App searched for migrating data from old phone to a new one without a cloud(service)

[gurusmi]

Hi,

i want to transfer all my apps, data and settings from an old android phone to a new one. But i don't want to have that stored in the cloud. Neither to Goolge nor to any other company. I prefer open source. I have one old Nokia 6 (i think that is around Android 7) and a new bought one (Android 13/14). I guess it is a good way to backup on the old phone storing on an PC and restoring that on a new phone. My PC is running Linux and also Windows 11. The old phone got broken by a damaged battery pack i substitute right now. The new phone will be bought within the first 2 weeks of april. I want to have the contacts, SMS, wallpaper and whole whatsapp transferred. If the app can do more and transfer all used apps that will be great. I used a book reader but the books are stored on an separate MicroSD card. So they're all the time available.

Is there an app out there which can do that and is recommendable?

 

[Wirko]

I understand you're looking for an app that does it all but this may help you if you can't find a good one:
Contacts can be exported to and imported from a file called "contacts.vcf", I believe that's universal in Android.
For the messages I used the "SMS Backup & Restore" app. It can export them to files (maybe a single file?) and import them on another phone.

SMS Backup & Restore - Apps on Google Play

A simple app that backs up and restores SMS & MMS messages and call logs.

play.google.com

 

[gurusmi]

After a longer research session I found a program that seems to do the whole job. It is not open source. The name is Wondershare Dr.Fone. I think i will give it a try.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Smart Switch might work.

 

[gurusmi]

Smart Switch might work.

I also have found this app. I also downloaded and installed it. On the first hand it seems that this Software works only for Samsung. If on both sides or only at one i didn't check. That Wondershare is a kind of shareware. A license will cost 30€. That's ok. One can transfer all data from the old mobile to a directory on the pc and after that saved data over to a new one.

 

[KedsDead]

Smart Switch did a good job on moving data from my old Apple phone to a new Samsung.

 

[gurusmi]

Im going from an old Android (afaik Ver 8/9) to a brand new phone with Android 14 on it. I want to keep my chats in whatsapp and also the configuration. I also want to keep my contacts, SMS and the installed apps with their Config. I don't have videos on my phone. The Books and Pictures are saved on a SD Card.

That Samsung Smart Switch is also a interesting thing. But i don't know if one must have a Samsung phone or if it also works with other brands (source and also target). First i have to finish my "phone surgery" where i change the battery. That connectors are so damn small. 2x2mm for the battery connection. I have to connect the battery and the display and put together all of it. After that my old Android (Nokia 6) shoulld work again. The old battery was blown.

 

[KedsDead]

I have most of my chat history.. some of my apps didnt xfer over, but that is expected, since I was going from iOS to Android.. but it did reinstall all the apps that were available on both OS's..

 

[gurusmi]

i did change from android over to iOS a longer time ago. After one generation of iOS i changed back to iOS. But that has been shortly after i got the HTC One M9 (2017 ???. Since thne i used Android. The last generation I changed my primary phone from Android to KaiOS. But i kept my android as a second phone without a SIM Card. I didn't used that KaiOS Phone much. Mostly it has laying at home. Like the Android. I never copied anything towards KaiOS. So there is nothing to migrate.Long term a new Android tablet will take over the "work" from the new Android phone. The new devices work from home and when i'm in the clinics.For me those small machines are toys. I don't even use mobile internet on them. I have a PC at home where I have 2x 32" schreens on it. I'm too long at the IT branch working. At the university i had Prolog, Cobol, PL/1, C and Pascal on a mainframe as programming languages. There wasn't even Object oriented programming invented.

I have a special usecase where i have to buy a flipable phone because of the height. Samsung or Motorola has been the question. When i read what samsung does with their OneUI i better lan to go over to Motorola. I will not realze the speed difference between those two CPU Generations anyway.

 

[Wirko]

You also mentioned you wish to transfer other installed apps (beside Whatsap) if possible. Why not just reinstall them on the new phone? Does any of them store valuable data that you want to retain?

 

[gurusmi]

You also mentioned you wish to transfer other installed apps (beside Whatsap) if possible. Why not just reinstall them on the new phone? Does any of them store valuable data that you want to retain?

I want to keep the data from WhatsApp (also Pics and Videos), where I have contacts i don't have in the normal contacts list of the phone. The pictures and videos are more important to me. Afaik they aren't backed up.

To be honest i don't know exactly, what book reader i used or all the few installed Apps (by name & author). That one remembers, which bok is read and which one is actual opened. Also the page at that book. In general I don't have much apps or data in use on the old android device. I want to have the contact list transferred as there it is a bit business critical. I'm a freelancer ant the phone tells me who is ringing and in which company the person is connected to. Also if that person uses a mobile or the fixed line. It's more to have a full mirror without the need to change my usage and behavior about.

Sure i can install and i can get it automatical? For me the phone is quite uninteresting. I was also happy with that small Nokia 2720 Flip. Only running WhatsApp on that small device is uncomfortable because of the small sized screen and the T9 input. The last one is annoying me that much that i don't type inside the phone anything. Since that I write only mails to my friend and he starts to complain about that.

 

[KedsDead]

Smart Switch asked me if I wanted to transfer all data.. with the disclaimer about not all iOS stuff.. but you are just going from Android to Android.. so in theory, it should just move everything over. If it fails, you can always factory wipe the new phone, and run a different program..

 

[gurusmi]

I made it happen. All three connectors are back and the phone closed. Unfortunately i did switch on the phone before to check if surgery ran fine. My screen didn't work.. so i opened it again and resetted the connector. Now the screen don't work (possibly Android didn't load something to drive that screen and i cannot reset easily. The battery is at least partwise loaded. Now i have to wait a few days till the batterypack gets powerless and the phone switches off. I can see that at the router where the phone obtained a DHCP address. If it dissapeared the phone is off. After reloading and starting with the hope that i worked good with that connectors. Sometimes a telnet session for rebooting would be great.

 

[gurusmi]

I found an old App i used before. MyPhoneExplorer. I only supports on Windows. But it is a great and useful tool. At all it is Freeware. One can Sync all the phone data and also transfer files. One also can make full backups.

 

[silentbogo]

Just use Samsung's SmartSwitch, just like everyone said. It works over LAN, no cloud services involved.
It syncs everything. All you need afterwards, is to activate your messenger accounts etc.