I’ve got a Pixel 7 on Android 13. Once in a while I read about how it’s usually good to factory reset your phone after a software update, so I thought I might when I update to Android 14. That said, I refuse to go through the process of setting up my phone like new again, especially with things like fingerprints and tasker profiles being a pain to setup again.
The Google Backup seems purely cosmetic. I can’t think of a single thing it restores every single time I use it. Are there any options to actually back my phone up before an update that don’t involve root?
Without root, your options are pretty much limited to what the apps themselves provide.
So things like Tasker should be able to be backed up through the app. You’ll want to make sure you back it up off your device, Google Drive or similar would be most convenient.
I can’t think of any way to get around having to manually reset device settings like fingerprints, and even with a rooted backup of your app data I’d be hesitant to suggest restoring system data across a major version upgrade.
All of that said, I don’t see a major benefit to factory resetting your phone for upgrades unless you’re having issues with the update.
One of the biggest reasons I root and use Swift Backup.
One of the few things I miss about having root. Proper backups!
