Questions for android users

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Loismustdye

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#105230 29-Jun-2012 17:58

I'm an iphone user, and I've been frustrated every single time I get a new PC or replace the HDD and wind up losing all my sync settings, app data etc with my idevices, and itunes erases my devices and I have to start from scratch and reinstall everythin on it.
The question i've got for android is: when I shift the folder where everything is stored on the PC, or get a new computer, do I have to start from scratch (like I do with itunes) and reinstall everything on the phone, or is it more logical and allows the phone to keep the existing settings?
The answer to this question is essentially going to determine whether I stay with IOS or jump ship to android when I upgrade next.

thanks

P1n3apqlExpr3ss

853 posts

Ultimate Geek

#648356 29-Jun-2012 18:04

Android doesn't really have a true backup system like iTunes so a new PC will never mean you lose your data

klyster

105 posts

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#648358 29-Jun-2012 18:11

You can achieve this in a couple of ways, depending what type of device you have of course.

I have a Galaxy S2, I can use Kies to back all the data up (pics, movies, contacts. videos etc..,, to a place of my choice, or,with the music side of things, I just drag and drop songs/albums from my music folder which has been on my PC for many a year.
You can also sync over air or via a cloud service.

It's very basic compared to itunes (which I used to have for an ipod touch but just made me frustrated) caveat: (Kies used to be worse than itunes but seems to be okay these days)

I doubt you'll find your device being wiped ala itunes.

gregmcc

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#648359 29-Jun-2012 18:18

There are apps that can do a full backup and restore of apps and their setting to SD card,

I also think that there is a setting for google to backup your apps and it gives you the ability to restore to a new phone

Loismustdye

927 posts

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#648362 29-Jun-2012 18:23

Awesome, thanks for the quick responses.
Looks like I'll be heading down the android path in the near future for less headaches it seems.
cheers

numfarr

329 posts

Ultimate Geek

#648543 30-Jun-2012 01:14

You don't have to lose your iPhone contents when you get a new PC, though iTunes certainly makes it very easy to do that. You can just authorise the PC and transfer purchases from the iPhone to the PC, then you keep all your apps and settings intact. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848 for example.

Elpie

1304 posts

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#648545 30-Jun-2012 01:32

numfarr: You don't have to lose your iPhone contents when you get a new PC, though iTunes certainly makes it very easy to do that. You can just authorise the PC and transfer purchases from the iPhone to the PC, then you keep all your apps and settings intact. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848 for example.

True, but that only applies to apps. Anything you transfer over via iTunes (as opposed to from iTunes itself) gets lost.

To the OP: Having used both and recently losing access to a PC, I can tell you that Android is far superior. The phones have an option to backup all settings to Google - one tick and its done. Apps that you get from the Google Play Store (Google's version of the iTunes store) are tied to your Google account and are always available to reinstall, even on a new Android phone. There are some excellent backup apps that backup your phone to SD card or to a cloud storage service, eg. Dropbox. These can be set up as regular backups if you want, and limited to when WiFi is active. There are also apps that backup call logs and SMS messages to your GMail account and thread them so you can keep conversations together.

About the only thing you need to remember is the user and password details for your GMail account - everything else can be backed up and easily restored.

Wade

2225 posts

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#648622 30-Jun-2012 12:55

Absolutely agree with Elpie... The Google eco-system is great, the backup functionality is great, you can set up Google+ to upload your photos to cloud, Google music allows streaming and downloading of your cloud based music, gma il & chrome integrate beautifully.

There are apps that enable auto backup of calls and mms to gmail, keep you phonebook as contacts in gmail rather than on phone. You can basically run android completely via cloud as well as your pc. Google plus dropbox is virtually all you need.

Comparing to my wife's iphone 4s it is almost embarrassing how much more integrated I feel on android.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

Loismustdye

927 posts

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#648657 30-Jun-2012 14:35

Apple certainly doesn't make it easy to transfer everything, having to hunt around online to find the appropriate way to transfer itunes and new idevices is far from ideal. Having to go through this effort everytime I replace hardware or such like is not user friendly whatsoever.
By all accounts it sounds like android has sorted it out to be a far easier affair.
thanks again

scuwp

3885 posts

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#648708 30-Jun-2012 17:16

You don't say if you are using a PC or Mac?

I have changed computers twice (PC) and have never lost data for any of my "i" devices. Just need to copy 2 folders.

My music is stored separately so I just copy that entire folder and drop it onto the new computer in the same location, then copy the entire "my music" folder (this is where all the settings and apps are) and again drop it onto the new computer in the same location (you may need a portable drive to handle all the data)

Go through itunes and set up your preferences, including where the folders are located, and then reload the music library.

Authorise the computer for your account.

When any devices are plugged in it acts as if nothing changed, even the backups for the devices are carried over.

The only thing that changes is the "date added" tag on the music files, as obviously they adopt the date you reload them all.

If everything is under the "my music" folder under "My Documents", then you only need to copy one folder....not so sure what's hard about that?

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Loismustdye

927 posts

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#648794 30-Jun-2012 21:17

Using a PC, and had to do the whole transfer thing twice (shifted files to a new hard drive within the same PC) with my new desktop, authorising, copying folders onto the new PC, reloaded the entire library (music/app/vids etc), followed the advice/instructions found on the net to the letter yet on both occasions when the phone re-synced I had to re-arrange the apps on the iphone itself once resynced (restoring from an old backup once I had associated the phone with itunes resulted having to "re-sync" again, and therefore back to re-arranging apps etc on the phone).
Essentially a more painful process than it needs to be. It would be far simpler if there was a setting in the itunes account to set the current site (new PC, Mac) as the Primary account, then when connecting the idevice(s) the itunes account (when logged in) would register that the idevice being connected to it was registered to that account (and in the process maybe splash up a Yes/No message to state this and ask if it was OK to continue syncing).

tdgeek

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#648805 30-Jun-2012 21:48

scuwp: You don't say if you are using a PC or Mac?

I have changed computers twice (PC) and have never lost data for any of my "i" devices. Just need to copy 2 folders.

My music is stored separately so I just copy that entire folder and drop it onto the new computer in the same location, then copy the entire "my music" folder (this is where all the settings and apps are) and again drop it onto the new computer in the same location (you may need a portable drive to handle all the data)

Go through itunes and set up your preferences, including where the folders are located, and then reload the music library.

Authorise the computer for your account.

When any devices are plugged in it acts as if nothing changed, even the backups for the devices are carried over.

The only thing that changes is the "date added" tag on the music files, as obviously they adopt the date you reload them all.

If everything is under the "my music" folder under "My Documents", then you only need to copy one folder....not so sure what's hard about that?

Agree fully. iTunes is not a simple program, but if you understand what it does and why, it's a great one stop management hub, for one or many iDevices.

Everything obtained through the Appstore or iTunes is in the My Music folder. I have a lot of files that were not obtained that way, but I locate those folders within My Music so that everything is in one place. Back it up.

As above to easily recover from a drive change, or de authorise and authorise a new PC