Summary
Back in the day, my Nokia 3210 had as much memory capacity as I have fingers on both hands—that is to say 10 (of which unit I can’t say). Sending an SMS would cause a general standstill, and the only way to remedy the situation was to work on the Menu/Delete ritual, which I managed to perfect within a few days (not to mention master the first four levels of Snake!).
We don’t really talk about memory capacity issues anymore—quite the opposite. The “Don’t delete, just don’t!” mantra has brought us to hoard all of our data—who knows when we might need it again? But let’s get back on topic: SMS. We send and receive so many text messages that it somehow makes sense to save your most beloved ones. SMS Backup + can save SMS, MMS and call registers using either a Google Mail account or any other IMAP-supporting account. Read the test to find out how the app fared in our eyes.
Features & Use
Sure: you could just delete everything... but every now and then it’s kind of nice to revisit old SMS. They can conjure up all sorts of memories, not to mention take you back a few years. So the question is: where might one save them to?
I use Google Mail for syncing…
…Because that’s precisely what SMS Backup + can do! It uses your Gmail account to save SMS. A label manager allows you to file SMS and sort them separately from emails. This label is simply referred to as SMS; to recap: if you’re looking for your text messages use this label to find your stored SMS. Before you can get round to any of this you will have to authenticate SMS Backup + for your Gmail account. This allows SMS Backup + to sort your messages according to the correct receiver. I should mention that Google Mail will group up to 100 messages per contact. If you’ve sent more than 100 messages with a given contact the excess messages will be displayed as emails. This will not, however, influence the way your SMS app is displayed.
Activate SMS Backup +’s call register function under settings. Same process: the app will create a label which you can rename and use to save call registries. There’s also a settings option which allows you to display your calls in your calendar.
Use other IMAP-supporting accounts to save your data
Should you not have a Gmail account or prefer using another service to sync you can go to SMS Backup + settings and make the appropriate adjustments.
Auto Backup means you can rest easy and let your brain slip in to standby mode
Every minute, hour or day: you can select at what intervals automatic backups should be made, all the while selecting just what it is you want to save (SMS, MMS or call registers). In the interesting of saving costs we recommend activating the Require Wifi option.
Save certain groups only
If you’re looking to save, say, business messages and contacts but not private SMS you can take advantage of the app’s function and the Google Contacts groups.
You can also decide what format you want to use to save entries in Gmail: display the sender/receiver’s name, number or both.
Bottom line and a few alternatives:
Advantages
• Backup and recovery of SMS is easy and efficient
• Auto-Backup
• Save call registers and MMS
• Simple controls
• Set up alternative IMAP server
Drawbacks
• App is not yet available in lots of different languages
All in all it’s safe to say that SMS Backup + is a brilliant tool for saving SMS, and it can also be used for saving your calls and MMS to your email account or calendar. SMS Backup & Restore can save SMS to the SD card but it can’t save MMS and it can’t sync with Gmail either. It’s worth taking a look at TxtArchive, SMS Backuo, Box SMS Backup and SMS Backup.
Screen & Controls
It’s no beauty prize winner...
...but SMS Backup + is pretty nifty nonetheless. The app’s most important functions are prominently display on the homescreen and the label bar lets you know what’s going on at all time.
Good usability
Click on Backup to start backing up—it doesn’t get much more straightforward. You don’t really have to do much else thanks to Auto-Backup, and a simple tap on Restore suffices to display all your SMS on your phone. There’s no need to manually sort through duplicates as the Backup-Tool takes care of everything for you—not too shabby, eh?
Speed & Stability
Speed
Backup up and restoring messages varies accordingly to how many messages there are and will take some time. SMS Backup + continues doing its job even when your Android device is in standby mode. All the while you can continue using your phone and other apps—this won’t influence the process. Restoring 1000 SMS will take approximately 10 minutes, though this is also contingent on internet connection.
Stability
There were no crashes. SMS Backup + weathered a switch from WLan to 3G very well and continued syncing. Using other apps while the Backup-Tool is running is not a problem either.
Price/Performance Ratio
SMS Backup + can be downloaded for free from our App Center.
Comparable Apps
Report comparable or similar apps
Developer
GermanyTop App:
Automatically backup SMS, MMS and call log entries using a separate label in Gmail / (...)
More Apps:
SMS Backup +
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QUESTION: I lost more than a year's worht of text messages so I dLd this app. I cannot get it to respond correctly for Google's 2 level verification. That is, it doesn't ask for a password.