Of all the apps I used in my early days with Android, when ready-made ROMs were the order of the day, there is one that I would now pay to continue using: Titanium Backup. Perfect for a brand new mobile phone 100% restore previous phone and it is very useful to manage all the applications pre-installed by the manufacturer.

The days of changing the ROM of my Android device every day are long gone, it’s been a long time since I updated the phone’s firmware beyond official updates. Download a new ROM, create a full copy of apps with Titanium Backup, flash the ROM from custom Recovery, and Restore titanium backup: With these steps, I activated my phone again without losing any application data. What I wouldn’t give to have Titanium working the way it does.

Titanium kept a complete and perfect replacement

titanium backup

In my case the ROM changes went away and also regularly dealt with ROOTing or changing apps. I haven’t completely forgotten about this advanced use of Android, as I have several mobile phones that I use to “do evil”, but it has gone into a very secret background. The good performance of existing devices and the stability of Android make the system experience good even on really cheap phones.

I reviewed my purchase history to find my Titanium Backup purchase: I purchased the Pro key for the app in October 2010. And I think that’s been the key I’ve used the most ever since, at least until I stopped playing with custom ROMs. Which times?

Titanium was a small miracle with which I was able to manage all the applications installed on the phone, whether they were system applications or installed from the Android Market and in APK format. you could have freeze any part of the softwaredelete it, make a copy of the file with user data, and what I liked most: Titanium created full backups of everything installed in the system, so switching from one ROM to another without losing anything was a matter of minutes.

It is true that Titanium does not always work properly, because sometimes it corrupted this or that application or did not work properly by restoring copies. Minor issues with an important tool for advanced use of Android, it’s a shame it’s outdated on Google Play: Not updated since November 2019.

Android already saves and restores apps with their data, but that’s up to developers.

Almost fourteen years, almost nothing

Every time I start a new phone and the backup of the previous phone is restored, I am reminded of my beloved Titanium. Because yes, it’s true that all apps appear on the new device, but I always have to redo sessions on most apps. Most, if not all, already take advantage of the “Auto Backup” feature Google includes Marshmallow in Android since version 6almost nine years ago.

The system is preparing to offer a full restore of applications, quite similar to what Titanium Backup offers, but this possibility is only feasible if developers adapt their applications to Android’s requirements. We’ll have to kidnap Titanium while this happens. Or worse: I’m jealous of the perfect restoration Apple offers on its iPhone.

Xataka on Android | Holding down the ‘123’ button is the best Android shortcut I didn’t know about and I can’t stop using it now