M
MarSOnEarth

  • Joined Aug 28, 2023
  • Thanks for chiming in. Before nandroid images, and then SwiftBackup backups, which reduced switching ROMs to minutes, it used to take me 3-4 days to fully configure a new device. Now it looks like it will be back to that at least once, although even without root, SwiftBackup can still (with Shizuku) create backup of most everything on device, except for App data. Once; and then I'll be waiting for that future and still elusive GOS backup after I switch to the OS.

  • de0u GrapheneOS does not include Google's cloud-backup transport (Google has not open-sourced it). I believe there is no way to get the Google cloud backup onto a GrapheneOS device.

    Ah! Of course... Google cloud.

  • Google has made it increasingly easier to move from one device to another. Last time I upgraded, I was surprised how much of my settings were transferred to the new device, and how little was left for me to configure.
    A little bit of background; I used to root every one of my phones just so I could do a complete backup/restore of all apps and their data when upgrading or changing ROM/OS. Switching/upgrading was a breeze. The last time I upgraded to a new device, I allowed Google to do the restore for me and (as above) it was so complete that I didn't even have to use my (rooted) backup.

    My current device (Pixel 8) is on stock OS, and it's backing up to Google cloud. Now, and as I'm preparing for a move to GOS, I wonder if I would be able to restore on GOS what stock OS has backed up to Google. Does GOS have something similar to transfer-settings-from-another-device during its setup process?

    P.S. At this point I take Google collecting what it does as a given and with the P8 (which is not rooted) I mostly went along with it, and initially, at least, I intend to use GOS as a 1:1 replacement for stock OS.

    • GrapheneOS It can't directly transfer to another device yet, but it's planned as a core feature for our replacement backup app that's on the backburner right now.

      A good reliable backup of all apps and their data seems like a core feature of any OS, and yet, it remains "on the backburner" in spite of the many posts on this forum on how unreliable current option (seedvault) is. Just saying (...and hoping the project would re-prioritize the need for a proper/fail-proof backup solution).

      • GrapheneOS

        GrapheneOS You need a USB storage device or another mechanism to move the data between the devices.

        Could you elaborate on the steps for such workflow?

        Thanks

      • User2288 Here WeGo is an EU based company, so that's one, and then their business model is (mostly) not the end user (it's the car companies). The app offers many settings to deny/limit the extent of data collection, and they seem to operate entirely within their own API ecosystem (no third parties*).
        Whatever all that means, what I see when I enable the on-line mode (but, after downloading maps the app can also be used entirely off-line) is that the app only accesses IPs from either their *.hereapi.com, and ec2...compute...amazonaws.com and all connections are through HTTPS. The only "foreign" IP accessed is that of amplitude.com(*), an analytics company. For myself, I'm comfortable with the trade-offs.

        • Interesting that no one has mentioned "Here WeGo", an oldie-but-goodie that's grown out of "Nokia Maps". Use it offline or on, limited data collection, POIs, turn-by-turn navigation (even off-line), real-time traffic, public transport/pedestrian/bicycle navigation, etc., etc.

          • pdagenius Sygic... hmm. The very first two IPs connected after installing were: edge...facebook.com and graph.facebook.com, and when those were blocked, next was 2a03:2880:f001:6:face:b00c:0:2.

          • @GrapheneOS posted their guestimate as "To do this for a backup app, it will take us dedicating around 2 experienced developers to it for a couple months to get it written and then continuing to put work into it for around a year for it to reach the point that it's a great app." which sounds to me like 'two developers for a year' give or take, and that's quite a bit more than $40K.

            What's a better way to fund something like this; through donations to the general GOS project, or specifically for the app (how/who'd handle that?). Also, smaller $ amounts/month are easier to handle for most, in the long run.

            Either way, a proper backup app would definitely be something I'd pitch in to make it a reality.

          • Thank you both. Yes, I've read this, but still, I'm just surprised that a proper backup solution doesn't exist yet, and yes, I'd like to keep this issue visible, and even though I'm not yet running GOS (and this is one of the reasons), I'd love to support efforts to implement it.

            • This use case, switching/replacing phones, is the biggest reason I had rooted every one of my phones.

              How come implementing an OS level backup solution (something like SwiftBackup, for example, that can accomplish this task (backing up apps+their data) reliably), is not a bigger priority for the GOS team since rooting is anathema to a secure OS idea?

              An OS level backup solution of a platform that makes it easy to be reset/wiped out in emergency, should provide for an equally easy way to be restored.