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The next version of Android will allow manual Google Drive backups

Android has almost always offered a way to backup your device, to keep your data safe in case anything should happen to it. Today, those backups are saved automatically to Google Drive, but in a future version, users will be able to save backups manually.

As shared on Reddit this afternoon, messages were posted on Google’s public issue tracker by a helpless user whose Pixel 2 no longer charges. This is already an inconvenience, but because the device cannot charge, the automatic backup feature would no longer trigger, leaving the user’s data in limbo.

What makes this issue interesting is that it was picked up by the development team in less than 24 hours. Earlier this morning a Googler tagged the issue as fixed and that it will be “available in a future release” of Android, meaning devices should soon be able to backup data to Google Drive while on battery power or without WiFi.

Whether “next release” means Android 9.1 or Android Q is still unclear, but it’s genuinely nice to see Google respond so quickly to a user’s plight.

If for some reason you’re stuck in the same situation as the issue tracker submitter, XDA-Developers notes that you can indeed trigger such a manual backup manually as of today, but you’ll need to set up ADB. This change would make it possible to trigger said backup from Android itself.


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Avatar for Kyle Bradshaw Kyle Bradshaw

Kyle is an author and researcher for 9to5Google, with special interests in Made by Google products, Fuchsia, and uncovering new features.

Got a tip or want to chat? Twitter or Email. Kyle@9to5mac.com

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