Accidents can happen at any time, and sometimes accidents such as damaging your mobile phone, or it getting stolen can mean losing your important text messages and call logs. There are various applications available to back up your phone data, but unfortunately, most of them don’t include SMS – and they are lost forever. So we have a bunch of apps here which can help you backup your data. So, let’s get started.
Android Apps to Backup SMS and Call Logs
1. SMS Backup +
This app is capable of backing up your SMS, call logs, and MMS efficiently. It can back up the data using a separate label on Gmail (need to enable IMAP in Gmail) and/or Google Calendar as well. Restoration of texts and call logs is also possible, but MMS is not supported yet. How does it work? To Backup your messages, simply open the SMS Backup+ app and tap on ‘Backup‘. It will then ask you to link your Gmail account with the application (without this it won’t work). And that’s it; the app will quickly sync all your text messages to your Gmail account. You can also click on auto-backup, and then your messages will be backed up every two hours (can be changed via settings). To restore messages, you need to first set SMS Backup+ as your default messaging application. From there, it’ll connect to your Gmail account and your SMS will automatically be restored onto your device. Pros One great thing about the app is that is entirely ad-free (rely on donation), and the basic version is the full version as well. The Devs have also included a donate button, so if you like the app and wish to donate, you can do so. You can also use a label:SMS search and go through your text messages directly from Gmail or label:call-log to see your phone calls details. Cons: Auto-backup doesn’t work reliably when the app is installed on the MicroSD, but the developers have claimed that a future update to the app would fix this issue. Also, the first time I installed this app and I backed up my data, the messages weren’t synced with my Gmail account. I had to reinstall the app, and the process second-time around solved my issue. Google Play Store rating – 4.4/5.0
2. Super Backup & Restore
This is an advanced app created by the MobileIdea Studio and can backup a lot of data such as Apps, SMS, Contacts, Call Logs, Calendars, and Bookmarks. The app is capable of saving data to your external MicroSD card and your Gmail account. Although the app doesn’t need root access, if your Android device has it, then you get some additional features such as batch restoration of data. You can also set-up scheduling of your data as well. How does it work? Open the app and click on what you want to Backup, and from there follow the instructions. For instance, to back up your text messages, simply tap on ‘SMS,’ and then click on ‘Backup.’ It will ask where you want to save the messages, which by default is set to the internal storage of your device. Next, tap on OK and backup process will begin. On the next screen, you can send the file to your Google Drive as well if you want to. The restoration process is simple as well. First of all, your have to set the app as your default messaging application, and after clicking on ‘OK’ it’ll ask you to select your backup .XML file, and just after clicking on it, restoration will begin. The process is straightforward and fast to do. Pros The free version of the app has adverts, and you can upgrade to the Pro version which doesn’t have ads for $2. Cons Adverts on the free version. Google Play Store rating – 4.4/5.0
3. Helium
Helium is a pretty popular backup app, using which you can backup nearly everything you have on your phone, including SMS and call logs. This application offers almost all which you can get from an advanced app like Titanium Backup but requires no ROOT access (it does require a PC application to facilitate the backup though). How does it work? The free version of the app can backup and restore data to the MicroSD card and PC, but has advertisements and lacks a few additional features. The Premium version of the app offers additional features such as automatic backups via scheduling, syncing data from one Android phone to another, cloud backups to services such as Box, Dropbox, etc. You can follow the prompts on screen to backup and restore your data. You can backup and restore most of the data which exists on your device. Pros Offers advanced features like Titanium Backup offers, but without root access. Cons Software required on PC, without which it doesn’t work. Note: The app stopped detecting my device randomly so I couldn’t post an in-depth backing up and restoration guide. Google Play Store rating – 4.1/5.0
4. Backup & Reset (MiUi)
This option is only available on devices running MiUi, and along with text, its backup options extend further than most apps as it can back up full System Data as well as Apps. If you have any MiUi phone, then this is the best option for you to backup text and other data, as it is natively supported by all Xiaomi phones. How does it work? Simply go to the Settings app > Additional Settings > Backup & Reset. From there, just tap on ‘Backup,’ and then you can choose whatever you want to backup. The list is extensive, and to only backup your SMS, click on ‘System,’ and then tick mark and select ‘Messaging Data.’ Clicking ‘OK‘ will begin the backup process, and by default, the data will be saved in the internal memory, and there is also an option to save it on the Mi Cloud. Restoration of data is simple as well, just click on the data and time when the backup was created, and from there you can click on ‘Restore’ and your data will be put back. Being an official app, there are no adverts and the entire process is free. Pros Built-in feature. No third party downloads required. Can even backup your data to Mi cloud. Cons Only available for phones running MiUi. Google Play Store rating – Not Applicable
5. SMS Backup & Restore
SMS Backup & Restore is the premier app for backing up SMS, and it is rated best in the Play Store. The backups are stored in .XML format and the backups can be automatically uploaded to your email, Google Drive or Dropbox. If you have two phones connected to the same Wi-Fi, then the messages can also be transferred from one phone to another via Wi-Fi Direct. How does it work? To initiate the backup, open the SMS Backup & Restore app and click on ‘Backup‘, it will ask you where you want the data to be saved. The options are Google Drive, Dropbox and Local Backup (internal storage of your phone). If you select either Google Drive or Dropbox (which is recommended, in case you lose or damage your phone), then you’ll have to log-in into either of the services. After logging in, you can select if you want to backup your text messages or call logs or both. After doing that, you can give the file a custom name if you wish to, and then click on ‘Back Up Now’. That is it. Restoration of data needs you to select where your saved data exists, in our case, it was on the phone locally. From there, you select what all messages you want to restore on your device and then click on ‘RESTORE’. There are no ads on the app, and the basic version has all the features that one can ask for from an SMS backup application. Pros The simplicity, feature-packed, free to use, and no ads. Cons Call logs aren’t backed-up. Google Play Store rating – 4.5/5.0
Wrapping up
It is evident to see that most of the apps featured above have a comparable feature set, and some of them have a similar name as well (SMS Backup). But the apps still differ regarding looks and some extra features provided such as automatic backup for text messages, providing backup for other apps and services, cloud backup, etc. Depending on your needs, the best app for to backup SMS (and Call logs) will change. For example, if you have a phone running MiUi, there’s no reason to download any of these apps as you can just use the built-in Backup & Reset provided by Xiaomi, but for other users, the best app will probably be SMS Backup+. The app is simple, easy to use, and has a clean interface as well, along with the ability to check your text messages with a simple search on Gmail (using label:SMS search). Also Read: 5 Best Android Apps to Send SMS From Computer
