Added in API level 8

android.app.backup

Contains the backup and restore functionality available to applications. If a user wipes the data on their device or upgrades to a new Android-powered device, all applications that have enabled backup can restore the user's previous data when the application is reinstalled.

For more information, see the Data Backup guide.

All backup and restore operations are controlled by the BackupManager. Each application that would like to enable backup and preserve its data on remote storage must implement a backup agent. A backup agent can be built by extending either BackupAgent or BackupAgentHelper. The BackupAgentHelper class provides a wrapper around BackupAgent that simplifies the procedures to implement a backup agent by employing backup helpers such as SharedPreferencesBackupHelper and FileBackupHelper.

The backup APIs let applications:

  • Perform backup of arbitrary data to remote storage
  • Easily perform backup of SharedPreferences and files
  • Restore the data saved to remote storage

Interfaces

BackupHelper Defines the calling interface that BackupAgentHelper uses when dispatching backup and restore operations to the installed helpers. 

Classes

BackupAgent Provides the central interface between an application and Android's data backup infrastructure. 
BackupAgentHelper A convenient BackupAgent wrapper class that automatically manages heterogeneous data sets within the backup data, each identified by a unique key prefix. 
BackupDataInput Provides the structured interface through which a BackupAgent reads information from the backup data set, via its onRestore() method. 
BackupDataInputStream Provides an InputStream-like interface for accessing an entity's data during a restore operation. 
BackupDataOutput Provides the structured interface through which a BackupAgent commits information to the backup data set, via its onBackup() method. 
BackupManager The interface through which an application interacts with the Android backup service to request backup and restore operations. 
FileBackupHelper A helper class that can be used in conjunction with BackupAgentHelper to manage the backup of a set of files. 
FullBackupDataOutput Provides the interface through which a BackupAgent writes entire files to a full backup data set, via its BackupAgent#onFullBackup(FullBackupDataOutput) method. 
RestoreObserver Callback class for receiving progress reports during a restore operation. 
SharedPreferencesBackupHelper A helper class that can be used in conjunction with BackupAgentHelper to manage the backup of SharedPreferences.