Can I transfer media via usc c flash drive from my old to new graphene phone?

soon404

Hi - bit of a graphene newbie here still so apologies if the question is a bit dumb. About to upgrade my pixel to a better model, as I've trialed it on a pixel 6 and love it. Upgrading to an 8 pro. Just wondering about transferring data over - i've heard that transferring everything has caused some issues for some people, so I'm mainly concerned about transferring just my files & media over for the moment. Apps & settings I am fine just re-downloading and sorting out myself, so that isn't too big an issue for me.

Can I simply use a usb c flash drive in my old pixel, copy everything over, plug it in my new pixel, and send everything over? Is there any limitations that graphene devices have with things like this, or should I be good to go without issue?

Time/speed isn't a problem for me either, just the most direct method to transfer from phone A to phone B, hence just using a flash drive.

Thanks in advance!

thmf

soon404 it won't answer your question, but here's something to consider. Although both your Pixel devices are encrypted by default, the device you'll be using as a temporary storage to transfer data, may be not.
Depending on the amount of data you want to transfer, you may want to try to just send the files to yourself using an E2EE messenger app, like Signal/Molly, or Simplex.

NetRunner88

thmf

Using a messaging app that compress a lot and not intended to be used as a storage is the worst advice ever. Even a cheap USB that is destroyed by the user after use is better advice.

soon404

thmf I did think of this too, but there's a lot that needs transferring and it may simply take too much effort to send it all over manually that way. I appreciate the advice, though. Thank you.

thmf

NetRunner88 well I'm not sure about "worst advice ever", since regular files won't be compressed. As for media, there's 'highest quality' option in messenger apps. Not sure it won't compress at all though. Destroying a cheap flash drive after the transfer is also a good option.

DeletedUser202

Use the USB-C cable your phone comes with and connect your phones directly. Then you can simply copy/move the files you want.

soon404

DeletedUser202 I didn't even consider this way tbh, should it work fine or is there anything i may need to be aware of?

ryrona

thmf Destroying a cheap flash drive after the transfer is also a good option.

Depending on how sensitive the data was and how the flash drive was destroyed.

I would definitely recommend transferring files using MTP between devices directly (if possible), or using something like LocalSend over the network with encryption enabled. That way, data is never stored unencrypted anywhere in the first place.

DeletedUser202

soon404 You can read the FAQ section on file transfer here: https://grapheneos.org/faq#file-transfer

But I fiddled with it a bit today and noticed it seems to be a bit sensitive, as it failed the transfer between my Pixel 8 and Pixel Tablet when I tried putting my phone on wireless charging at the same time. So I'd probably transfer a bit at a time just in case (for reference it took ~ 1½ hour to transfer ~ 30GB). Or maybe transfer to a drive/computer first.

Alternatively, you can use software to transfer. For example LocalSend, TrebleShot and Syncthing (my main way of transfering files and it also doubles as backup since I have my important folders synced on several devices). I believe you can also transfer with bluetooth directly in the OS, but I've never used it.

soon404

DeletedUser202 Thank you!