Adamya Sharma / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The Android Settings app is getting ready so as to add a brand new “Contacts storage” web page.
- This web page allows you to select which on-line account you need your contacts to be saved to.
- Alternatively, you possibly can disable contact syncing totally and solely save new contacts to your machine.
In case you don’t again up your Android cellphone, you’re prone to shedding lots of beneficial private knowledge. Your apps, recordsdata, photographs, movies, and get in touch with data may very well be gone within the blink of a watch. Android already makes it simple to again up lots of this knowledge, nevertheless it appears Google needs to make it even simpler to again up your contacts within the subsequent quarterly launch of Android 15.
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Android has lengthy supported saving your contact knowledge in a database saved regionally in your cellphone or pill. Entry to this database is guarded by the aptly named READ_CONTACTS and WRITE_CONTACTS permissions, that are runtime permissions that it’s important to manually grant to apps. Many messaging apps request entry to those permissions to allow them to discover out whether or not any of your current contacts have accounts on their platform, in addition to affiliate new contacts with current accounts on their platform.
You in all probability have lots of apps studying and writing to your cellphone’s contacts database at any given time, which is why it’s actually essential that at the least a kind of apps backs up the database so it may be restored later. In case you use an app like Google Contacts, then you definately’ve already gotten that taken care of, however should you don’t, then your contacts gained’t switch over if you change to a new Android cellphone.
To make it even simpler to again up your machine’s contacts, Google is getting ready so as to add a brand new Contacts storage web page beneath Settings > Apps in Android 15 QPR2. Whereas digging by means of Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1, I uncovered strings that reference this new web page, which is able to include toggles to decide on which account to sync contacts to, a button so as to add an account, and a toggle to disable contact syncing totally.
Code
<string identify="contacts_storage_device_only_preference_label">System solely</string>
<string identify="contacts_storage_device_only_preference_summary">"New contacts will not be synced with an account"</string>
<string identify="contacts_storage_first_time_add_account_message">Add an account to get began</string>
<string identify="contacts_storage_no_account_set">No default set</string>
<string identify="contacts_storage_selection_message">Contacts might be saved to your machine and synced to your account by default</string>
<string identify="contacts_storage_settings_title">Contacts storage</string>With a little bit of tinkering, I managed to floor the brand new Contacts storage web page, as proven under.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
Moreover making it simpler to decide on which account to backup your contacts to, I’m undecided what else the Contacts storage web page does. Presently, apps like Google Contacts already make it very easy to again up your contacts, so it’s arduous to think about many customers having hassle with that. Plus, Android’s account settings additionally already present a approach to disable contact syncing, so I’m undecided why this new web page is basically wanted. It’s doable this new Contacts storage web page in Android 15 QPR2 serves some greater function that we’re not seeing but, so hopefully Google shares some particulars about it when it goes dwell.
