Backup/restore features are a bit of a sore point on Android; Google’s efforts can be called nothing better than pathetic, while most other manufacturers don’t offer a service to entirely back up a device like Apple does with its own iOS devices and iCloud. However, Samsung, which has already had one software success this year, may be onto something with Samsung Cloud, which is launching with the Galaxy Note7. Sam Mobile has confirmed that the feature is also coming to the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, courtesy of a 150MB update – it’s currently live in Italy and India with more countries presumably on the way.
The service backs up first-party Samsung apps, such as Calendar and Contacts, plus “select third-party apps.” Users get 15GB backup space, and apps are backed up continuously to ensure devices are as synced together as possible. For example, if a message is received through the SMS app, as long as auto back-up of messages is turned on, this will be retrievable on another device through Samsung Cloud. It’s the same for homescreen layouts, user settings, and keyboard data, with each backed up so moving to a new device is as little hassle as possible. In addition, personal data like music, photo and video, and documents can be uploaded and synced.
Lastly, multiple devices can be synced to Cloud very easily. For example, if a contact is deleted on one device, another device will be updated to reflect this. It’s the same with items in the Notes app, and also photos and videos in Samsung’s Gallery app, which are synced across devices as the items from your camera upload. If you don’t want all photos and videos synced, you can select individual albums to back up too.
The feature backs data up every 24 hours on a WiFi connection. To do this, Samsung Cloud requires the screen to be off and the device connected to a power source for at least an hour. If you’ve got a compatible device – a Note7, Galaxy S7, or S7 edge – you can start backing up by going to Settings -> Cloud and Accounts -> Samsung Cloud.
[Source:-Android police]
