Google Messages may soon make it easy to back up and restore messages on your Galaxy phone. The company is developing an in-app “Backup & restore” system for its messaging platform. You don’t need to use the system backup settings.
Google Messages prepares a more accessible “Backup & restore” system
Samsung is gradually phasing out its Messages app from Galaxy phones, replacing it with Google Messages to speed up RCS adoption. The latter comes preloaded and set as the default messaging app on newer Galaxy phones and tablets. Over the past few months, Google has significantly improved its Messages app for an enhanced user experience.
Another handy tool may be on the way if a recent discovery from 9to5Google materializes. The publication tore apart the latest beta version of Google Messages for Android (version 20241118_02_RC00) to find interesting code strings. The strings hint at a new feature simply called Backup & Restore.
According to the new report, this feature adds a backup and restore system to Google Messages. Your messages are saved to your Google account and automatically restored on the new device when you sign in with the same account. All backups are “end-to-end encrypted and secured by your screen lock,” so no one can access your messages, not even Google.
Google notes that some devices may not support end-to-end encryption for backups. It doesn’t elaborate but your backups may not be encrypted if your device lacks screen lock. Things should get clearer when Google rolls out this feature.
Meanwhile, the code strings confirm that you can use Google Messages without enabling backups. Once enabled, all messages are automatically backed up. You can disable backups anytime, though doing so will permanently delete all messages saved earlier. Backups will seemingly use Wi-Fi to sync media files. However, “Google Fi Sync” isn’t compatible with Backup & restore.
