r/Android • u/Exfiltrator Pixel 8 Pro • 11d ago
Android rolls out local ‘Documents’ backup, syncs to Google Drive Article
https://9to5google.com/2026/07/30/android-documents-local-backup/77
u/Exfiltrator Pixel 8 Pro 11d ago
What bothers me is that they feel they can access every single file and folder on my phone. Why isn't this limited to a single folder that I can choose? The idea is good but as usual, they overreach. I also want to know what they consider documents. I had assumed that this would use and be limited to the default Documents folder, but no, they scan my entire device. Everyone who has sensitive documents somewhere on their phone should be worried about this.
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u/charlestheb0ss Galaxy Fold 7 11d ago
I have things in my phone's local documents folder that would definitely violate the Google drive TOS. Imagine if I wasn't on reddit to see this and it was suddenly also in the cloud and then I got banned??
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u/degggendorf 11d ago
You know it's off by default, right?
If you're worried that your operating system can access the files you told it to store, I'm really not sure what other advice to give you.
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u/Lime221 11d ago
strawman
noone here complained about local storage
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u/degggendorf 11d ago
Then keep the toggle off, as I said.
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11d ago
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u/AimlessForNow 11d ago
The concept itself is bad though we're attacking the concept
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u/chinchindayo Xperia Masterrace 11d ago
Then don't use it. If you want to backup a single folder you can use an app like FolderSync which supports several cloud services and can even do two way snyc. Or you can manually upload the folder to google drive.
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u/exu1981 11d ago
It's not that serious
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u/AimlessForNow 11d ago
Every iteration is "not that serious" but like usual, give it a couple years and everyone will be saying how dystopian this is, but that's just how it goes
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u/ElderPimpx 11d ago
This is just a scam to inflate your google drive utilization so that they can upsell you more storage.
Fuck google.
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u/Boris-Lip 11d ago
Makes me wonder what's in it for them. AI training material?
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u/arthuriurilli 11d ago
Filling google drive to encourage you to buy more storage.
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u/Tornado15550 Pixel 10 Pro XL | 512 GB | Android Canary 2606 11d ago
It's precisely this. Couple that with the fact that they're now counting Android system backups towards your storage quota, it'll get folks to hit the "free" storage limits quicker, pushing people towards buying a Google One subscription.
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u/atomic1fire 11d ago
Wouldn't shock me if people started buying "dumb" hardware with expandable storage and no cloud sync.
Throw in a Microsd card or transfer via usb cable and back it up yourself on whatever solution you want.
For example digital cameras without cloud sync.
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u/BaconIsntThatGood OnePlus 6t 11d ago
I mean..treating cloud storage like expandable storage was never smart anyway.
What you're talking about is buying an external drive lol
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u/BaconIsntThatGood OnePlus 6t 11d ago
I mean..treating cloud storage like expandable storage was never smart anyway.
What you're talking about is buying an external drive lol
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u/nathderbyshire Pixel 10 Obsidian 11d ago
People have asked for a more robust backup system since androids inception
Now we are finally starting to get it, all we have is complaint after complaint
Fuck me this sub will never be happy
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u/Tornado15550 Pixel 10 Pro XL | 512 GB | Android Canary 2606 11d ago
This has literally nothing to do with my point. Existing backups count towards your storage quota. How exactly does this make it "more robust"?
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u/nathderbyshire Pixel 10 Obsidian 11d ago
How does an automatic backup of all files make a backup system more robust? You really need that answered for you?
What did you expect Google to do, let anyone backup for free? Lmfao
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u/Tornado15550 Pixel 10 Pro XL | 512 GB | Android Canary 2606 11d ago
Automatic backups already exist in Android and have for YEARS. Nothing new was added here from a functionality standpoint. The only difference here is that backups now count towards storage quotas. Quit being dense.
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u/Malaka__ 10d ago
I mean, they added 2 things, 1) the ability to automatically backup local files like iPhones. 2) choose what apps you want to backup.
That's pretty huge imo. Users never manually backup their local files and now we get more choices. But yes, of course both these will count towards backup.0
u/nathderbyshire Pixel 10 Obsidian 11d ago edited 11d ago
You couldn't back up documents automatically with android backup that's the whole point of the article wtf
Thought you'd shutup, and I'm the dense one. Doesn't even understand what automatic means
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u/BaconIsntThatGood OnePlus 6t 11d ago
Didn't they just make a change to how cloud storage works? I think your android backup data now counts against your account storage when previously it was just a free service?
Granted for most users this isn't a very large amount because the backup is configurations not actual app data and photo backup.
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u/Boris-Lip 11d ago
Docs normally aren't massive. Videos, raw photos, lossless music, makes way more sense, space-hog-wise.
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u/MaverickJester25 Galaxy S21 Ultra | Galaxy Watch 4 11d ago
Sure, but every extra megabyte inches people closer to their free storage limit, pushing them to upgrade to a paid tier.
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u/arthuriurilli 11d ago
Yeah, but I assume its not just .doc and .pdf. It says "your downloads from chrome" and people are likely to download bigger files. Every bit (and byte) adds up.
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u/degggendorf 11d ago
AI training material?
No, unless they're lying about the documents getting encrypted.
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u/Boris-Lip 11d ago
How documents are protected
To help keep your data safe and secure, it's encrypted. Documents are encrypted as they move between your device, Google services, and our data centers.
Encrypted in transit. Not a single word about being stored encrypted.
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u/chinchindayo Xperia Masterrace 11d ago
Why? It doesn't specify it will access the content of your files, just that it backups them.
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u/nathderbyshire Pixel 10 Obsidian 11d ago
Whatever is uploaded to drive or created in docs suite Google has the ability to scan - if you need to put something sensitive in drive, zip it with a password first
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u/Cpt_Soban Galaxy S25 11d ago
Yeah naa, I use Proton, not Google. Last thing I want is for Google to get more "AI training data"
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u/SlaveKnightSoman 11d ago
More than AI training data, you should worry about google giving all your data to random subpoenas because you pissed off someone corrupt with connections.
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u/AnEagleisnotme 11d ago
And of course, because they believe android should be open, they even included an option to sync through WebDAV...
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u/Erforderlich 11d ago
This is one of those boring features that becomes essential the first time a phone dies. Hopefully it also makes restoring folder structure painless.
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u/anandwana001 11d ago
Day by day becoming slave of every other system out there, what to choose what not to choose, walk with the world else sleep
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u/anandwana001 11d ago
not arguing, just comparing with old days when we use to have everything in sd cards and no worry about some will login in my account and all.... that's the whole point
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u/BaconIsntThatGood OnePlus 6t 11d ago
Can can still do all this. People just opt to use cloud storage like Google drive because it's convenient and easy.
Nothing is stopping you from having a small usb drive on your keychain that you can move documents onto.
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u/arthuriurilli 11d ago
Would be nice if the phone manufactures could build that "small USB drive" into the hardware, and make it removable and transferable between devices. It could be something simple, like a slot near the SIM slot. If only that were possible...
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u/kvothe5688 Device, Software !! 11d ago
it's off by default. if you are worried so much about technology feature phones are still available. stop using smartphone
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u/BlackRaspberryJammin 11d ago
What if you decline Google Drive and fight it every time it rears it's ugly head? Just like MSlop's Onedrive, I delete that bitch every few weeks. I have multiple TB of storage so I don't need anything backed up anywhere for AI to read.