Hi all, I got a pixel 9 today and migrated my data from my pixel 7 using seedvault. Given that there's a lot of discussion around it and the fact that I came across varying opinions when researching it, I wanted to share my experience using it to migrate from one GrapheneOS device to another GrapheneOS device, perhaps as a source of information for anyone in the same situation.
- I created a seedvault backup (checked App Data, Data and Apps in Settings) of my old phone on an external ssd
- flashed GrapheneOS on my new Pixel 9
- Chose to restore from backup during the first-boot setup screen
- got an error after entering the twelve (I think?) words about the sha checksum being incorrect
- created a new backup on the old phone
- restored that backup (still in the first-boot setup screen) on the new phone
- realized that I hadn't checked any Data folders to be backed up, so music, pictures, documents etc were missing. Transferred those via laptop.
- some apps transferred fine, some didn't.
-> Banking Apps ofc didn't have any data included, but the Apps themselves were available. Same with Etar (calendar App), WhatsApp, Signal, KDE Connect and GrayJay. Used "Calendar Import-Export" off F-Droid to fix my calendar and used the built-in mechanisms to transfer Data for the Chat Apps. Vanadium's data was not copied either.
-> Google Play Services were not installed on the new phone, despite being installed on the old. Also, Crushr (home screen notes app) did not get transferred.
-> All other Apps, such as organic maps, Aegis and Notally were installed with all their data intact.
- Contacts were transferred fine, as were saved WiFi-Networks. Most system settings (wallpaper, dark mode, ringtone) were also restored without issues, but set alarm clocks and paired bluetooth devices were missing. App permissions were not restored on the new device, same with fingerprints.
All things considered, I'd rate it 7 out of 10. It's fair to point out that I made the mistake of not including any folders in the data backup, but it app restoration felt a bit random.
App permissions not transferring was annoying, but also gave me the opportunity to go through the list of apps and remove anything I no longer needed while setting permissions for everything else.
Lastly, I'd like to thank the developers for making any of this possible in the first place. Your work is very much appreciated.