Restoring an Android phone

Not obvious, in particular on an AT&T-crippled device (which does not allow installation of non-market apps):

Steps that worked (kind-of, but still kludgy…)

  • Install AppBrain, and synchronize
  • Ensure that your Android phone is synchronizing all settings to the Google Account (under
    Settings -> Privacy, I think)
  • Now go ahead and reset the phone
  • BEFORE re-synchronizing the phone with Google, go into AppBrain on the web, and create a new list from the apps installed on your phone
  • Now re-install your phone, and associate it with your account
  • Launch the Market – there is no automatic reinstallation of anything if you don’t launch this first. It may then launch a couple of updates automatically – but not of your favorite applications.
  • Then go ahead and install AppBrain again, and log in to the app. Go ahead and synchronize
  • Go to the AppBrain.com website, and verify your lists. In my case, I had two accounts: “Apps on my phone” and “Apps on my XXXX”  (device type). The latter was the more recent sync. Now go into the old list, mark all apps, and copy to the new account
  • Back on your phone, sync AppBrain. The entire list will show up as “to install”. Go ahead.

This is not perfect:  you still have acknowledge each app twice in the market, but at least AppBrain will walk you through the process….

There seems to be no Nokia “restore my phone from backup” which works like a charm on modern Nokia phones (I just used it on my E72 to good effect).

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