Data backup on Wear OS 4 is similar to
data backup
for mobile apps, and it
follows
similar rules for automatically backing up user data
. This document
explains how you can add support for backup and restore in your Wear OS app.
On devices that support backup and run Wear OS 4 or higher, users can back up
their data to the cloud in order to transfer data off that device, and they can
restore data from the cloud to transfer data onto a new Wear OS device. For
example, users can
perform backup and restore on Google Pixel Watch
.
Simulate cloud transfer using local storage
To test the backup and restore flow using simulated cloud storage, complete
these steps:
In your app,
enable backup
and follow the steps outlined
at
Control backup on Android 12 or higher
. For Wear OS, you don't need to
specify the
additional set of backup rules
to support devices that target
API level 29 or lower.
Connect your device that's running Wear OS 4 or higher to your development
machine using a
Wi-Fi connection
.
Follow the steps in the guide to
test cloud backup and restore
.
Automatic backup rules
On Wear OS, the conditions required to
back up data automatically
differ
slightly from those on mobile devices. In order for a Wear OS device to
automatically back up data, each of the following conditions must be true:
- The device is charging.
- The device is connected to a Wi-Fi network. This is required even if the
device is LTE-enabled.
- The device is signed into a Google Account.
- At least 24 hours have elapsed since the last backup.
Unlike other devices, wearables running Wear OS aren't required to be idle
before backups occur automatically.
In addition, the system automatically backs up any
tiles
,
complications
,
watch faces
, and
watch face user styles
associated with your Wear OS app.
Backup storage and size limit
Similar to mobile backup and restore, backup data is
stored in a private
folder
in the user's Google Drive account, limited to 25 MB per app.
If you have both a mobile app and a Wear OS app, the backups are stored
separately, and the two apps don't contribute to each other's size limit.
Any data in the
DataStore
--
Files > DataStore
-- is backed up by default
unless you explicitly exclude the corresponding files and directories.