Full device backups in 2026

aw22

What is everyone using for backing up all app data and system settings nowadays?

I just lost my phone and spent literally over 10 hours restoring all my apps, going through all their settings, and getting things set up again like it was before. And I still ended up losing access to some accounts. It's a huge hassle and I dread the next time I need to get a new phone.

GrapheneOS has said years ago they were working on a better backup solution. Had there been any progress on that? Are people using another backup solution?

Novaliss

aw22
Recently Vanadium got an export/import bookmarks feature. This is huge, since it won't backup using Seedvault.

Also this app:
https://github.com/tmo1/sms-ie/releases/download/v2.9.0/com.github.tmo1.sms_ie-v2.9.0-standard-release.app

It usually works well for backing up Contacts, blocked numbers, call history, and Sms.

I recommend using Cryptomator or Androidcrypt for keeping these files secure on external media, or any cloud storage service.

schklom

Seedvault + individual app backups is your best bet for now.

GOS is working on a better solution, but haven't announced any progress yet.

Personally, in addition to Seedvault, where possible, I also make every app backup to a folder called Backup/<appname>/, automatically if possible and manually when I make changes and remember to backup otherwise.
Then, I use FolderSync (Synthing is a popular alternative if you can selfhost it) to sync that folder daily to a cloud provider.

I have needed that once so far, and noticed a few apps (outside the obvious Signal Whatsapp etc) did not restore data because developers decided to not allow it for some idiotic "security" reason, so I was glad to have manual backups just in case.

schklom

Novaliss FYI, your link is invalid, you ended it with app instead of apk :P
In case it's too late to edit your post, the link is https://github.com/tmo1/sms-ie/releases/download/v2.9.0/com.github.tmo1.sms_ie-v2.9.0-standard-release.apk

PS: I didn't know some of these apps, thanks for the info :)

Novaliss

schklom link is invalid,

Thanks for picking this up.👍

Androidcrypt is less tested than Cryptomator, but it is the first I've found since the very old EdsLite that opens Veracrypt-containers created on a PC.

maro

Hi, I know the official GOS website mentions Seedvault is the best available option at the moment, but it is not the target solution planned for GOS. Does anyone know what problems the current version of Seedvault has? Or what aspects does GOS plan to do differently?

aw22

The main problem with Seedvault (and a fundamental problem with Android's security model) is that apps are allowed to encrypt data using keys trapped in secure elements that can't be exported in backups.

I looked into patching Android's keystore to force software keys for non-system apps, but it's a bigger headache than it's worth to maintain the necessary patches myself.