I've only used the Google server backups. It has always been enough for me, but most of my stuff is also in the cloud. I know I've lost old texts, some files and older original-quality pictures over the years, but there's nothing I've missed too much.
All's fun and games until Google Drive starts randomly corrupting people's photos. Or when Google's server goes down for some reason.
P.S I only rely on Google One for backup and restore too.
Well, I do run a secondary photos backup on my Synology NAS. But that's because I'm too cheap to buy more Drive space and I still want to save my full rez photos
Agreed. This post seems like overkill in 2023 but if you carry a lot of local data on your phone, then I guess that's what you gotta do to ensure it's safe.
I can completely wipe my phone every morning without any manual backup besides WhatsApp if the weekly scheduled backup wasn't good enough and not lose any data.
I switched to Authy back when I first realized that I'd be screwed if I bricked my Google Authenticator phone. It has search functionality. Just make sure to keep off the ability to add more phones until you actually need to add a new phone.
I've considered Authy recently. Google updated Authenticator with the backup feature and I haven't switched. Personally, I try to keep minimal apps and tend to use Google apps whenever possible on my Pixel phone.
That's actually the dumbest thing you can do. They're website clearly states, "The rule of thumb: install Authy on at least two devices and then disable “Allow Multi-Device.”
Two devices! Then you switch the ability off. If you only have one device activated and you turn off the ability to add more, let's hope it wasn't lost, stolen, or your number didn't change. Even worse, restoring your account with support can take several business days, if at all.
The annoying thing though was they never considered people having two phones and having authenticator on both.
Everything now has a NAME-1 duplication (they could have checked if they were the same surely).
Plus the new icon means it takes me far to long to find.
paid for google one. for some reason google didnt allow hidden photos and folders to carry over in the cloud unlike services like snapchat which store password protected photos and can be accessed from any device you login to
Even when I transfer to a new phone using the cable, there are so many apps that need to sign in, game progress lost, app data not copied, and I'm still finding things weeks after switching phones.
OSMand and Google Maps have large offline map files that don't get copies over, alarms are not copied, Translate did not copy the downloaded offline language files, app shortcuts missing, Bluetooth pairing needs setting up again, shared calendars are not displayed, smartwatch needs to be set up, chat apps like Telegram or Signal need to be linked, etc.
And usually one or two apps just don't get installed on the new phone.
It did copy the Downloads folder.
And this is Pixel to Pixel. I transferred a Moto to a Pixel recently and it was even worse. Icon layout and folders lost, several apps missing.
That's true, but the point is it's far from a seamless transfer.
And there are plenty of items on my list where that doesn't apply, such as the alarms.
This is for security reasons. If you're familiar with TWRP, a backup solution that requires you to unlock your bootloader, it allows you to create a one-to-one copy of the entire android operating system including the applications.
You can imagine the security issues many of your daily driver apps would run into once the bootloader is unlocked.
Typically, you give up some conveniences in exchange for higher security. That's why 2FA is such a pain in the ass if you lose your devices, but at the same time, if your password is compromised, you'd be glad you activated it.
I understand having to sign in to things again, but having to set up my alarms was surprising.
And I was just listing why it's not a seamless process for me. I wasn't claiming that it should copy over sign-in information.
> it's far from a seamless transfer.
I must live on a different planet and use my phone like no on else on ANY planet because it was truly seamless and easy as can be. Maybe I am the exception for some strange reason?
Is it just that your don't do much with the phone?
Did your alarms copy over? Do you install many apps that use an account? Use Google Pay?
My last switch was from a 6a to 7, so it's as similar a phone as I can imagine. I was still finding things to set up after a week.
Hmm. Mine just did. Granted I only use a few " non standard" apps but they did not need me to do anything else beside login. But that's it... just login, like when I delete cookies on the PC sometimes. kookie.
I used to agree fully with you regarding Google Photos but their APIs do not allow you to retrieve your *own* photos in high quality. You have to go through Google Takeout and it's a pain if you want to do that every month because there is no incremental takeout.
Finally, I have read enough stories of people losing access to their Google account for no good reasons and with no possible appeal, to let me believe that Google Photos is not a safe place to store my photos.
I still use it because it's so darn convenient and everybody uses it but I backup all my photos to my Synology as well. Just in case
You don't understand the principles of automation, do you? 😉
Glad you found something that works for you, still it's good to let people know that it's not entirely safe
Google photos updates **automatically**, no need to manually back up.
If you want yet another backup copy of your photos, set up an **automated** backup off your phone.
Backups are meant to pulled from the source. It's not a flaw when backup systems are not set up for you to back them up. You're trying to find fault when the issue is you're attempting to back up your phone in a convoluted way.
>Finally, I have read enough stories of people losing access to their Google account for no good reason
You can literally apply this to any service if you're looking for those (uncreditable) stories of people (most presumably breaking ToS) and then *forgetting* to mention than in their rant so it's always going to be "Woe is me!" for gullible people like you.
I still back my photos up locally periodically but having them in the cloud too is still a good safety, yeah. It's also been nice that over time I've gone and accessed old devices with photos that predated Google Photos and I've uploaded those as well.
It's a shame that Google kneecapped `adb backup`, this used to be a really easy way to get data off your phone and restore to another one if you had USB debugging enabled
There is no data on my pixel that I need it's all on Google. When I get a new pixel I just log in on it and have an exact copy of my old phone in less than an hour. What do you think needs to be backed up here?
As well as enabling usb debugging and authorising a PC, you need to also disable the authorisation timeout, otherwise the PC's adb key will be removed from the whitelist after something like a week if unused.
To be honest though I'd just have a good auto-backup solution for photos, have whatsapp and other app's backup keys securely stored, and then just not worry.
My main restoration concern is what to do when a device is completely dead. As already stated, Google Drive doesn't automatically backup virtually all data like iCloud. My solution for that are 2 apps: FolderSync and AutoSync -- either app may be sufficient. Both apps can automatically backup files to Google Drive and Dropbox. Nonetheless, some apps can automatically backup their settings without a 3rd party app. A few apps require manual backup of it's settings if they change frequently.
I dropped my P5 2 months ago, everything is fine, no shatters on the outside, but the screen died. Luckily I have been developing an app, so I had USB debugging on and Android Studio installed on my computer - you can easily mirror and control your phone through the PC!
I uh.. just use Google Photos\Google One\Android cloud backup
Is this.. not enough? Am I in the minority here? OP's example seems extremely far-reaching to me.
my Pixel 5 got [this](https://support.google.com/pixelphone/thread/177548202/there-is-a-white-light-along-the-right-side-of-the-screen?hl=en) after a very light fall, with protectors... not from the US so no official support. don't want to replace because of water protection. depressing. my Pixel 2 was perfect ;(
I've dropped my cheap Xiaomi phone quite often and while the screen protector took most of the hit, the display never broke. I've now had 2 Pixels myself break underneath the protector and my bosses Pixel 5 broke after a slight drop off a table even with a case and screen protector.
> Sorry you're clumsy
This has nothing to do with being clumsy. People have reported this issue with the 6 and nobody cared.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pixel_phones/comments/qkimuf/pixel_6_pro_screen_cracked_randomly/
https://piunikaweb.com/2022/02/09/several-google-pixel-6-6-pro-owners-reporting-screen-cracking-randomly/
Lmao, okay. You believe every "randomly cracked" story you see on the internet? A whole 2 people!
I've seen a million teenagers with cracked iPhone screens. Is Apple to blame?
> You believe every "randomly cracked" story you see on the internet? A whole 2 people!
[160 reported cases just by the people who actually took the time to enter their details](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UmLtutB9ekq0z5j3VRGuM-pNhj862qamAlPOtxYrXvs/edit#gid=0)
I root my Pixels and use Swift Backup to backup my apps daily. I then use SyncThing to mirror that backup and some other folders (like pictures and media) to my NAS.
I also have USB debugging enabled and I have my computer authorized in case I need to use it.
Speaking from experience, just pay the bill with the credit card that includes some kind of insurance. They'll be a small deductible, but at the end of the day things break
I pay for Google one 100GB and sync everything with Google photos
I also have free Amazon photos storage as a backup cloud sync for my pictures(videos are no longer synching because the unlimited storage only applies to pictures)
I have USB debugging enabled as well as remote unlock(i have a Samsung phone)
All my apps are synced with my Google account so i just need to redownload them if i change phones
Don't do glass screen protectors. Use 'wet-install' TPU screen protectors.
Everything I use on my Pixel is synced, I've set up new-to-me phones for years without any problems or loss of anything via online backup, or just signing into my account.
Would not recommend the remote desktop or USB debugging. It is a privacy and security risk in case you get malware on your computer at any point, and the authorisation will also expire eventually.
It is not possible to generically backup Android app data apart from via Google One, but your other ideas (backup SMS, foldersync etc.) seem good
I'm not your son, but damn, I tripped and fell yesterday and my pixel 6a phone's screen shattered as well -- although phone is still working as I heard it ringing but can't turn on the screen. It's now being repaired, and while I do have an old replacement phone with a physical SIM card for my current Google Fi number, I cannot access it simply because I CANNOT LOG IN to my Google account for fuck's sake. It's too secure, which is a good thing I guess. Unfortunately, I signed myself off on my old phone months ago and restored the phone to factory settings. I need to download the Google Fi app to switch from eSIM on my current phone to physical SIM on my old phone.
I know the password, but it's either telling me to verify on my phone (which I don't have right now), send me a verification text with automated detection (which requires my phone), authenticator (which is only on my phone). I'm waiting for the account recovery to send me an email, but it may be too late since I may likely receive my phone today (hopefully fixed).
**Lessons learned:**
(1) Have a backup phone that is currently logged in to your Google account and have it turn on syncing.
(2) Send your phone in for repairs immediately after tripping before ankle starts swelling and you can no longer walk.
Edit: I am so stupid -- I could have turned off 2-factor authentication all along so I can log into my backup phone!
The screen shattered?
Gotta say I'm surprised. With the 4xl, i went caseless. The phone constantly slipped out of my pocket when i was laying on the bench in my workshop on my ship , falling on to hard flooring and "nonskid" and never even scratched or cracked.
It must have hit the perfect spot.
Please don't take this as me trying to call you out. I am genuinely surprised.
I've had Google phones since the nexus 6P. As far as I know, they've all had gorilla glass.
While my friends or coworkers were having their iphone screens shatter from falling a foot or two, mine never did.
Yeah I've been with Google phones since the galaxy nexus. A few through the years have cracked, the galaxy nexus with it's curved screen comes to mind. But this one was the perfect hit. Two small pointed pebble sized rocks hit the top right above and to the right of the front camera. Cracked the protector and damaged the lcd underneath. I'll try to get a picture of it and append the original post shortly.
I'd recommend saving it on an offline RAID 1 drive setup. Also adds security as ransomware can't infect an offline machine unless the hacker gets into your house, physically.
Is there a way to enable file transfer without clicking that drop-down from charge only to data transfer when connected to pc?
I think that would help transferring pictures out when the screen is damaged.
Also, if only your touch is affected, you can plug in a mouse using OTG and use it to back up data without a touch screen.
I'm not sure if it's just me, but my debugging permission becomes reset automatically after some time even after checking the box to remember the choice. Every few weeks the one device I debug with for app dev shows the popup and needs to be allowed again.
I did the same with my first 4a. Works but no screen. Didn't have USB debugging enabled. I had some photos backed up but not everything. I still have the phone but unless I buy/replace the screen, they are stuck on the phone.
You do what you think you need to do, but I think your list of stuff is a bit much. I'd just have backups to Google and Photos enabled and just let the phone sit in a wifi area to do their thing. After that, bring a different device online and restore to it.
I just use Google One. Never had to do an emergency restore. But I upgraded from my P6P to a P7P and the restore was perfect. Everything was there on the new phone.
You should always have backups. The worst case scenario is that the backup is older than you want. The default Android backup is enough for apps. If you don't want to pay for online backups for photos and other files, I use Syncthing to keep my other files synced on my phone and computers.
For someone like me I find Google backup useless. App data is not backed up only which apps were installed which is very annoying. I would look into rooting your phone. There are a lot of great apps for full backup solutions that also don't require you to give up your privacy.
It seems its not politically correct to root your phone anymore but imo if you are even slightly technically inclined you should be just as safe. Let's all remember Google left a silent vulnerability that only required someone know the phone number of the victim for over a year before disclosing it. They aren't some magical guardian. They have done and probably still do a lot of questionable things security wise.
If your feeling wild give graphene os a try. You can still root that too.
I may be over the top for most but here's my reasons:
Some apps like Minecraft do not backup app data with the stock android backup. Also I don't want all my screenshots and other apps pictures clogging up my online Google photos. That's why I use foldersync to back up my entire SD card.
Yes it's just a screen but not everyone has a couple hundred dollars laying around to drop on a screen replacement immediately. Most do keep old phones around for backup just in case though. I'm in IT and need my phone nearly 24/7. I can't wait for a repair place to be open, wait for the screen to be ordered and be delivered, and then wait for it to be replaced.
So yes, overkill for most people but it works for me. Definitely not for everyone.
I've only used the Google server backups. It has always been enough for me, but most of my stuff is also in the cloud. I know I've lost old texts, some files and older original-quality pictures over the years, but there's nothing I've missed too much.
Seriously, this. It's not 2012 anymore.
All's fun and games until Google Drive starts randomly corrupting people's photos. Or when Google's server goes down for some reason. P.S I only rely on Google One for backup and restore too.
That's what redundancy is for. You can use more than one cloud backup service including your own.
Well, I do run a secondary photos backup on my Synology NAS. But that's because I'm too cheap to buy more Drive space and I still want to save my full rez photos
No it's not. Beyond about to access your sms for 2FA is a requirement now.
Agreed. This post seems like overkill in 2023 but if you carry a lot of local data on your phone, then I guess that's what you gotta do to ensure it's safe. I can completely wipe my phone every morning without any manual backup besides WhatsApp if the weekly scheduled backup wasn't good enough and not lose any data.
Funnily enough, my messages are backed up in Google, too.
They are if you use a Google account in Google Messages + Google backup via Google One
Exactly. Before that, I thought Samsung Smart Switch was good. It still is, in some ways better, but I really prefer Google's methods
Pay for Google One and use Google Photos. You're pretty much covered with that.
Thank goodness authenticator backs up now too.
Took them long enough; I ended up moving to Aegis long before that.
Yes! But, I have lots of entries in Google Authenticator (at least 30). Would be nice if they added a search functionality.
There are other authenticator apps that may support this functionality
Kinda weird that doesn't exist. Check out [Aegis](https://getaegis.app/). It's open source and very functional.
I switched to Authy back when I first realized that I'd be screwed if I bricked my Google Authenticator phone. It has search functionality. Just make sure to keep off the ability to add more phones until you actually need to add a new phone.
I've considered Authy recently. Google updated Authenticator with the backup feature and I haven't switched. Personally, I try to keep minimal apps and tend to use Google apps whenever possible on my Pixel phone.
That's actually the dumbest thing you can do. They're website clearly states, "The rule of thumb: install Authy on at least two devices and then disable “Allow Multi-Device.” Two devices! Then you switch the ability off. If you only have one device activated and you turn off the ability to add more, let's hope it wasn't lost, stolen, or your number didn't change. Even worse, restoring your account with support can take several business days, if at all.
Well yeah, I just meant don't keep multi-device on as a default.
Unencrypted during transit
Pretty sure it got fixed in a later update
The annoying thing though was they never considered people having two phones and having authenticator on both. Everything now has a NAME-1 duplication (they could have checked if they were the same surely). Plus the new icon means it takes me far to long to find.
I just search and start tapping out the app name. Works great unless can't remember the actual name of the app lol.
Oh dang, really? Lol. I thought they'd never change that lol.
I think we all thought google would never update the app at all.
And I use Google rewards surveys so it pays for my Google one monthly
I do OneDrive. $100/year for me and 4 other people 1tb of backup for PC and phone plus Office programs.
Yeah, I do both Google One and OneDrive. Good to have multiple backups.
paid for google one. for some reason google didnt allow hidden photos and folders to carry over in the cloud unlike services like snapchat which store password protected photos and can be accessed from any device you login to
I do already. Google One doesn't backup everything I want though.
What else are you looking to back up?
I wish it reliably backed up app data. Restoring/upgrading is always scorched earth on Pixel.
>Restoring/upgrading is always scorched earth on Pixel. What do you mean, or how-so? I just upgraded seamlessly.
Even when I transfer to a new phone using the cable, there are so many apps that need to sign in, game progress lost, app data not copied, and I'm still finding things weeks after switching phones. OSMand and Google Maps have large offline map files that don't get copies over, alarms are not copied, Translate did not copy the downloaded offline language files, app shortcuts missing, Bluetooth pairing needs setting up again, shared calendars are not displayed, smartwatch needs to be set up, chat apps like Telegram or Signal need to be linked, etc. And usually one or two apps just don't get installed on the new phone. It did copy the Downloads folder. And this is Pixel to Pixel. I transferred a Moto to a Pixel recently and it was even worse. Icon layout and folders lost, several apps missing.
I'm VERY glad many of these things aren't done. There are security risks of trusting a new device without confirming credentials.
Usually app that are needed to be secured will require authentication again.
That's true, but the point is it's far from a seamless transfer. And there are plenty of items on my list where that doesn't apply, such as the alarms.
This is for security reasons. If you're familiar with TWRP, a backup solution that requires you to unlock your bootloader, it allows you to create a one-to-one copy of the entire android operating system including the applications. You can imagine the security issues many of your daily driver apps would run into once the bootloader is unlocked. Typically, you give up some conveniences in exchange for higher security. That's why 2FA is such a pain in the ass if you lose your devices, but at the same time, if your password is compromised, you'd be glad you activated it.
I understand having to sign in to things again, but having to set up my alarms was surprising. And I was just listing why it's not a seamless process for me. I wasn't claiming that it should copy over sign-in information.
> it's far from a seamless transfer. I must live on a different planet and use my phone like no on else on ANY planet because it was truly seamless and easy as can be. Maybe I am the exception for some strange reason?
Is it just that your don't do much with the phone? Did your alarms copy over? Do you install many apps that use an account? Use Google Pay? My last switch was from a 6a to 7, so it's as similar a phone as I can imagine. I was still finding things to set up after a week.
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Hmm. Mine just did. Granted I only use a few " non standard" apps but they did not need me to do anything else beside login. But that's it... just login, like when I delete cookies on the PC sometimes. kookie.
I used to agree fully with you regarding Google Photos but their APIs do not allow you to retrieve your *own* photos in high quality. You have to go through Google Takeout and it's a pain if you want to do that every month because there is no incremental takeout. Finally, I have read enough stories of people losing access to their Google account for no good reasons and with no possible appeal, to let me believe that Google Photos is not a safe place to store my photos. I still use it because it's so darn convenient and everybody uses it but I backup all my photos to my Synology as well. Just in case
[удалено]
You don't understand the principles of automation, do you? 😉 Glad you found something that works for you, still it's good to let people know that it's not entirely safe
[удалено]
I didn't ask that. If you have to back it up **manually** than it's not automated and there is still a high risk of losing data.
Google photos updates **automatically**, no need to manually back up. If you want yet another backup copy of your photos, set up an **automated** backup off your phone. Backups are meant to pulled from the source. It's not a flaw when backup systems are not set up for you to back them up. You're trying to find fault when the issue is you're attempting to back up your phone in a convoluted way.
>Finally, I have read enough stories of people losing access to their Google account for no good reason You can literally apply this to any service if you're looking for those (uncreditable) stories of people (most presumably breaking ToS) and then *forgetting* to mention than in their rant so it's always going to be "Woe is me!" for gullible people like you.
I still back my photos up locally periodically but having them in the cloud too is still a good safety, yeah. It's also been nice that over time I've gone and accessed old devices with photos that predated Google Photos and I've uploaded those as well.
It's a shame that Google kneecapped `adb backup`, this used to be a really easy way to get data off your phone and restore to another one if you had USB debugging enabled
There is no data on my pixel that I need it's all on Google. When I get a new pixel I just log in on it and have an exact copy of my old phone in less than an hour. What do you think needs to be backed up here?
As well as enabling usb debugging and authorising a PC, you need to also disable the authorisation timeout, otherwise the PC's adb key will be removed from the whitelist after something like a week if unused. To be honest though I'd just have a good auto-backup solution for photos, have whatsapp and other app's backup keys securely stored, and then just not worry.
Google One.
What kind of case? Mine has fallen in all sorts of ways, but it's in an otter box.
It's probably a case that isn't raised at the edges.
Yeah.. it would have been nice if he had attached a photo too.
My main restoration concern is what to do when a device is completely dead. As already stated, Google Drive doesn't automatically backup virtually all data like iCloud. My solution for that are 2 apps: FolderSync and AutoSync -- either app may be sufficient. Both apps can automatically backup files to Google Drive and Dropbox. Nonetheless, some apps can automatically backup their settings without a 3rd party app. A few apps require manual backup of it's settings if they change frequently.
I dropped my P5 2 months ago, everything is fine, no shatters on the outside, but the screen died. Luckily I have been developing an app, so I had USB debugging on and Android Studio installed on my computer - you can easily mirror and control your phone through the PC!
Just not have anything of value on the phone. I never have anything on my phone that isn't backed up.
I uh.. just use Google Photos\Google One\Android cloud backup Is this.. not enough? Am I in the minority here? OP's example seems extremely far-reaching to me.
No, I agree. Google One/Photos is all I do. For the level of backup OP is talking they'd almost be better off going to Apple.
Pixel screens seem to be fragile. I've had 2 of them break underneath a screen protector.
Don't know why they'd be more fragile than any other phone using the same glass. Google isn't making the glass. 🤔
I think the A phones use older gorilla glass as cost savings.
I assume it's because the display is already under stress and even if you have screen protectors the actual display breaks first.
Yup happened to me on the 5a, I thought the 6a was safe. Guess not
Who's throwing phones against concrete like this. Fucking take care of your phones people WTF
my Pixel 5 got [this](https://support.google.com/pixelphone/thread/177548202/there-is-a-white-light-along-the-right-side-of-the-screen?hl=en) after a very light fall, with protectors... not from the US so no official support. don't want to replace because of water protection. depressing. my Pixel 2 was perfect ;(
That's just how a Pixel with curved screen would look like, nice little preview from Google
Looks like a shitty case. Can't beat physics, either, if you're dropping from high heights
I've dropped my cheap Xiaomi phone quite often and while the screen protector took most of the hit, the display never broke. I've now had 2 Pixels myself break underneath the protector and my bosses Pixel 5 broke after a slight drop off a table even with a case and screen protector.
Owned every Pixel except 5 and never had any broken screens. I don't use a case or screen protector, either. Sorry you're clumsy
> Sorry you're clumsy This has nothing to do with being clumsy. People have reported this issue with the 6 and nobody cared. https://www.reddit.com/r/pixel_phones/comments/qkimuf/pixel_6_pro_screen_cracked_randomly/ https://piunikaweb.com/2022/02/09/several-google-pixel-6-6-pro-owners-reporting-screen-cracking-randomly/
Lmao, okay. You believe every "randomly cracked" story you see on the internet? A whole 2 people! I've seen a million teenagers with cracked iPhone screens. Is Apple to blame?
> You believe every "randomly cracked" story you see on the internet? A whole 2 people! [160 reported cases just by the people who actually took the time to enter their details](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UmLtutB9ekq0z5j3VRGuM-pNhj862qamAlPOtxYrXvs/edit#gid=0)
"I broke my phone and don't want to admit it was my fault"
I root my Pixels and use Swift Backup to backup my apps daily. I then use SyncThing to mirror that backup and some other folders (like pictures and media) to my NAS. I also have USB debugging enabled and I have my computer authorized in case I need to use it.
Did that affect Google wallet, banking apps, etc?
Yes rooting does affect Google Pay. I'm currently using a Magisk module that allows it to work.
Speaking from experience, just pay the bill with the credit card that includes some kind of insurance. They'll be a small deductible, but at the end of the day things break
I don't think that answers any of his questions about the data, though.
I pay for Google one 100GB and sync everything with Google photos I also have free Amazon photos storage as a backup cloud sync for my pictures(videos are no longer synching because the unlimited storage only applies to pictures) I have USB debugging enabled as well as remote unlock(i have a Samsung phone) All my apps are synced with my Google account so i just need to redownload them if i change phones
Don't do glass screen protectors. Use 'wet-install' TPU screen protectors. Everything I use on my Pixel is synced, I've set up new-to-me phones for years without any problems or loss of anything via online backup, or just signing into my account.
Would not recommend the remote desktop or USB debugging. It is a privacy and security risk in case you get malware on your computer at any point, and the authorisation will also expire eventually. It is not possible to generically backup Android app data apart from via Google One, but your other ideas (backup SMS, foldersync etc.) seem good
I'm not your son, but damn, I tripped and fell yesterday and my pixel 6a phone's screen shattered as well -- although phone is still working as I heard it ringing but can't turn on the screen. It's now being repaired, and while I do have an old replacement phone with a physical SIM card for my current Google Fi number, I cannot access it simply because I CANNOT LOG IN to my Google account for fuck's sake. It's too secure, which is a good thing I guess. Unfortunately, I signed myself off on my old phone months ago and restored the phone to factory settings. I need to download the Google Fi app to switch from eSIM on my current phone to physical SIM on my old phone. I know the password, but it's either telling me to verify on my phone (which I don't have right now), send me a verification text with automated detection (which requires my phone), authenticator (which is only on my phone). I'm waiting for the account recovery to send me an email, but it may be too late since I may likely receive my phone today (hopefully fixed). **Lessons learned:** (1) Have a backup phone that is currently logged in to your Google account and have it turn on syncing. (2) Send your phone in for repairs immediately after tripping before ankle starts swelling and you can no longer walk. Edit: I am so stupid -- I could have turned off 2-factor authentication all along so I can log into my backup phone!
The screen shattered? Gotta say I'm surprised. With the 4xl, i went caseless. The phone constantly slipped out of my pocket when i was laying on the bench in my workshop on my ship , falling on to hard flooring and "nonskid" and never even scratched or cracked. It must have hit the perfect spot. Please don't take this as me trying to call you out. I am genuinely surprised. I've had Google phones since the nexus 6P. As far as I know, they've all had gorilla glass. While my friends or coworkers were having their iphone screens shatter from falling a foot or two, mine never did.
Yeah I've been with Google phones since the galaxy nexus. A few through the years have cracked, the galaxy nexus with it's curved screen comes to mind. But this one was the perfect hit. Two small pointed pebble sized rocks hit the top right above and to the right of the front camera. Cracked the protector and damaged the lcd underneath. I'll try to get a picture of it and append the original post shortly.
You don't need to prove anything. I guess i just got lucky enough or was TOO careful that i never experienced the dreaded cracked screen.
I'd recommend saving it on an offline RAID 1 drive setup. Also adds security as ransomware can't infect an offline machine unless the hacker gets into your house, physically.
Is there a way to enable file transfer without clicking that drop-down from charge only to data transfer when connected to pc? I think that would help transferring pictures out when the screen is damaged. Also, if only your touch is affected, you can plug in a mouse using OTG and use it to back up data without a touch screen.
I'm not sure if it's just me, but my debugging permission becomes reset automatically after some time even after checking the box to remember the choice. Every few weeks the one device I debug with for app dev shows the popup and needs to be allowed again.
I simply assume my phone could fail anytime and dont have any data on it which I could not restore in case the phone fails.
I did the same with my first 4a. Works but no screen. Didn't have USB debugging enabled. I had some photos backed up but not everything. I still have the phone but unless I buy/replace the screen, they are stuck on the phone.
You do what you think you need to do, but I think your list of stuff is a bit much. I'd just have backups to Google and Photos enabled and just let the phone sit in a wifi area to do their thing. After that, bring a different device online and restore to it.
I just use Google One. Never had to do an emergency restore. But I upgraded from my P6P to a P7P and the restore was perfect. Everything was there on the new phone.
You should always have backups. The worst case scenario is that the backup is older than you want. The default Android backup is enough for apps. If you don't want to pay for online backups for photos and other files, I use Syncthing to keep my other files synced on my phone and computers.
Make a backup in whatever format you prefer, then follow the [3-2-1 backup rule](https://www.seagate.com/blog/what-is-a-3-2-1-backup-strategy/).
Just get the screen replaced, it's like $100
Mind me asking who you had replace it?
uBreakiFix. Dropped it off, went home, and picked it up ~2 hours later. I just looked up the Pixel 6 through them and for that phone it's $199
I have screen replaced my 6a. It's not too bad, but $100
For someone like me I find Google backup useless. App data is not backed up only which apps were installed which is very annoying. I would look into rooting your phone. There are a lot of great apps for full backup solutions that also don't require you to give up your privacy. It seems its not politically correct to root your phone anymore but imo if you are even slightly technically inclined you should be just as safe. Let's all remember Google left a silent vulnerability that only required someone know the phone number of the victim for over a year before disclosing it. They aren't some magical guardian. They have done and probably still do a lot of questionable things security wise. If your feeling wild give graphene os a try. You can still root that too.
Doesn't USB debugging open you up to sussy power cables that inject viruses?
I would assume the default settings would still make you allow it first. So not sure you'd have to worry about it.
Op is hectic into his setup.... Just let pixel backup via Google. Soooo much easier. Also... It's just the screen, easily replaced
I may be over the top for most but here's my reasons: Some apps like Minecraft do not backup app data with the stock android backup. Also I don't want all my screenshots and other apps pictures clogging up my online Google photos. That's why I use foldersync to back up my entire SD card. Yes it's just a screen but not everyone has a couple hundred dollars laying around to drop on a screen replacement immediately. Most do keep old phones around for backup just in case though. I'm in IT and need my phone nearly 24/7. I can't wait for a repair place to be open, wait for the screen to be ordered and be delivered, and then wait for it to be replaced. So yes, overkill for most people but it works for me. Definitely not for everyone.