Theft, loss, virus or failure … adopting a new smartphone means you have to re-install and configure apps and re-import certain personal data. Here are some tips to get back up and running as quickly as possible!
If you are reading this article after losing your mobile, it may be a bit late to hope to find all of your data. Still, with a little bit of anticipation, you could have been up and running in a matter of minutes. Synchronization with your Google account and your cloud services, backup of smartphone content using a specialized app like MyBackup Pro, here’s how to protect your data and restore contacts, emails, call history and SMS on when the time comes.
Entrust your emails to a webmail
It is certainly the easiest item to restore, as mail is the most widely used online service. When you commission an Android device, you are asked to associate it with a Google account. By linking your new phone to the Google account used on the stolen or broken device, you instantly find the contents of your Gmail inbox, at least the messages stored on Google’s servers. Naturally, if you use another webmail like Hotmail, Yahoo or that of your operator, you just have to reconfigure your mail application (Gmail by default, on Android) to find your mailbox in the state where you left it.
Sync photos, contacts and apps
In fact, a Google account syncs and backs up just about any data on a smartphone. To do this, go to Settings, open the section Users and accounts and make sure that the option Auto sync is activated. Then select your Google account, tap the title Account synchronization and indicate the content you want to find on this device: calendar, contacts, Drive, Play Music, Keep, My routes, etc.
For photos taken with the phone, the backup is set from the Android Photos app. Identify yourself with your Google account, pull down the menu, tap the command Save and synchronize and drag the cursor to the active position.
Use the cloud
Services like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Hubic keep your documents on remote servers so you can access them anywhere and from any device. So that your data does not disappear along with your phone, just sign up for a free account with a cloud service, install the mobile app on the phone and create a folder where you will place your documents. To access this content on a new mobile, it’s easy: just reinstall your favorite cloud app.
Make a full backup
Google’s synchronization options have some limitations, which means that you have to resort to specialized apps to back up and restore certain data such as text messages, call history or app configuration data. For example, install MyBackUp Pro, then choose the items to include in the backup and the location where the files will be kept (on a memory card, a computer or in the cloud). If needed, all you have to do is download the app to the new device and restore the backup.