Maybe I am tired… So has ANYONE actually answered the topic?
I mean:
- Using USB-sticks sounds fine, but can be a pain with newer Android file sysemt security restrictions.
- Unlocking bootloader (or TWRP on fp2) is NOT an easy thing to do, compared to Google just asking you to activate the cloud backup, by pressing a button
So when someone asks for “Best back-up method” what are we looking for?
And which situation?
- Restore when phone gone through “Factory reset”?
- Restore when phone got bricked by a bad update?
Personally I do not have time playing around with bootloaders anymore. And my priority is saving pictures, and contacts, and som private OTP-keys. All being classified as being data that I do not want to share with any service provider ruled by “US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act", or with the possibility to ANY state officials going through my stuff without me knowing.
Passwords? Sure important, but why not use SuperGenPass combined with FIDO2 sticks, and just get more secure that way?
So:
If ignoring the “bricked scenario” and using scenario of “Factory reset”, then my guess is “easy appdata backup” should be a good solution? Maybe even the “Best” solution?
I recently switched FP2 → FP4, and sure, SD-card swap was pretty easy (for pictures/videos), but then I had some 8-9 import/export files to manage. And of course some of those files did not get found by apps due to the higher security in Android 12…
Currently looking at apps like “Neo Backup”, which with its more modern code “should” be able to handle the higher security restrictions. But not done any restore yet, so can’t give an advice if that solution even works, or how it would handle high data volumes, like Image-apps, or Map-apps…
My hope is to find an app that can export/import to an external device, like SD, and maybe have that storage location being handled by Nextcloud (or any other storage solution). Which (if I calculate this right, would mean a “no hands backup”, and maybe even a “no hassle restore”)
In summary it is good to hear I am not the only one playing around with files manually, but must be a better way out there… and without using Google cloud…