FAQs


Why the Google Sign-in requirement for premium features and cloud backups?

Google sign-in is required for cloud backups and all premium features in the app. It is used to

  • Setup your Swift Backup account
  • Backup your Swift Backup settings to our servers
  • Cache cloud backup metadata on our servers to reduce network requests to your cloud service
  • Protect your backup files with encryption keys that are unique to you without any user input
  • Verify purchases and activate premium even on devices without Google Play
  • Reduce financial damages caused by piracy

Note that all backup files, whether local or cloud, are tied to a specific Google account. You cannot use the backup files of one Google Account with another.

What personal details do you receive when I sign-in with Google in your app?
Your account's email address, name and a link to your profile picture all of which is used to setup your unique Swift Backup account.


Can I use the app without a Google account?

  • You can sign-in the app anonymously, offline, without a Google account. This feature is added specifically for users who only want to use Swift Backup for local backups without any premium features. Cloud backups or premium features cannot be used without Google sign-in.
  • Swift Backup settings for anonymous users can be exported/imported using the options in the app settings, Read more.
  • Note that backups taken with anonymous sign-in cannot be used with accounts with Google sign-in and vice-versa.


Can I use a different Google Drive account than the one I used to sign-in in Swift Backup?

You can only use Google Drive of the account with which you signed in the app. You simply need to sign-in in the app with the Google account with which you want to sync your backups to Drive.

Will my premium plan work when I sign-in with the other Google account?
Yes. You can use any Google account to sign-in the app and still use premium features if the purchasing Google account is signed in Play Store.


Which app parts should I backup/restore?

This is completely up to you. Most apps work fine when restored with 'APKs' and 'Data'. It can take some trial and error in finding which parts need to be selected for backup/restore of apps you specifically use. Each app part is briefly explained below.

APKs
The 'Android Package' installation files (APKs) in /data/app/ which consist of a base.apk and optional Split APKs that contain language/device/feature based resources of the app.

Requirements:
✅ No requirement for backup
⚠️ Root/Shizuku required for batch restoring (installing) APKs. If device is not rooted or Shizuku service isn't found, you can restore APKs one by one.

Data
The private app data in /data/data/ or /data/user/*/ that stores your app preferences, login info, databases, etc. This is the most important part to restore apps potentially with their state preserved.

Requirements:
⚠️ Root required for backup & restore
⚠️ Shizuku mode (ADB access) cannot read/write at these path

External Data (Ext. Data)
Stored in Android/data/ on the internal storage or SD Card, external data may contain media files, downloaded game resources, ad resources, etc. Some apps/games may store ‘Data’ here.

Requirements:
✅ Android 10 and below: No requirement for backup or restore
⚠️ Android 11 and up: Root/Shizuku required for both backup & restore

Expansion
Some games and apps have large .obb files which contain a huge number of resources. These .obb files are called expansions and can be found in Android/obb/ on the internal storage or SD Card.

Requirements:
✅ Android 10 and below: No requirement for backup or restore
⚠️ Android 11 and up: Root/Shizuku required for both backup & restore

Media
The media directory of apps is located in Android/media/. Very few apps use this directory. Among the popular apps, WhatsApp uses this directory on Android 11 and up to store all your media files.

Requirements:
✅ No requirement for backup or restore


Can I backup the private app data like app settings, login details, etc without root? Can't you just use ADB backup??!!?

No. No app can access the private data of another app without root access. (Refer the previous FAQ for the backup/restore requirements for each app part).

If you don't have root access, the only practical option to backup the private app data is to use backup solutions that shipped with your device (if any) or to use Google backup if your device has Google Play services, etc.

Why not use ADB backup?
ADB backup APIs are deprecated by Google and most apps do not work with the ADB backup method anymore.


Are SD Cards & USB drives supported?

Yes. You can switch SwiftBackup folder location from Internal storage to an SD Card or USB drive from the 'Home' tab in the app. Click on the icon beside the storage information to bring up the switching screen.

Is root required for this feature?

  • SD Cards: Root required on Android 10 and below
  • USB drives: Root required on Android 11 and below


I need to format/wipe my device completely. How do I move my local backups from the device to PC, USB drive, SD Card or cloud?

  1. Copy 'SwiftBackup' folder from the device to your PC/USB/SD Card or upload it to a cloud service.
  2. Wipe/Flash your ROM
  3. Copy the folder back to device
  4. Install Swift Backup & Login with the same account used to take the backups (Google account / Anonymous).

Swift Backup is not able to find my backups!!! What's wrong?
Following conditions must be fulfilled for Swift Backup to be able to read your backups:

  1. Backups are tied to the account you use in the app. If you took backups by signing in the app with a Google account, you must sign-in with the same Google account to access your backups. Likewise, if you took backups as an Anonymous user, you must sign-in as an Anonymous user to access your backups.
  2. The backup files need to be in the exact folder as earlier. Do not move backups between different accounts or they won't be readable.
  3. The app must be restarted if you just copied the files from a PC or another media back to your device. Swipe away Swift Backup from your recent apps or use Settings > 'Restart app' from the app settings.

Important notes:

  • Don't touch folders within the 'SwiftBackup' folder. Always copy the main folder to and from the device.
  • Don't copy 'SwiftBackup' folder to a FAT/FAT32/vfat/sdfat formatted SD Card or USB drive if any of your backup files' size is 4GB or higher. If you attempt to do so, all such backup files (>4GB) will be truncated at around 4GB and will no longer be useful. Use exFAT formatted SD Cards or USB drives if your device supports exFAT format.
  • MTP transfer may be buggy for some devices/PCs. If you have adb setup on your PC:
    • Pull SwiftBackup folder from the device using the command:
      adb pull /sdcard/SwiftBackup <path/on/pc>
    • To push the folder back to the device:
      adb push <path/on/pc/SwiftBackup> /sdcard/SwiftBackup


How to delete my app backups?

To delete your app backups, open Swift Backup and click on the 'Apps' icon in the top card to enter the Apps screen. You can perform all sorts of apps related actions in this screen, so make sure you familiarize yourself with this screen.

First, switch to the 'Local' or 'Cloud' section from the top depending on the location of the app backups you wish to delete.

To delete multiple backups: Click on the 'Batch actions' button at the bottom and select the Delete backups action. Now select the apps in the list and perform the 'Delete backups' action for the selected apps. If you wish to delete only the archived app backups, select the 'Delete archived backups only' action instead.

To delete backups of a specific app: Click on the app item from the list in the Apps screen. In the resulting screen, click on the 3-dot menu in the Device backup card or the Cloud backup card and select 'Delete backup' action.


Can I use a custom folder location for my backups on the device or in cloud?

There are no plans to support custom folder locations on cloud or local storage. The current implementation of a standard location across all cloud services or local storages helps us keep things simple and easier to debug in case of issues.


Can I uninstall system apps with Swift Backup?

This feature is no longer planned since starting with Android 10, all device partitions except /data are read-only at runtime. This means that System apps can only be updated during runtime but the original APKs residing in /system cannot be touched.

TWRP/Recovery mode should be able to access all partitions. So in order to actually uninstall system apps, you can do so in recovery via debloater scripts.

Tip: Keep it simple and use Swift Backup to disable the system apps you don't won't to use.


How are the encryption passwords for my backups generated/stored?

For Google Sign-in users: Encryption passwords are generated on a per-user and per-backup type basis and are not stored anywhere. Note that your Google account email id is NOT used to generate the passwords. When you sign-in with Google in Swift Backup for the first time, you are creating a Swift Backup specific account which has its own randomly generated user id. This user id is one of the factors that is used to generate the keys.

For Anonymous users: Encryption passwords are common for all anonymous users. Use the 'Advanced' strategy (read below) and add your own custom password to the encryption logic to make your passwords unique from other users.

Can I use my own passphrase for encrypting backups?
Yes, you need to select the 'Advanced' password strategy under Settings > Encryption password strategy and add your own passphrase. This passphrase will be used along with the already used parameters in the default Standard strategy to generate the final password for the backup. Note that Swift Backup won't be able to decrypt/restore your backups if you forget this passphrase.

Can I decrypt my backups outside Swift Backup?
No, you can only decrypt/restore your backups with Swift Backup.

Can I disable encryption?
No, AES-256 encryption is now enforced for all backup files except App APKs, Expansion files and Wallpapers.


Can I run my backup schedules using automation apps like Tasker, Macrodroid, etc?

Yes. Swift Backup supports a minimal implementation for running schedules at your convenience via a shell command. You can run this command in a terminal emulator or use it in automation apps like Tasker, Macrodroid, etc. Root access needed.

Commands
To run all the schedules that are enabled/on:
am start -n org.swiftapps.swiftbackup/.shortcuts.ShortcutsActivity

To run specific schedules:
am start -n org.swiftapps.swiftbackup/.shortcuts.ShortcutsActivity -e "cmd" "-s [schedule_id1] [schedule_id2]"

Breakdown of the above command
am start -n org.swiftapps.swiftbackup/.shortcuts.ShortcutsActivity
This just starts the activity that handles the command. '-n' is very important!

-e "cmd" "-s [schedule_id1] [schedule_id2]"
This is the extra (-e) called 'cmd' (short for command) that is passed to the activity. -s takes one or more ids of the schedules to run separated by a whitespace.

How to get the [schedule_id]?
These ids can be obtained by long clicking the title of the respective schedule which will copy the id to clipboard. Make sure you do NOT add the squared brackets '[' or ']' around the ids in the final command.


How can I backup/export my Swift Backup settings?

Anonymous users: Swift Backup settings for anonymous users can be exported/imported using the options in the app settings. Following settings are synced:

  • All preferences under 'Settings' in the app
  • Favorite apps
  • App blacklist

Google Sign-in users: Your Swift Backup settings do not need to be backed up manually. They are synced by the app on our servers and will be restored when you sign-in in the app. Following settings are synced:

  • All preferences under 'Settings' in the app
  • Favorite apps
  • Schedules
  • App labels
  • App configs
  • App blacklist

How do I backup my cloud setup settings for WebDAV, SMB, SFTP, etc?
You can export/import your cloud setup settings to a plain-text json file to a location you prefer using the 3-dot menu in 'Cloud sync' screen (it's just beside the 'Home' tab in the app) or from the 3-dot menu in the cloud setup screen itself where you can also import a settings from a saved file.

Important: Make sure you save the settings to a safe location since these settings may also include your passwords in plain-text. Alternatively, for security, you can save the settings before entering your password to avoid including the password in the exported file.

I want to reset all Swift Backup settings to default. How do I do that?
In case you want to fully reset the app to its default state, you can do so using Settings > Manage space > Reset app.


How can I backup Contacts?

There are no plans to add a separate Contacts backup feature. However, if you are rooted, you can backup data of the Contacts Storage system app and then restore it after you switch ROMs or perform a factory reset. Ideally, we recommend to keep your contacts in your cloud using other more-or-less real-time sync solution.


How about Google Play Family library support?

Google does not support in-app purchases for Family Library sharing.
Source: Google


Delete your Swift Backup account and all associated data

If you have signed in Swift Backup using a Google account, you can choose to request deletion of your Swift Backup account and all associated data.

Procedure to request account deletion:

  1. Send an email to delete your account to support@swiftapps.org using the the same Google account you used to sign-in with Swift Backup.
  2. Uninstall Swift Backup from your devices
  3. Delete all files/folders created by Swift Backup on your devices and any connected cloud services.
  4. Your account will be deleted within 28 days or sooner and you will notified by email about the same.

Upon completion of your account deletion, all data that is associated with your account including information received by us when you used Google Sign-in with Swift Backup, your synced Swift Backup Settings and your cloud backup metadata, etc. is fully deleted.

Note:

  • All backups taken using the deleted account cannot be used in Swift Backup anymore.
  • Do not sign-in again in Swift Backup or a new account will be generated.