Full Phone Backup (with profiles)

chrissy

Hey, im wondering if there is any easy way to backup the entire phone. Including all the profiles on it for when i want to upgrade my pixel to the next model or future OEM phone.

I can't seem to find a way to do it easily, im talking 10+ profiles. I would love to be able to do everything at once instead of one by one.

Murcielago

chrissy

Seedvault was created by a GrapheneOS community member for inclusion in our operating system. We plan on replacing it with a new implementation since the project has been taken over by another group of people not sharing our goals or approach. For now, this is the best available option, so we're including it to give people encrypted backup support. We've made several security fixes to work around upstream issues with the project.

source: https://grapheneos.org/features#encrypted-backups

I don't use it myself, so unfortunately I can't provide any first-hand information. Backing up multiple profiles seems to work in principle, but users frequently report Seedvault to not work 100% reliable.

upgrade my pixel to the next model or future OEM phone.

If I'm interpreting this post correctly, migration to an upgraded doesn't work reliably. I would assume that this especially holds true for a different OEM device.

chrissy

Murcielago Yeah i saw this but it still seems he is backing up every single profiles one by one

Was wondering if i could back up the WHOLE phone including all my profiles with it

huberto

Full backup to restore on the exactly SAME phone might work to some degree (for each user profile separately, see my attached notes below), but for a restore on a replacment device (regardles if same model or different) SeedVault isn't even close to working. It's not possible to use the restored app data if it is encrypted (which all of the important apps/stuff is).
I once read about the mis-conception of android backup, which explains that this is by design, but I haven't any links handy, sorry (it's basically because no keys are restored, that's why any app crashes after restore due to the undecryptable data garbage restored).
So full phone backup is an illusion in the currnet state of GOS - even on the same phone many important app restrictions are lost/reset (see notes)

A SeedVault specific usability obstacle is the unavoidable 12 word (BIP39) backup-encryption-key deriving.
Users might jsut want to backup an app collection, or transfer settings, without any data at all or with fake data or completely unsensitive date etc... Since you will need to record the 12-word code FOR EACH user profile, it is quiet cumbersome. Users should be allowed to define their own codeword for PBKDF2 or somthing like that if confidentially is no priority, but one-time transfer or template-resotre is...

Here's my notes I took some while back when I did real-world tests
`command cat SeedVault 20240062000.md
Device PIN and biometric data is never backed up!

RESTORE notes

==Important:== GrapheneOS by default ==disables USB-C port if device is locked== - default lock timeout is 1 minute! If you don't touch the screen during restore for one minute, ==restore will fail==, at least for secondary profiles!

3rd party apps are reliably installed during first run, even if their data is not allowed to be backed up. Data will be restored one step after apps are reinstalled if you selected "Backup my apps" in Settings -> System ->"Backup" (SeedVault).
Exceptions: GrapheneOS "Apps" like Google Play... You need to reinstall from "Apps", data restore is not possible.
Some important Vanadium settings are not restored too!!! (open external links incognito, DoH (Use 'secure' DNS)...)

Wi-Fi settings and almost all other settings are restored properly.
Exceptions (settings wich are N O T restored):

Settings -> System -> Gestures
Device Name (Settings -> "About phone")
Bluetooth device name (Connected devices -> Connection preferences -> Bluetooth)
"Turn off Bluetooth automatically (same path, set to 10 minutes)
Network "Internet connectivity checks" won't restore "Standard (Google) Server"
Location: "SUPSL" and "PSDS" won't restore "Standard Server" too (most times to be preferred over "GrapheneOS (proxy) Server")
Apps states:
- "Pause app activity if unused"
- Disabled
Permissions:
- Reset for all 3rd party apps (==need to be re-allowed==, restrictions get lost since Network + Sensors are on by default!)
- Restrictions/==Permissions for System Apps are preserved==!
"Special app access" restrictions are lost too:
- "Wi-Fi control" is on by default
- Modify system settins" needs to be checked
SIM support (disabled by default in "Network & Internet")
Multiple users (need to be set-up from scratch with ==separate backup==!)

Backup Notes

Manually triggering a Full-Backup is only possible by changing "Backup Location" to a different location, which points to a different device-serial (Label is irrelevant, SeedVault matches against mount-ID (drive serial)
In order to start-over with full-backup on an already used SD-Card:

format unused/temp SD-card
Select the unused/temp SD-card as "Backup location"
format the original SD-card
Change "Backup Location" back to the original SD-Card after labeling (renaming)))
==All manually triggered backups are incremental== if you didn't change the "Backup Location"
`

mhqqwr

Thanks. I would like to add the following points:

Further settings which are NOT restored:

Settings -> Apps -> Default apps (at least the setting for "Caller ID & spam app" was not restored)
Settings -> System -> Backup (I had "Backup my files" activated, now it is deactivated; I'm unsure with the other settings here, check them to be on the safe side)
From my memory, I think the order of the tiles changed back to default when I swipe down 2x.

Restoring the private space is extra difficult. I haven't done it because copying the backup to the right location for the private space was too cumbersome for me, but it should be possible. For a workaround to restore private space, see https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/4300.

Finally, I had a problem with the default SMS app after restoring the main profile. The SMS app showed wrong senders. Also others faced this problem, see https://github.com/GrapheneOS/Messaging/issues/72. If you have this problem too: The solution is to go to the "app info" of the SMS app, then go to "Storage & cache" and press "Clear storage" and "Clear cache". SMS and contacts remain after clearing storage and cache, but it is recommended to have a backup of course.

littlerack

mhqqwr Restoring the private space is extra difficult

I've restored it once, can't recall any major difficulties.

mhqqwr

I have now remembered another setting, which is not restored: Security & Privacy -> Device unlock -> Screen lock -> Scramble PIN input layout (after the restore, it was set to the default, i.e. off)

mhqqwr

Another setting not restored:
Settings -> Security & Privacy -> Exploit protection -> Auto reboot