Google One: Backup for your Android phone when you pay
Apple is leading the way, Google is following suit. You can now save your phone settings in the cloud with a Google One subscription. But only if you pay.
Google One is a Google service that very few people realise the point of. Until now, it was essentially there to put an app on your phone if you gave Google money for more Drive storage. And something about hotel perks. Because reasons.
But now Google has introduced something that Apple users will shrug their shoulders at: A phone backup.
Wait... what?
Apple users know the drill: you buy a new iPhone, you tell it "Yes, I have a backup" and within minutes your new iPhone is set up exactly like your old iPhone. This has never been possible with Google before.
As of a few days ago, the app description reads as follows:
Automatically back up your phone. All your photos, contacts, messages and more will be safely backed up in the cloud. If you break, lose or upgrade your phone, you can restore everything to your new Android device.
This allows Google One to centralise the backup of media on your phone. Previously, contacts were stored under Contacts, pictures and videos under Photos. Messages and smartphone settings were not yet stored anywhere, with the exception of WhatsApp content, which was stored on Drive. In other words, backups were a mess and required a lot of separate settings.
This is in contrast to Apple. The backup is in the iCloud. That's it. It's clear that Google wants the same. It's unclear why Google hasn't had this for a long time.
Your backup: this is how it works
The backup is very easy to set up if you have a Google One subscription.
- Open the One app on your phone
- You will now see the backup options
- Enable what you want
- Done
The only downside: the backup costs money. If you are not a subscriber, install and open Google One, you will be greeted by the following screen with the message "Become a subscriber".
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