Switching cell phones can be a pain. Not because you lose photos or WhatsApp conversation history (this problem is now more than solved), but because switching mobile phones requires something very, very tedious: logging into each of the applications again. And if these were two applications, but most likely A lot further. The new Android is coming to solve this.

Switch from one mobile phone to another. This has been easy for a while. Restore the backup from the cloud or cable the new phone to the old phone and let Android do its thing. When we start the mobile we will have everything: our photos, applications, settings, even our wallpaper and the layout of icons. The problem is that yes there are applications but now we have to log in one by one.

Friction. Having to log in to applications again can be frustrating for the user who finds that he cannot enjoy his new smartphone right away. Of course, we assume you remember your credentials, because if not, you’ll need to complete the account recovery process. In a utopian world, we would all use password managers, but the reality is very different.

Restore Credentials. This is the name of the new functionality that has just arrived in the Credential Manager API of the Google operating system. As noted on the Android developers’ blog, thanks to this function “applications can seamlessly add users to their account on a new device after restoring their applications and data.” In other words, it will be logged in when we restore the applications.

As explained by Neelansh Sahai, Google Developer Relations Engineer, “Since this process is linked to the backup mechanism and “Android system restore”, there is no need for the developer to make any effort to transfer a restore key from one device to another.”

Diagram showing how Credential Restoration works | Image: Android Developers Blog

How does it work? Essentially, when we log in to an app, a restoration key will be generated that will be saved locally and/or in the cloud. When the user activates his new mobile phone and recovers his applications, in the process he will also receive the restoration key, which the application can “read” to log in automatically. All of this will happen in the background and without the user having to do anything.

Cover image | Xataka

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