[Joe920]

I've been keeping track of what I've had to do each time I reset my windows phone, first as a note-to-self about what I'll lose if I don't manually backup, and second to show how inadequate the restore option in windows phone really is.

Not listed here, but another terrible aspect: even if you have 100GB free on OneDrive, MS only keeps the latest backup, any older backups disappear forever. That's not quite how backups work in the real world.


Latest observations after a restore from backup on fast ring build 15007.

Restoring WP10 Creators Update (15007) on a 950XL dual sim:
- SIM names are not retained
- linked phone and sim tiles need to be linked again
- SIM data roaming settings were both reset to 'roam'. Risky!
- wifi passwords are gone
- looks like the windows accent color is not restored. Was blue, now is more like indigo
- default search in Edge is reset to Bing
- windows hello iris data is not retained, so needs to be set up again
- password timeout preference is lost (after how many minutes should W10 lock device)
- outlook theme color got lost (was light, restored to dark theme)
- outlook account passwords are all gone
- outlook conversation settings are reset (default: on)
- outlook grouped accounts are ungrouped
- outlook signature back on by default
- outlook auto download images is turned back on
- swipe settings are reset (what a pain..)
- double tap to wake resets to 'off'
- photos: showing or hiding OneDrive pics is returned to 'on'
- photos: what to show on live tile is reset (was 'favorites', default 'recent')
- weather: location and unit info lost
- maps: speed limit alert settings reset to default
- maps: offline maps on SD card are not auto detected and reapplied
- keyboard: language switch key hidden again by default
- some apps were randomly not restored (OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook. Hmm.. all letter O apps?!)

Apps:
- Countdown tile
- mTalk forgot all accounts
- share to speech lost all saved articles
- Spotify account settings lost, offline songs lost
- Garmin Streetpilot all preferences, recently found, favorites lost

Good news:
- action center button layout is restored OK

Other comments:
- WP doesn't first install included apps (maps, email). Seems like an odd choice.
- it would be smart if they restored apps in the order of 'most used'

___

Older list from before redstone

Apps that don't fully restore
Styrit shopping list - all lists lost (note: now has manual backup)
MS health - band pairing lost, preferences lost (units)
MetroTube - all downloaded videos lost (plz at least keep a list of links for these)
Here Drive - forgets commute, routing prefs, login info
Maps - all downloaded maps are lost (makes sense, still a pain)
Rapdialer - all settings are lost, including carefully crafted google voice prefixes (note: now has manual backup)
Podcast lounge - favorites and custom playlists lost. (note: has manual backup)
Garmin Streetpilot - all preferences, recently found, favorites lost

Apps that lose credentials and some settings
Kindle - account info lost, view settings lost
Flipboard - account info lost
Tapatalk - login info lost, view settings lost
Songza - login info lost
ProShot camera - doesn't restore settings, e.g. aspect ratio
Clique - Meetup.com app, login info lost
Twitter - login info lost
Facebook - login info lost
iNi reader - loses login info and all view settings


System settings that get lost:
Haptic feedback - turned back on
Email passwords
Outlook - swipe actions
Notification choices - all apps show in action center again
Xbox music - pinned albums gone (music still on SD)
Kids corner - back to completely empty. It did restore the lock screen photo.
Here Drive - login info lost, preferences lost (speed alerts, view settings), tutorial runs again
Keyboard settings - preferences on emoticon suggestions, and probably other settings
Photos app - preferences lost


Side note: in the two years since making this list
- MS discontinued the Band line, so I don't use MS health anymore
- Kids Corner has been removed by MS
- Songza has been broken by Google
- Clique has been broken since at least November 2015
- Podcast Lounge hasn't been updated since March 2015
- Garmin StreetPilot hasn't been updated since 2014

I guess that's one way to resolve backup issues, just make people stop using apps! :) and :(

[satrus08]

I just had to restore from backup again (1520 APN settings missing from cell + sim) and I noticed a bunch of apps that don't support restore from backup. Kind of a pain! I thought I'd list these so we can ask these developers to do something about it. If you know of others please post them here as well.

WP8 apps that don't fully restore
Kindle - account info lost, view settings lost
Flipboard - account info lost
Tapatalk - manual account settings lost (maybe better if you use a tapatalk account)
Styrit shopping list - all lists lost
MS health - band pairing lost, preferences lost (units)

System settings that get lost:
Haptic feedback - turned back on
Email passwords
Xbox music - pinned albums gone (music still on SD)

That's it for now, I'll add more as I come across more missing settings.

Nice idea, but do you think it would be better to list apps that DO allow decent restoring options. That way it will be easy for new users and people to find apps they know will provide the option to restore.
I see the benefit to this thread to though, you can bring it to the attention of the developers that they need to implement good restoring options.
I think making a running list of apps with restore will benefit more members of community.
Your choice, just a suggestion :)

[realwarder]

I suspect a lot haven't been updated with 8.1 changes to maintain backward compatibility or lack of perceived gain

[satrus08]

I suspect a lot haven't been updated with 8.1 changes to maintain backward compatibility or lack of perceived gain

I don't think it matters though. the app should have their own form of at least some kind of backup and restore. Couple of examples, WhatsApp saves chat logs on their servers so you can restore them. Some games upload save files to their own servers. Doesn't need any specific functionality or API from 8.1. The developer can implement their own method. Granted it might be easier to use OneDrive APIs depending on the app, but not necessary.

Edit: Unless there is an option to call individual app restoring routines upon choosing the restore option on your device. If there is, then that's awesome, never knew about it. Can someone tell me please. If its there, then you don't have to launch each app and go through the app's restoring process, right?

[Joe920]

Nice idea, but do you think it would be better to list apps that DO allow decent restoring options. That way it will be easy for new users and people to find apps they know will provide the option to restore.
I see the benefit to this thread to though, you can bring it to the attention of the developers that they need to implement good restoring options.
I think making a running list of apps with restore will benefit more members of community.
Your choice, just a suggestion :)

I kind of agree, but on the other hand a list like this one is also important as a 'blacklist' (as you mention), and also as a warning for users: if you have any of these, make sure you manually back up or export anything you want to keep. Any volunteers for making that other list? :D

[HoosierDaddy]

As for MetroTube downloads being lost, I don't consider video downloads to be settings. If the app doesn't let you save videos to storage or doesn't document you can, that's a problem but not one with settings.

[Joe920]

Note to self: Add rapdialer and IE search provider to the list.

[Snowy Nokia]

A bit off topic, though in line with phone back up.
In my case its not backing up when I do a manual back up. It reports an error, saying try again later. My Microsoft account is intact and syncing correctly.
Any suggestions? Thx!

Edit: Only recent change is the cyan firmware update from T-Mobile.

[Joe920]

A bit off topic, though in line with phone back up.
In my case its not backing up when I do a manual back up. It reports an error, saying try again later. My Microsoft account is intact and syncing correctly.
Any suggestions? Thx!

Edit: Only recent change is the cyan firmware update from T-Mobile.

Sounds like this issue: http://forums.windowscentral.com/win...ays-fails.html
​

[Snowy Nokia]

Much appreciated @joe920!

[Joe920]

Added podcast lounge. Should be easy to at least back up favorite feeds and app settings. Any developers here who know what it takes? Are there allowed app development languages that don't easily support backup and could that be the hold-up?

[zkyevolved]

Yeah. I wish all apps allowed backing up of data. That would be awesome for WhatsApp and line. What a shame. :(

[Joe920]

Well, at least since last time I did this a couple of these apps have added manual backup, so that's good. I'll find out if any don't restore shortly, because as one of the lucky 1520 HK owners I wasn't getting the denim update. So far smooth sailing: download of 1.7GB update: 5 min, install 3 minutes? Restore from backup is taking forever though, really hope it's not broken.

[PepperdotNet]

Microsoft should just bite the bullet here and implement a proper backup system. That is, the same thing that iTunes/iCloud does for their devices.

All app data is included in the backup. Period. Wipe and restore, or get a new device and restore, nothing is missing.

[mrruz]

Tapatalk works great with an account. Everything is synced across windows devices.

I disagree with the email passwords though, because that poses considerable security risks.

[mrruz]

Microsoft should just bite the bullet here and implement a proper backup system. That is, the same thing that iTunes/iCloud does for their devices.

All app data is included in the backup. Period. Wipe and restore, or get a new device and restore, nothing is missing.

Some apps do this i think... Could it be lack of support from the app dev?

[Joe920]

Tapatalk works great with an account. Everything is synced across windows devices.

I disagree with the email passwords though, because that poses considerable security risks.

Agreed, typing this from within Tapatalk WP, only one signin needed with the tapatalk account.

[PepperdotNet]

Some apps do this i think... Could it be lack of support from the app dev?

My point exactly. If the backup were done properly as I described, the app developer wouldn't need to do anything. The data gets backed up.

[jhoff80]

Anything that hasn't been explicitly updated or written for 8.1 will not automatically backup and restore (including, for example, nearly all Xbox games on WP). With the way so many Windows Phone apps haven't been updated, it's always been stupid of Microsoft to depend on updates. Instead of effectively being 'opt-in', Microsoft should have made developers need to opt-out.

[Joe920]

Added Garmin StreetPilot and Here Drive. This is a pain, you get in the car after a restore from backup and find that all of your gps apps need to be adjusted again (speed alerts, view preferences, warning pages) to work right.

[Joe920]

Added iNi reader. Great app otherwise, but it would be nice if it supported built in backup and restore.

[sinime]

Anything that hasn't been explicitly updated or written for 8.1 will not automatically backup and restore (including, for example, nearly all Xbox games on WP). With the way so many Windows Phone apps haven't been updated, it's always been stupid of Microsoft to depend on updates. Instead of effectively being 'opt-in', Microsoft should have made developers need to opt-out.

Hopefully, Windows 10 will fix this... That is, once newer games/apps are written for 10 and above, all of this will be worked out.

The biggest issue is that backups were added in 8.1, but as a developer, do you continue to target 8.0 or have a separate version of your your app for 8.0 & 8.1? I wish carriers couldn't block updates... If 8.1 was available across the board at one time, I think more devs would update their apps to retarget 8.1