One of the key elements in mobile software are backup copies. An aspect that we have to configure when we turn on the mobile for the first time and that we instinctively activate. However, you may later choose to disable the backup to take control of the situation for us.
This is something that not only affects Android phones, but also appears on iPhone. Therefore, we are going to show you how you can disable backups on all terminals. A change that will mean many things for the device and for this reason we recommend you not only know the process, but we invite you to discover in this complete explanation all that it will mean to deactivate them.
Steps to disable backups on Android
The process that we must carry out on Android smartphones to deactivate the backups that are stored in Google Drive is the same in all cases. Layers of customization have no effect in this regard, since it is a primary part of the system. In any case, if the process does not take you to the option that we show you, we can always write “Backup” in Settings in the search bar and we will go directly to these options.
What we will do manually to deactivate the copies on Android mobiles with any version higher than Android 9 is the following:
- We enter the mobile Settings.
- We go down to Sistema and access.
- Then we enter Backup or if it does not appear, we display the rest of the options.
- Once inside Backup, the first option is the one that disables backups.
If instead of deactivating the backup forever, we want to try to limit it and complete the backup only through WiFi so that it does not exhaust our data rate, we only have to download the final option, where it says “Use only WiFi”. Backups on Android phones are not done on a daily basis and there are times that it depends on whether we have changed settings, contacts or other relevant aspects, although the backup will hardly ever be older than 5 days.
In Android we can also disable the backup of photos and videos. The tool in charge of protecting our memories on Android smartphones is by default Google Photos, an option that we will reach as we have seen previously: Settings> System> Backup and finally touching on Google Photos.
This will take us to the options for photos and videos, from where we will be able to choose the size of the files, if we want the copy to be made using mobile data. But above all, the first option in which we can choose whether we want to make backup copies and synchronize our photos and videos or not.
Turn off automatic backups on iPhone
Apple mobiles base their backups on iCloud, allowing all options and preferences to be practiced and can be quickly exported from one smartphone to another with just our email account. On this occasion, we can download the backup copies with full decision, choosing not only if we want to turn them off or activate them, but also choosing what we want to copy and what not.
The iCloud backup is only generated when we are connected via WiFi and therefore we will not have to worry that Apple’s automatic backup will exhaust our mobile data rate. To carry out the process, you just have to do the following:
- We enter the Settings.
- Click on “Device name”.
- Now we locate and enter iCloud.
- And finally we choose iCloud Copy.
In this case the backup is completed daily at a time when we are not there when the device. This will not change even if we mark or uncheck some apps or services of the OS that do not generate a backup and it will only be done for those that remain active.
The risks we run
The question that many ask is whether with this modification something negative can happen to our smartphone. The truth is that in the current mobile that we are using nothing will happen beyond that you will not have to generate the copy. We could only find a problem when our mobile fails and we have to resort to copying.
Android smartphones, once we deactivate the automatic backup, show us a warning sign, since the copies generated in the terminal will be deleted forever from the Google Drive account. Therefore, if we later change the mobile, we will not be able to export all the preferences and aspects that are stored in the backup, which are the following:
- Passwords and Wi-Fi networks.
- Contacts.
- Events and calendar settings.
- SMS text messages (not MMS).
- Gmail settings.
- List of applications to install them on new mobiles.
- Screen settings.
- Language settings and text input.
- Date and Time.
- Settings and information of some applications.
In the iPhone, the backups are not deleted no matter how much we deactivate them, if we wanted to delete a backup, we would have to enter iCloud> Storage Management> Copies and delete it manually.
Can backups be scheduled?
One of the wishes of many Android and iPhone users is based on being able to generate scheduled backups, but unfortunately none of the operating systems allow this option. The decision is made by the smartphone, choosing the moment when we are not using the mobile and for which it will not bother us that the performance is affected by the backup.
The only way we have to simulate a backup schedule is to create the backups manually. You just have to enter the backup settings for Android to touch on “Create a backup now”, something that we should do whenever we are going to change mobile. The same thing happens on the iPhone, you just have to click on “Back up now”, the closest thing to deciding when the copy is generated.
