Android News
AppManager: simple Android app backup and restoration
February 27, 2010 | by Chris Smith
Android Apps, Free apps
The other day my friend decided he wanted me to root his Moto DROID and then install the newest version of DROIDMod (just a cooked ROM with some 2.1 features). We went through the process and found that the install was extremely buggy. I told him that we should wipe everything from his phone (apps included) and then install the fresh DROIDMod even though he was reluctant to do so mostly because of all of his apps.
So, we went on the lookout for an app backup solution in the Market and came across AppManager. AppManager is free and allows the user to backup a single app or all apps installed at one time to SD. It also allows you the options to launch, uninstall, or search the market for the application again. I suppose that the latter option is for updating purposes. You can restore your applications from the app as well.
When you back up all of your apps it gives you the option to overwrite all of the apps that were saved previously or only save the apps that have been updated or added since the last save. Backing-up seems extremely quick (only took a couple of seconds to back-up 57 apps on my DROID) and painless.
Another handy feature of AppManager is that it shows you how much memory you have left internally for applications as well as how much memory is left on your SD.
One criticism is about restoring applications. AppManager only lets you install one application at a time from SD. I am not sure if this has something to do with permissions in Android or if it is only a limitation of the app. Even though it isn’t ideal, it still works well and is quite fast.
This app is confirmed to be working on the DROID and from the comments section in the Market appears to work on Android 1.6 as well. There is also a separate version for Cupcake (1.5) and a Pro version. At the time of writing, AppManager has a 4.6 star rating and has been rated 4916 times.
Though I haven't tested it yet, the Pro version claims to allow you to install all@once or in a batch, as well as individually. Totally worth the couple of bucks.
Nice looking out. Yeah, I would definitely say that is worth the price especially if you are trying out different ROMs all the time and want an easy a quick way to back up and restore.
I just installed the new version of DroidMod (aka sholes.info revamped) yesterday and it backed up all 42 of my apps upon request. When the ROM flashes it asks you if you want to wipe data, and if you're using 2.1 firmware you should say yes. Then it asks if you want to wipe data but save apps. I selected this option and all of my apps were restored on reboot, albeit it did take about 3 minutes for the notification to pop up telling me it had finished restoring them. SetCPU automatically accepted the new CPU settings for the ROM and upon selecting the option to automatically discover my handset it overclocked my Droid to 1200Mhz.
I do remember that option. The problem was is that we tried that option when installing DROIDMod and found that the install was extremely buggy. I thought that we should wipe everything and start fresh, then reinstall the apps. This worked great.
Titanium Backup is most definitely the king of backup apps for root. It not only backs up every app (including protected apps) but also their SQLite database tables and links to the Market App so you still get notified of upgrades. Like AppManager it also has a paid version with batch restore.
ASTRO has this feature and many more…for free! And, I believe that CDMA phones are only allowed to install one app at a time. All others on T-Mobile and AT&T can install, i believe, up to three at a time
Refine Efficiency (http://refineandroid.doodlekit.com/) has wide range of useful features to keep only needed apps runnning.
I just did a full restore for free, worked great. The only thing I can’t find is the “data backup” that I did. But for apps, this is perfect.
i scanned the QR Code and i got redirecteed to an app called "AppMonster" is this a new name for the app ?