Please don’t get mixed up between LineageOS versions and /e/ versions:
Lineage OS
Lineage OS 17 is Android 10 / Q. LOS 18 is Android 11 / R.
Everything I have read,and my experiments upgrading from LOS 17 to 18 on one of my devices indicates that you must do a clean install and wipe your date beforehand. If you don’t you will probably find yourself in a ‘bootloop’ where the phone fails to start.
Also TWRP backups of LOS 17 data will not work when restored on LOS 18: doing so will cause a bootloop and an unbootable phone.
Lineage OS includes SeedVault which does allow LOS 17 backups to be restored on LOS 18 (though it does not back up all user data or app settings). I have not yet got round to trying this solution out, so it may or may not work
/e/
/e/ 0.17 exists in Android 7 / Nougat, Android 8 / Oreo, Android 9 / Pie and Android 10 / Q versions: you can tell from the name of the ROM zip file
/e/ 0.18 currently exists in Android 9 / Pie and Android 10 / Q versions, and the Android 11 / R versions are currently being tested.
Updating from /e/ 0.17 to /e/ 0.18 can be done without wiping data so long as they are both the same Android version.
No /e/ versions include SeedVault, so when /e/ release the Android 11 / R versions, then you will need to wipe your data before flashing, and reinstall all your apps and re-input all your settings from scratch.
As an alternative method, as a /e/ R beta-tester I made the promise to fireproof AppManager, and I will
I already took a backup of all user apps from my testing device, and also of all system apps settings to check if we could restore some (in example, /e/ Account Manager).
But it will take some time : I have to wait for the R build, find some time to flash it and conduct the requested tests, and then I could try to restore apps with AppManager.
Looking at the content of the backup, I’m pretty confident it’ll go the right path
Thanks for reminding me I have a couple of R ROMs to test too, and at least one of the devices already has App Manager installed, after your earlier post. I’ll try using it to backup (at least some of) my Q apps and data before I flash the R ROM. I really would make upgrading much less tedious if it does (or could be made to) work. Please refresh my memory: do I install App MAnager from F-Droid or Aurora Store? Thanks
create a profile, in t’s configuration enable backup/restore and scroll down to enable “Save APK” (don’t forget to save from 3-dot button)
back to packages list, filter only user apps, then long-press one, use “select all” button at bottom, and add them all to your profile
back to profile, use 3-dot button to apply : this should start backup. You’ll be probably asked for “profile state”, as I could understand from doc “on” is for backup and “off” for restore
In backup settings I choose APK, External and OBB; I don’t know if all these data are relevant.
By the way, you may find some interesting feature of this app by taping some app them in the list
Now, having re-read some of the docs, I’ve remembered why I didn’t follow up much further on App Manager after your first post. Looks like it can backup and restore app .apks without root, but to backup app data and settings I would need to root the phones. I’m not a fan of rooting phones. I’ll sleep on this one and work out what to focus on next. I may just take the hit of reinstalling this time
Can it be used to back up and restore app .apks from say device manufacturer A to device manufacturer B? Sorry for my noob question. I am in the sameboat and don’t root so I decided to stop testing it when I couldn’t block trackers via ADB.
I found some time to try the restore features on AppManager.
I have to apology : I didn’t find any way to restore anything, very sorry
It’s quite frustrating !
At least, AppManager can provide us with the apks, but we need something more …
I don’t know any other user-friendly way to restore user apps on /e/, without rooting the device.
Sorry again for the waste of your time
[Edit]
Thinking back, I remember testing another software a long time ago : Titanium Backup.
As I remember, I was able to restore some apps with their settings, along with a few little system settings (as WiFi networks).
But is has it’s own drawbacks :
it’s a paid app (can be bought outside Google Play Store)
it can’t backup/restore multipart apk
it’s outdated, so I don’t know if it will work with Android 10 or 11 …
TWRP is not an option on devices with a locked bootloader.
I’m running an unlocked bootloader and I’m using TWRP, and I’m a big fan of installing from scratch when a new major Android version comes around (it’s just the clean approach with the least trouble or question marks afterwards), but if the adb root way can be confirmed working, perhaps it could be put into scripts to simply start for average users?
Argh ! This the end of my dreams, and I’m now out of solutions (someone famous said that one day, for sure …).
I totally agree with you
But end users need something more like “click and run” nowadays …
The easy-script idea is very good, when I’ll have some free time I’ll dig into filesystems to build a list of trees to backup/restore
Thanks for all your help. I’ll try and deal with the responses in a single post
TWRP.
TWRP is what I use to I do backups at the moment
None of my devices have locked bootloader.
But TWRP is not an option when moving to a different Android version, as I noted earlier, and this is the use case for which I am looking for a solution
Titanium
I have used Titanium backup in the past. To be useful then, it required root. I have seen nothing to indicate that has changed, and it’s a route I am not going to spend any more time exploring just now.
And that solution is SeedVault: it works pretty well in LineageOS but /e/ decided to move to a new Adroid version before finishing the work they started a long time ago to enable SeedVault in /e/. That decision is the reason I have spent so much time down this particular rabbit hole. In my opinion, it was a bad decision.
I’m really not a big fan. It shouldn’t be (and I don’t believe it is) necessary or desirable. I don’t expect to reinstall all my apps and re-input all my settings when I move to a new OS version on any of my desktop or laptop computers (MacOS and Linux), and I don’t want - and should not need - to do it on my phone either.
Better to spend time getting SeedVault working IMHO.
For now I will ease the pain of updating by
Backing up (to SD card, formatted as Portable storage) SMS and call logs using SMS Backup and Restore app
Backing up SMS again, to be safe , using QKSMS app’s backup function (I use QKSMS rather than /e/'s forked Message app)
Backup Launcher settings: I use Lawnchair, and have shortcuts to all my installed apps on the Launcher home screen pages.
Doing a clean flash of the R ROM
Installing F-Droid via the Browser
Installing Aurora Store from F-Droid
Installing Lawnchair from F-Droid
Restoring the Lawnchair settings backed up in step 3. This gives ‘greyed-out’ shortcuts for apps which are not yet installed. Clicking on each greyed out shortcut, will take me to searching - then installing - the app from F-Droid or Aurora Store
If necessary, uninstall Lawnchair, then reinstall it. This can be a cure for the problem where Lawnchair keeps stopping, which has happened a couple of time when I’ve experimented with this process.
Restoring SMS and call logs using SMS Backup and Restore
If that doesn’t work restore SMS from the QKSMS backup
All of the above shouldn’t take more than a day or two for the devices I need to upgrade Restoring TWRP (or SeedVault) backups, would take considerably less time, if only they worked! And the above process wont work for users who use the Bliss launcher (which doesn’t support settings backup) or /e/'s Message app, which does not yet support SMS backup.
Yes, SeedVault may be the solution, at least it should be tried.
But it’s not ready for /e/ for now …
With what’s available to us right now, we could restore parts of a TWRP backup.
Taking a TWRP backup is documented by /e/, and users are encouraged to do when upgrading their devices.
So, I think it could be the best option for the upcoming upgrade to Android 11.
Your steps are very similar to mine, so that’s all we got for now !
About SMS backup : it’s not a problem of the Android app, but /e/ Cloud (an app has to be added here).
All SMS/MMS apps rely on Android messages database.
I have now tested a number of phones with multiple ROMs. What I am seeing, specifically on phones with A/B slots, is even if I do a permanent flash of TWRP, when I flash /e/OS, the /e/ recovery flashes over the permanent TWRP flash (directions call for TWRP boot but I have tested flash) so I don’t have the TWRP backup option illustrated (or maybe TWRP was permanently flashed to the opposite slot, either way it is a clunky process). @newts also confirmed the same thing. And Here is when this happened to me. I share this because TWRP isn’t an option for those of us in this situation unless I am missing something and TWRP is still present (opposite slot?) In addition to this happening on lake (Moto G7+) it is happening on fajita (OP 6T). What other builds does this same issue exist in? No such backup options are available on LOS based recoveries are they?
As I have tested Seedvault on other OS I too was disappointed to see this has been delayed in /e/OS. I now use patchwork, apps/systems, to get everything to a new phone when moving from /e/ phone A to /e/ phone B, etesync, Mega, Signal export, etc. But still have to manually reinstall apps and web apps .
Seedvault was much easier, export an encrypted .zip to a USB flash drive, plug into new phone, decrypt and restore. As an ex-iOS user this was the closest I have seen to the ease Apple has created with moving to a new phone.
(someone famous said that one day, for sure …).