8

I'm planning to do a 'factory-rest' to my Galaxy Note N700 due to slowness in performance after upgrading to Jellybean. Therefore, I'm looking for an app to

  1. save/backup my current apps arrangement by saving:

    1. Home screen layout
    2. Apps layout

I'm just looking to backup their position (arrangement -> widgets, shortcuts) not the apps.

I have over 80 apps installed on my device and I have arranged them in a certain way by their type, functionality etc. Some goes into certain folders and others just lay on certain pages. Loosing that arrangement and having to do it again every time I reset my phone is a tedious task.

For example, In my home screen I have three pages, each page got 5 apps. In my applications, I have 5 pages, one of them has 8 folders and in each I have grouped several apps. After I reset my phone and restore back my apps, I want them to go back to their original position (same page and same folder as they existed in). I'm not looking to a tool to backup my apps, rather to backup their location (the shortcut location).

However, if such tool could do more (backup settings, apps data etc), then I wouldn't mind.

n.b:I assume the phone apps order is stored some where in the system, maybe an xml file or something. If the same result can be done by backing up manually some of the system files, then, please enlighten me.

Update:

I've found in this page that My Backup Root got the ability to save my home screen layout, I gave it a try and it restored all of my apps shortcuts the way it was before, but this is only for my home screen, I need to the same thing to be done for my other 80 apps in apps page.

Improve this question
5
  • Sounds like what you are after its backing up your launcher configuration. That is the thing responsible for drawing your home screen, app drawers, etc. Which one are you using? Without that detail this is unanswerable. With that detail this is really more of a usage question for the android stack.
    – Caleb
    Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 19:55
  • Sorry I didn't understand. You mean my launcher? I'm using android 4.1.2 defaults. Anyhow, after digging around, it seems (My Backup root ) got some functionality. I will give it a try soon.
    – Mohammed Joraid
    Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 20:05
  • Which ROM? Cell phone providers usually edit the launchers on the phones they ship, odds are you are not running the AOSP launcher which would be the nearest thing to a "4.1.2 default". I would probably recommend Hellium as a backup solution. Whether you have can or not is probably something you should also mention.
    – Caleb
    Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 20:16
  • I will give Helium a try. These are my device details("Kernal Version" => "3.0.31-906407 \n dpi@DELL237 #3 \n SMP PREEMPT Tue Feb 19 22:05:07 2013" , "Baseband version" => "N7000XXLSO", "Upgraded to Android Version" => "4.1.2", "Original Android Version" => "2.3.5")
    – Mohammed Joraid
    Commented Mar 23, 2014 at 5:23
  • Helium backed up my apps, but not their arrangement. MyBackup Pro backup my homescreen layout missing my apps layout.
    – Mohammed Joraid
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 3:30

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

You can backup your data in settings itself using your google account

Screenshot
Screenshot (click image for larger variant)

Disclaimer
Mine is a Google Nexus 5 running Kitkat Iam not sure if this feature is available in JellyBean but I think it is.

Improve this answer
4
  • Does this bring back my home and apps layout and same apps order? Google will backup my apps, but after restoring them, all of my apps will be alphabetically sorted and all of my layouts will be missing.
    – Mohammed Joraid
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 3:05
  • Yes it did for me
    – Ram G Athreya
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 5:34
  • Hmmm, interesting. Cuz I made sure Backup My Data was checked, and yet it didn't bring back my home screen layout nor my apps layout order. I will search further on this.
    – Mohammed Joraid
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 5:52
  • Not that this so-called "Google Cloud Backup" doesn't work with everything. Apps have to explicitly support it. And in the past, it has often been reported being unreliable. See e.g. What info does Google backup?
    – Izzy
    Commented Apr 23, 2014 at 11:56

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.