Backup by Google One, the new unified backup system

Google began implementing today “Backup by Google One” as an upgrade over the existing Android backup service, which means end users will have to think about a single backup.

Backup by Google One is coming to all Android users soon

Android backups currently cover data from app, SMS messages, call history, contacts and device preferences; including Wi-Fi networks and passwords, wallpapers, display settings (brightness and sleep), language and input and date / time settings.

Backup by Google One instead it is more granular and expansive, as well as unified. That is to say it can also perform the backup of photos, videos and MMS messages with management and control now directly in Android settings, in addition to the existing Google One app or website.

With this change, MMS is now part of the Android backup experience by default. Last year, the company started letting anyone back up MMS, but that required installing and using the Google One app.

This unified approach is aimed at remove any distinction in backups. Today, people may not be familiar with what is automatically stored in background backups. This usually happens until they have a new device and are setting it up. Users will now be actively aware of what is being archived.

Photo Credits: 9to5Google.

In the photos above, the first two screenshots are from the system “Settings” app, while the third is inside the Google One app. In the latter there is the additional option to enable / disable “Multimedia messages” and “Photos and videos”. All of these preferences will soon be available on the new Google One Backup page in Android settings. Users will still be limited to 15GB of free storage, with the possibility of having more for a fee.

In the future, Google plans to continue improving the unified backup experience for Android. Backup by Google One is starting to roll out on Android 8.0 devices these days and will be fully available “in the coming weeks”.