MyBackup Pro: Review

I recently (finally) upgraded my phone.  I’ve had my beloved Droid Incredible since it launched (and that’s saying something), but lack of 4G and being tethered to Android 2.x finally took it’s toll, so I made the leap to a new phone (Samsung S5) and glorious Kit Kat.

Part of the process was migrating data, and I can’t say enough good things about MyBackup Pro (Android/iOS) from RerWare for this process.  I can’t imagine it being easier.  Sure you have to spend $4.99, but it was WELL WORTH IT (and I had actually already purchased the program years ago to take care of the Droid Incredible’s constant low-memory notification problem).

After installing MyBackup Pro on my new device (I did it via my computer browser and Google Play), it was literally a matter of clicking two buttons on my S5, and then two buttons on my Droid.  Awesome.

I had an older version of an application who’s features had not changed significantly in updated versions.  Furthermore the upgrades made the app ad supported (and for some odd reason there is no ad-free paid version).  Thus, I wanted to keep the older version of the app, but obviously the Play store (et al) were only offering the newest version (ad-supported and annoying).  Utilizing MyBackup Pro and the Migration feature allowed me to move the app from my old phone to my new over wifi in about 10 seconds with no issues whatsoever.  After MyBackup Pro told me the app had been moved, I opened it on my new device and it worked perfectly.  Fantastic.

You can migrate apps, media (photos, music, videos), contacts, call log, bookmarks, sms, mms, system settings, android home alarms, dictionary, calendar, music playlists, apn’s, etc.  A lot of this isn’t necessary if you’re using something like Google to sync accounts, but there are certain things that Google doesn’t address, or specialty situations (like the one mentioned above) where Google can’t help.

I’ve been using MyBackup Pro for years to archive my SMS, MMS, and call logs.  Every once in a while I’d also run a back up of my apps, especially the paid apps, just in case.

Believe it or not, there have been a couple of times where I needed to go back in time several years to check a text.  MyBackup Pro has a feature to let you load a back up without actually “restoring” it to your phone.  So I simply found the date range I was looking for, used the “view” mode to open the archive, and scrolled through until I found the text.

There is also some free cloud space with the app (if you choose to back up online instead of to an SD card or locally), and you can of course pay to upgrade the free amount of cloud space.  They also offer 100MB of additional space for for sharing and/or reviewing on Google Play, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

I don’t feel as secure with all my past SMS and MMS on yet another server “out in space,” so all my backups are local.  RerWare’s cloud service does allow you to “look into” (open up) your archives without using your phone though, so that’s cool.  If you aren’t backing up to the cloud but you want to use the web to view your archives, you can just upload a particular archive and open it that way (instead of on your phone).  I wish there were an emulator for your computer that would allow you to do the same (open archives without using your phone or the web).

I haven’t used the schedule feature, but you can schedule your phone to run automatic back ups as well.

All in all, probably the best $5 I’ve ever spent on an app.

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