Basics of Smartphone Backup

Basics of Smartphone Backup

What would you do if you lost all your photos, notes and other files on your phone permanently?

If you have a backup system, you probably know what to do next: Restore everything to the new phone. But if you haven’t thought about it yet, fear not: The backup process has become so simple that it only takes a few taps of the screen. Here’s a quick overview of some of the ways you can keep your files safe, secure and up-to-date.

Begin
When you first set up your phone, you created (or signed in) a free account from Apple, Google or Samsung to use the company’s software and services. For example, this is an Apple ID on your iPhone, a Google Account on your Android phone, or a Samsung Account on your Galaxy device.

With that account, you might have five gigabytes of free iCloud storage space from Apple, or 15 gigabytes of online storage from Google and Samsung. This server space is used as an encrypted digital locker for your phone’s backup apps, but it can fill up quickly — especially if you have other devices connected to your account and storing files there.

When you’re approaching your storage limit, you’ll get a warning — along with an offer to sign up for more server space for a monthly fee, usually a few dollars for at least another 100 gigabytes. (Note that Samsung’s Temporary Cloud Backup tool provides unlimited storage for 30 days if your Galaxy is in the repair shop or ready for an upgrade.)

But online backup is only one approach. You can save your files on a local drive with a few extra steps.

Make a backup
Apple, Google, and Samsung all have specific setup instructions for cloud backups in the support area of their sites. But this feature is easy to find.

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On iPhone, tap your name at the top of the Settings screen and then tap iCloud. On many Android phones, tap System and then Backup. Here, you set the phone to back up automatically (which usually happens when it’s connected to a Wi-Fi network and plugged into its charger), or choose a manual backup that starts when you tap a button.

Backup apps usually save a copy of your call history, phone settings, messages, photos, videos and data from apps. Content that you can freely download, such as the app itself, is usually not backed up because it’s easy to retrieve.

If you don’t want your files on a remote server, you can put your phone backup on your computer’s hard drive. Steps vary by hardware, but Apple’s support site has a guide for backing up an iPhone to a Windows PC or Mac using a USB cable.

Google’s site has instructions for manually transferring files between Android phones and computers, and Samsung’s Smart Switch app helps with moving content between Galaxy phones and computers.

Synchronous vs. Backup
Synchronizing your files is not the same as backing them up. A backup saves a copy of a file at a specific point in time. Syncing your smartphone preserves information in certain apps, such as contacts and calendars, across multiple devices. When synced, your phone, computer, and anything else signed into your account has the same information — like the to-do list you just updated.

With sync, when you delete an item somewhere, it’s gone everywhere. Backups remain intact in their storage location until updated in the next backup.

By default, Google syncs its own mobile and web app content between phones, computers, and tablets. In the Google Account Data settings, you can adjust which apps are synced. Samsung Cloud has similar options for its Galaxy devices.

Apple handles data synchronization across its devices through its iCloud service. You can set which apps you want to sync in your iCloud account settings.

Other choice
You don’t need to use the backup tool that comes with your phone. Third-party apps for online backup — such as iDrive or iBackup — are available by subscription. If you prefer to keep your iPhone backups on a computer, software like iMazing for Mac or Windows ($60) or AltTunes for Windows ($35 per year) are alternatives. Droid Transfer for Windows ($35) is among the Android backup offerings.

If losing your camera roll is your biggest nightmare, Google Photos, iCloud Photos, and other services like Amazon Photos and Dropbox can be set to automatically back up all your photos and keep them in sync across your connected devices.

No matter which method you choose, having a backup takes some of the pain out of a lost, stolen or damaged phone. Some photos and files cannot be replaced, and restoring the contents of your iPhone or Android phone from a backup is easier than starting over.