Google’s Android backup and restore experience is getting a much-anticipated improvement that will soon allow apps to stay connected when you switch Android phones. With the new “Restore Credentials” feature, Google wants to make switching to a new Android phone as seamless as switching to an iPhone.
How does it work? According to Google, Restore Credentials allows app developers to generate a “restore key” that is stored locally on your device and in the cloud (if you have Google Backup enabled). When you set up a new Android phone and choose to restore apps and data, the keys are transferred to the new device and you are automatically signed in to your app accounts on first launch. And if developers try a little harder, apps can start sending notifications and working as if they were still on the old device, even before you open them on your new phone.
This may seem trivial, but anyone who has updated their Android phone and gone through the data restoration process will tell you what a pain it is to manually log into each app. Google has done its part in establishing the framework, but it’s up to individual app developers to implement the feature in their apps and make this initiative a success. It’s certainly difficult to expect every app in the Play Store to implement seamless app ID migration. But hopefully most popular apps will take advantage of this change to ensure a frictionless onboarding experience for users moving to a new Android device.
The best part is that you don’t need to configure anything or change any device settings to benefit from this improvement – everything will happen in the background. However, you will have to wait for your favorite app developers to add credential rollback support to their apps. You’ll also need a device running Android 9 or newer.
