Suggestion for Improvement : Automate the Saving of Settings

[giovandrew]

Is your feature request related to a problem?

Hello,

I am a regular user of your app, and I really appreciate that you’ve implemented a feature to export settings.

This export is currently manual, which means users have to remember to trigger it themselves on a regular basis - with the risk of forgetting and thus losing their settings in the event of a device change or technical issue.

Describe the solution you'd like

Here are my two suggestions for improvement :

1. Add an option for automatic, periodic backup of settings (with a frequency configurable by the user), in addition to the existing manual export feature.
2. Allow users to freely choose the destination folder for the backup file, to facilitate its integration into a personal backup workflow (local storage, cloud, ...).

If you want some ideas, I find really convenient the automatic settings backup of the app Signal, called "back up on this device" ;)

Thank you very much for considering this suggestion, and I look forward to hearing your feedback!

Best regards

Describe alternatives you've considered

No response

Describe why this would be in the interest of all users

This new fonctionnality would safeguard data, save time, prevent forgetfulness, and greatly simplify the process of switching to a new smartphone.

Additional context

No response

[giovandrew]

Hi there, I’m just checking in to see if anyone else might be interested in this suggestion for a new feature !

[MarkyMarkDE]

Hi there, I’m just checking in to see if anyone else might be interested in this suggestion for a new feature !

@giovandrew
Counter-question: all apps that have the export/import feature have placed it on an action triggered by the user or, at most, when changes are made in the app. Why should SD-Maid specifically have full automation for it?

I'm afraid that with this feature, we'll be bringing in even more complexity than we already have in our core Features.
Even WhatsApp makes a full backup of all chats for everyone at 3 AM, here that even really makes sense, but do we really need something this complex that might even need a scheduling feature the user can set at all?

For me, the favorite remains: the user changes something in their settings and Maidchen automatically creates an export file in a folder defined by the user, and that's it. What the user does with the exported settings afterwards is entirely up to them (like saving them somewhere other than the device, e.g.).

[giovandrew]

I understand your question !

The reason I’m suggesting this feature be added is that I now have 14 apps that offer a backup feature, but very few of them offer automatic backups. I’m certainly not the only one in this situation (especially if you want to avoid having to carry out certain backups via Google), and having more apps that offer automated backups would save a great deal of time.

When you only have 2–3 apps where you need to trigger a backup, it’s relatively easy not to forget to do them, and they’re fairly quick to carry out. But with 14 apps… that’s a completely different matter, so I reckon it would be a real time-saver to have a backup feature like the one I’m suggesting !

My aim is to have fewer things to do, fewer things to think about, and to save time on the sort of tasks that, quite frankly, are of no interest to anyone. So when there are settings linked to an application, yes, I’d like a solution that allows a backup (or export) to take place either at a set interval or every time a change is made, as you suggest !

That’s a good idea, and I’ll bear it in mind for any future suggestions I make.

[MarkyMarkDE]

I understand your question !

The reason I’m suggesting this feature be added is that I now have 14 apps that offer a backup feature, but very few of them offer automatic backups. I’m certainly not the only one in this situation (especially if you want to avoid having to carry out certain backups via Google), and having more apps that offer automated backups would save a great deal of time.

When you only have 2–3 apps where you need to trigger a backup, it’s relatively easy not to forget to do them, and they’re fairly quick to carry out. But with 14 apps… that’s a completely different matter, so I reckon it would be a real time-saver to have a backup feature like the one I’m suggesting !

My aim is to have fewer things to do, fewer things to think about, and to save time on the sort of tasks that, quite frankly, are of no interest to anyone. So when there are settings linked to an application, yes, I’d like a solution that allows a backup (or export) to take place either at a set interval or every time a change is made, as you suggest !

That’s a good idea, and I’ll bear it in mind for any future suggestions I make.

@giovandrew
have now export your enhancement request into a Ticket #2834 again, but lot simplified, hope this is right for you and match your needs.