Manual Android backup to Google Drive option rolling out now

Google Drive keeps tabs on a lot of your Android phone’s data like text messages, app data, contacts, and in some cases call history. However, there’s never been an option to manually back up your data. Android phones automatically backup to Drive when the phone is plugged into the charger and connected to Wi-Fi, so If these conditions are never met, chances are your data isn’t being backed up.

Recently, a 9to5Google reader tweeted about a new options in the backup settings that allows the user to manually initiate a Google Drive backup. The feature was never available until now but was promised to arrive in a future Android update back in August.

@SkylledDev @hallstephenj @9to5Google Remember this article about forcing a manual backup to Google in a future version of Android? I just saw it on my customers Turbo and on my Pixel 2. https://t.co/lpFg6SK11k pic.twitter.com/IrwTKlHZ3p

— Alex Kruger (@Kruger2147) November 9, 2018

According to the reader, he saw the “Back up now” button in his Pixel 2, but also saw it on some older devices including a Droid Turbo running Android Marshmallow. It appears that the option is currently rolling out to more devices via Google Play Services – which doesn’t require an OTA.

In any case, this new option makes it easier to ensure your data is backed up properly before performing a factory reset to hand the phone off to another person or trade it in.

Source | Via Twitter