Android's next big backup feature could skip the biggest phone brand on the market

Google seems intent on improving Android’s backup situation this year. We’ve seen the company testing per-app cloud backup controls and spotted mentions of a PC-based automatic backup solution using Quick Share. We now have more information to share on this PC-based automatic backup solution, and there seems to be a surprise big-name exclusion.

With the latest Google Play Services v26.26.33 release, we’ve managed to activate the info page for Google’s PC-based backup solution, and it presents a clearer picture of what the feature can do:

As the graphic and description make it clear, Google is working on an automatic backup solution that backs up files you select directly to your PC, without any cloud storage or additional costs. Users will have to start the process in the Quick Share app on their Windows PC, and both devices (Android phone and Windows PC) must be signed in to the same Google Account (even though the backup itself doesn’t use the cloud).

Photos and videos you select on your phone will be backed up daily when your phone and PC are on and nearby, and both are using the same Wi-Fi network. Users will also be able to start a backup at any time.

The biggest surprise in this screenshot is that this feature will not support Samsung phones. This is unfortunate, as Samsung Galaxy phones represent a significant share of the Android market, and having this feature baked into Quick Share will give users a predictable experience across the Android ecosystem.

The text description does not mention if this exclusion is due to technical reasons. Our best guess is that this exclusion is because Samsung smartphones can already extensively back up their data to Windows PCs, Macs, and even USB flash drives via Samsung’s Smart Switch app. Quick Share-based PC backups would be duplicating the solution, though Samsung and Google are no strangers to redundant/competing apps and features. Smart Switch does not currently support automatic backups, though, so there’s at least some reason to hope Quick Share’s solution arrives on Samsung Galaxy devices.

The “Learn more” link points to the Quick Share app website, which currently mentions nothing about automatic PC-based backups.

To recap, here are the screenshots that we previously surfaced for the automatic PC-based backup feature:

We’re hoping Google and Samsung figure out a common solution to extend automatic PC backups through Quick Share to Galaxy users, too. Hopefully, the companies will explore a Quick Share-style technology-sharing and rebranding.

Either way, automatic PC backups for the wider Android ecosystem are good news on the horizon. We’ll keep you updated when we learn more.