Android Fully Managed - Backup & Restore

[ChrisH1994]

With the requirement to factory reset mobile devices to enroll into Android enterprise (Fully managed), it is becoming increasingly more apparent that a solution to backup data on pre-factory reset devices and then restore said data onto the post-factory reset devices is needed. At the moment it appears that all restore functionality is disabled in the android fully managed solution.

We would have previously used Samsung's smart switch application, which is now blocked.

An example: -
- User currently has a legacy managed device, loaded with photos, messages and configurations.

- In order to migrate to Android fully managed, user needs to factory reset phone.

- User wants to migrate all data onto the newly managed device post factory reset, however all restore functionality is disabled in a fully managed device.

This case example is stopping us from progressing forward with Android fully managed.

Any ideas/workarounds would be greatly appreciated? - We have been trialing Samsung cloud but have found this to be relatively unreliable.

Thanks in advance!

[#2]

@Jeremy Bradshaw 

@Jeremy Bradshaw 

Thanks for your answer and your idea of unassign policy and try.

So I tried with a phone without compliance and without a device configuration except wi-fi network. And still the same error. So I don't understand.

Next test, I tried to install the phone like a personnal phone (without flash a qr code and without install company portal). It works. So it's really  problem with Android Enterprise and the intune configuration.

And finally last test, I tried to enroll a phone keeping constructor application. Don't work too.

In all my test app configuration was in succedeed.

You all try in Fully managed?

[#3]

@Jeremy Bradshaw 

Thanks for your answer and your idea of unassign policy and try.

So I tried with a phone without compliance and without a device configuration except wi-fi network. And still the same error. So I don't understand.

Next test, I tried to install the phone like a personnal phone (without flash a qr code and without install company portal). It works. So it's really  problem with Android Enterprise and the intune configuration.

And finally last test, I tried to enroll a phone keeping constructor application. Don't work too.

In all my test app configuration was in succedeed.

You all try in Fully managed?

[#4]

Yes, I am working with a Fully Managed (Android Enterprise, not Device Adminstrator). I had no issues when testing while the device was unmanaged. It was only after I wiped the device and enrolled as Fully Managed that I ran into this topic at all.

[#5]

Hello,

It seems that the last version of Smart switch resolve or problem. Nothing change since weeks on our configuration but with last update of the app is now working. I hope it will last.

[#6]

Something very weird going on though.

I have two devices - a Samsung S10 running Android 12 and a Samsung T395 tablet running Android 9.

They are both setup identicial on AE using QR code.

The S10 is able to backup to Google services no problem at all.
The tablet Google backup services is greyed out.

IDENTICAL policies applying - I'm using the same email address removed for privacy reasons account on both devices..........

Go figure that.

[#7]

I had a ticket open for about 6 months with MS. It's gone all the way up to the top of the product team, and they have confirmed changes were made and anything below Android 11 will not now be able to backup to GMS when fullty enrolled in AE..................

"I am including the statement I received from the Product Group below:

On Android 11 the “fully managed device with a work profile” is deprecated. It is now officially called “Work profile on company-owned device.

The privacy of the personal profile is enhanced which limits the visibility of data and apps for the organization. Also, users are notified when an admin enables location services.

A major drawback of the COPE profile in pre-Android 11 versions was that it did not allow you to use Android’s backup capabilities in the personal profile.

Because this happened in the personal profile, it was not possible to adjust this through Intune since Intune only manages the work profile.

Due to the improved privacy layer in Android 11, it is now possible to use the backup facilities in the personal profile. Enrolling the COPE profile no longer results in the backup being turned off in the personal profile.

The public mentions of this were obscure/hard to find, so our Engineering team will work on our Intune official documents to include this information more clearly for our customers in the future to find this information more easily."

Mentions found were the following:

There is a Microsoft Official reply on the following announcement of COPE:
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/intune-customer-success/intune-announcing-public-preview-for-...

Google's official page also mentions pre-Android 11 backup not possible:
https://support.google.com/work/android/thread/87312409/backup-options-for-android-for-enterprise-de..."

Below is a summary of the support request for your records:

Symptom: Unable to use backup services on Android Enterprise devices enrolled with COPE on Android 9 personal profile despite no app config/protection pushed to disallow it

Cause: Pre-Android 11 this is not possible

Resolution: Confirmed statement received from Product Group