Changing mobile



  • @douglasac said in Changing mobile:

    This is one thing that's bugged me about Android. The functionality for app data to migrate is there (if you look in Settings, Backup and Restore, there's an option for it) but developers apparently don't bother to use it.

    What really bothers me is that copying data from an app is anything more than just copying a folder.

    OK, add maybe one config file (registry entries or whatever), but since each app is its own thing, and has to explicitly request permission for every interaction with another app, they should already be each in their own little space. So just copy that from old_phone\C:\Progra~1\ to new_phone\C:\Progra~1\ (any way I could make these pseudo-path more cringe-inducing? ;-) ) and be done with it!



  • @remi But who would want to do that? Moving data easily between devices. What a nonsense notion!



  • @douglasac I am starting to see the truth in @blakeyrat oft repeated claim that user-interactions with computers is only going backwards... :-(



  • @remi said in Changing mobile:

    why did it start downloading all stuff on my mobile connection even though I connected it to wifi first, and blew up my data allowance for the month while doing so

    I'll add this to my list of reasons that I set up new phones on wifi first before inserting the SIM card and before activating the data plan.


  • :belt_onion:

    @remi said in Changing mobile:

    @douglasac said in Changing mobile:

    This is one thing that's bugged me about Android. The functionality for app data to migrate is there (if you look in Settings, Backup and Restore, there's an option for it) but developers apparently don't bother to use it.

    What really bothers me is that copying data from an app is anything more than just copying a folder.

    OK, add maybe one config file (registry entries or whatever), but since each app is its own thing, and has to explicitly request permission for every interaction with another app, they should already be each in their own little space. So just copy that from old_phone\C:\Progra~1\ to new_phone\C:\Progra~1\ (any way I could make these pseudo-path more cringe-inducing? ;-) ) and be done with it!

    Well yea, that's exactly what they are. Problem is, the only things that have access to that folder are the app itself and root. And unless you have root access, you can't copy from it.



  • @douglasac said in Changing mobile:

    As a side note, one thing that I found excellent when I got my Galaxy S7 was that Samsung Smartswitch did a largely excellent job of moving apps over - most of the data came across and it even moved apps I had installed by downloading APKs and installing manually. Should I move to an S8 come phone replacement time, I imagine it'll be even smoother considering that it would be Samsung to Samsung instead of Motorola to Samsung.

    Yeah, despite the hate that Samsung seems to get around here, the Samsung Smartswitch thing has worked nicely for me as well. Samsung to Samsung seems to retain pretty much everything (including old texts, IIRC). You can do it over an USB coord connecting the two phones directly to each other, which is nice because it doesn't take ages and doesn't upload everything to them clouds.



  • @sloosecannon said in Changing mobile:

    Well yea, that's exactly what they are. Problem is, the only things that have access to that folder are the app itself and root. And unless you have root access, you can't copy from it.

    If that is so, why isn't there an easy option to export an app (the full folder with everything in it) to a single file, and then import it back? I understand that for security reasons you don't want any app to be able to read the folder, and even not to read directly from the memory card (in case the phone is stolen or similar), but once the phone is unlocked the OS has full access and could easily save everything to some kind of password-protected archive, or restore it.

    Why do we need tons of different applications, none of which actually works (in my recent experience) to achieve something as simple as copying a directory ??? !!! ???



  • @douglasac said in Changing mobile:

    @remi said in Changing mobile:

    why do they not back up the apps data as well?

    This is one thing that's bugged me about Android. The functionality for app data to migrate is there (if you look in Settings, Backup and Restore, there's an option for it) but developers apparently don't bother to use it.

    IIRC, there's two reasons I can think of: up until Android N you had to write a bunch of support for it in your app, and your application is only allowed ~25 KB of space on the server.



  • @cvi said in Changing mobile:

    You can do it over an USB coord connecting the two phones directly to each other, which is nice because it doesn't take ages and doesn't upload everything to them clouds.

    I did it via the cord with my Motorola. Nice that they included the USB jigger in the box so that you can just use a standard cable, and then use the jigger afterwards as a USB OTG adapter should the mood strike.

    @parody said in Changing mobile:

    and your application is only allowed ~25 KB of space on the server.

    Well there's the problem. You need at least 640KB.


  • Impossible Mission - B

    @douglasac said in Changing mobile:

    Well there's the problem. You need at leastmost 640KB.

    FTFY. That should be enough for anyone.


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    Anyone have any idea how to move my Llama settings to my new phone? I just got one yesterday, that's so far the only app data that hasn't been braindead simple.



  • @yamikuronue tap the llama in the bottom left, and one of the options is Import/Export Data.
    0_1504042991256_ad376e65-1cb1-449b-90b8-c544b7ac206a-image.png


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    @lb_ Yeah, but how do I make that work? It wants to go to a USB device and I can't seem to get it to use my laptop. Do I need a USB key and an adaptor to make it lyg into the micro slot?



  • @yamikuronue did you try it and it didn't work? I don't have any SD card or USB device and it just saves to my internal storage, and then I can fetch it by connecting to my computer and browsing my phone's filesystem.


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    @lb_ I couldn't find it in internal storage.

    I have three options: "Import from Llama URL", "Import from USB Storage", and "Export to USB storage"



  • @yamikuronue Yeah, when I chose "Export to USB storage", it created a Llama directory in the root of the filesystem with some text files. I can see it with Android's build-in file browser and when connected to my computer via USB.

    EDIT: actually that directory might've always been there from the start based on the modified dates... hm... guess I don't know after all, sorry :(



  • @yamikuronue said in Changing mobile:

    Llama

    I didn't knew this app, but it seems like a wonderful idea! Thanks for the (involuntary) tip!



  • @yamikuronue said in Changing mobile:

    Llama

    Well now I am disappointed. It fails to detect any phone mast at all, both at home (in the neck of the woods, with a single medium-strength mast available) and at work (middle of a city, many masts and 4G available).

    I have another widget that shows the mast I'm currently connected to, maybe this interferes? Or, since I also cannot receive any MMS at all, maybe there is something botched in my network and/or settings...

    So, not only was changing mobile a pain, but now I've actually lost some capabilities (receiving MMS). It's getting better and better.





  • @remi said in Changing mobile:

    @douglasac I am starting to see the truth in @blakeyrat oft repeated claim that user-interactions with computers is only going backwards... :-(

    I use bash or powershell for most of the things I do outside of text editors, video games, and web browsing, and I'm not going to try to do that through one of those newfangled programming languages you can't type commands in.



  • @ben_lubar said in Changing mobile:

    @remi said in Changing mobile:

    @douglasac I am starting to see the truth in @blakeyrat oft repeated claim that user-interactions with computers is only going backwards... :-(

    I use bash or powershell for most of the things I do outside of text editors, video games, and web browsing, and I'm not going to try to do that through one of those newfangled programming languages you can't type commands in.

    While I believe that text has its place in some applications (and some communication between applications), I never mentioned it here. Some people would scream that you are putting words in my mouth.

    Anyway, there are single applications, and there is the OS and the way the different applications work together. There are definitely parts where the way each application tries to shoulder its way past the other to the top (in the menus, on the desktop, in shortcuts etc.) is actually harming the user interactions, not helping. Or, like the case here, where applications or the system seem to actively work to prevent things that should be easy.


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