Ryan-Thomas Shaw / Android Authority
TL; DR
- Google just announced that Backup by Google One’s Android backup features will be showing up on Android’s settings pages.
- This will keep all of your backup information in one place and make it clear where everything is going.
- You still don’t have to be a paid Google One subscriber. However, you must stay below the 15 GB limit.
On every modern Android device, Google automatically backs up your important data. You can easily see this in the Android settings. You’ll see controls for app data, messages (SMS only), and your call history. It also backs up certain device settings, including Wi-Fi passwords, wallpapers, display brightness settings, and more.
However, other phone backups are not controlled through the settings. For example, MMS messages, photos and other media are not backed up there. Instead, Google One does that.
It’s clear that a leaner Android backup system would be nice, and that’s exactly what Google wants to achieve.
Connected: Google One compared to the competition
Announced today (via 9to5Google) Google will move all backup information to Android settings. The new control panel makes it very clear where your backups are going (Google One). It also gives you more precise control over what is backed up, since everything is now in one place.
In theory, if you keep all the switches on for your Android backup, you should be able to switch from phone to phone with all of your important data with you for the ride.
To be clear, you don’t have to be a Google One subscriber for this to work. Everyone with a Google Account gets 15 GB of free Google One storage, so your Android backup data applies to that quota.
This new system will land on all Android devices running Android 8.0 Oreo or higher in the coming weeks.