phone perturbation
Let’s face it:Android has fallen behind Applewhen it comes to backups, and that’s a hard pill to swallow. iCloud and its backup system isn’t without its own problems, but reliability doesn’t seem to be one of them. A break could be given to the Android service by saying the sheer bulk of devices has overloaded its servers, but that feels like a cop-out. Designers are paid to implement scalability solutions, so there should be a reliable backup/restore solution in place for all of Android, one that actually works. The truth is the underlying issue has been obfuscated and hidden away for so long that only now is the growing internet chatter starting to fester.
The addition of the recent kernel bug only served to amplify these voices to the point that this ridiculous shortcoming can no longer be tolerated. Android Backup isn’t fit for purpose, and a more reliable backup solution needs to absolutely be a priority before more and more people discover there are greener pastures beyond Android.
UPDATE: 2025-07-09 09:16 EST BY MANUEL VONAU
Corrections
We’ve updated the article to more correctly state that Android backups and Google One are one and the same. We’ve also clarified that Google doesn’t promise to perfectly clone everything with backups, which was erroneously claimed in an earlier version of this article. The 25MB limit we mentioned also only applies to app data, not to the apps themselves (think user data and preferences; apps themselves are restored via an automated download from the Play Store).
