[GH-ISSUE #975] Feature Request: Add Backup All After Date #772

New issue

Open

opened 2026-02-26 01:31:51 +03:00 by kerem · 4 comments

kerem commented

2026-02-26 01:31:51 +03:00

Owner

Originally created by @djhopkins2 on GitHub (Aug 20, 2019).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/975

Given all of the issue surrounding reauthenticating due to Google's strong armed move to disallow SMS Backup + via the normal OAUTH api, it would be nice if there was an option to choose a date to start backups from.
Currently it is an all or nothing choice on what to backup when reauthenticating. Another option in that menu to backup from a particular date would be greatly appreciated either that or a way to say the local sync state. I managed to reauthenticate via the firefox browser method but I had to chose to lose message between aug 8th and now or to resync 40,000+ sms

Originally created by @djhopkins2 on GitHub (Aug 20, 2019). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/975 Given all of the issue surrounding reauthenticating due to Google's strong armed move to disallow SMS Backup + via the normal OAUTH api, it would be nice if there was an option to choose a date to start backups from. Currently it is an all or nothing choice on what to backup when reauthenticating. Another option in that menu to backup from a particular date would be greatly appreciated either that or a way to say the local sync state. I managed to reauthenticate via the firefox browser method but I had to chose to lose message between aug 8th and now or to resync 40,000+ sms

kerem added the

feature-request

label

2026-02-26 01:31:51 +03:00

kerem commented

2026-02-26 01:31:51 +03:00

Author

Owner

@coman49 commented on GitHub (Aug 21, 2019):

It would also be good if it knew what has already been backed up and what hasn't. I don't think the app reads email, if it doesn't then it could just keep a record locally of the last backed up item so that it knows where to resume. It likely already does this, but seems to reset if email connection is lost.

@coman49 commented on GitHub (Aug 21, 2019): It would also be good if it knew what has already been backed up and what hasn't. I don't think the app reads email, if it doesn't then it could just keep a record locally of the last backed up item so that it knows where to resume. It likely already does this, but seems to reset if email connection is lost.

kerem commented

2026-02-26 01:31:51 +03:00

Author

Owner

@djhopkins2 commented on GitHub (Aug 21, 2019):

Digging into the code, the state of what has been synced is stored as a max date for each of the three types of data (sms,mms,call log). There is no check with the server to see if something has already been synced. It looks like it reads the timestamp of the last sms/mms/call log item and stores that for each type and then on the next sync, only syncs the items after that max date.

Here is where calls are made to change the max date, including the call to clear it that gets done when re/de-authenticating an account.
DataTypePreferences.java

    public boolean setMaxSyncedDate(DataType dataType, long max) {
        return sharedPreferences.edit().putLong(dataType.maxSyncedPreference, max).commit();
    }

    public long getMostRecentSyncedDate() {
        return Math.max(Math.max(
            getMaxSyncedDate(DataType.SMS),
            getMaxSyncedDate(DataType.CALLLOG)),
            getMaxSyncedDate(DataType.MMS));
    }

    public void clearLastSyncData() {
        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sharedPreferences.edit();
        for (DataType type : DataType.values()) {
            editor.remove(type.maxSyncedPreference);
        }
        editor.commit();
    }

MaxSyncedDate could be manually entered in perhaps the advanced setting fragment as a way to force resync from a particular date.

This is where it display the most recent sync date on the main screen
StatusPreference.java

    private void idle() {
        syncDetailsLabel.setText(getLastSyncText(preferences.getDataTypePreferences().getMostRecentSyncedDate()));
        statusLabel.setText(R.string.status_idle);
        statusLabel.setTextColor(idleColor);
        statusIcon.setImageDrawable(idle);
    }

    private String getLastSyncText(final long lastSync) {
        return getString(R.string.status_idle_details,
                lastSync < 0 ? getString(R.string.status_idle_details_never) :
                        DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance().format(new Date(lastSync)));
    }

Another possible location for adding the sync start date would be in the dialog for first sync which ask you to skip or sync all. But the logic would need to be extended since it either sets the maxsyncdate to the current time and date or leaves it empty.
Dialogs.java

    public static class FirstSync extends BaseFragment {
        static final String MAX_ITEMS_PER_SYNC = "max_items_per_sync";
        static final int SKIP_BUTTON = BUTTON_NEGATIVE;

        @Override @NonNull
        public Dialog onCreateDialog(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            OnClickListener firstSyncListener =
                    new OnClickListener() {
                        @Override
                        public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
                            App.post(which == SKIP_BUTTON ? BackupSkip : Backup);
                        }
                    };
            final int maxItems = getArguments().getInt(MAX_ITEMS_PER_SYNC);
            final String syncMsg = maxItems < 0 ?
                    getString(R.string.ui_dialog_first_sync_msg) :
                    getString(R.string.ui_dialog_first_sync_msg_batched, maxItems);

            return new AlertDialog.Builder(getContext())
                .setTitle(R.string.ui_dialog_first_sync_title)
                .setMessage(syncMsg)
                .setPositiveButton(R.string.ui_sync, firstSyncListener)
                .setNegativeButton(R.string.ui_skip, firstSyncListener)
                .create();
        }
    }

The skip backup state could be built upon by making another SkipToDate state and passing it a date to inject as a new max date
BackupTask.java

    private BackupState skip(Iterable<DataType> types) {
        appLog(R.string.app_log_skip_backup_skip_messages);
        for (DataType type : types) {
            try {
                preferences.getDataTypePreferences().setMaxSyncedDate(type, fetcher.getMostRecentTimestamp(type));
            } catch (SecurityException e ) {
                return new BackupState(ERROR, 0, 0, MANUAL, type, e);
            }
        }
        Log.i(TAG, "All messages skipped.");
        return new BackupState(FINISHED_BACKUP, 0, 0, MANUAL, null, null);
    }

@djhopkins2 commented on GitHub (Aug 21, 2019): Digging into the code, the state of what has been synced is stored as a max date for each of the three types of data (sms,mms,call log). There is no check with the server to see if something has already been synced. It looks like it reads the timestamp of the last sms/mms/call log item and stores that for each type and then on the next sync, only syncs the items after that max date. Here is where calls are made to change the max date, including the call to clear it that gets done when re/de-authenticating an account. [DataTypePreferences.java](https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/blob/master/app/src/main/java/com/zegoggles/smssync/preferences/DataTypePreferences.java) ```java public boolean setMaxSyncedDate(DataType dataType, long max) { return sharedPreferences.edit().putLong(dataType.maxSyncedPreference, max).commit(); } public long getMostRecentSyncedDate() { return Math.max(Math.max( getMaxSyncedDate(DataType.SMS), getMaxSyncedDate(DataType.CALLLOG)), getMaxSyncedDate(DataType.MMS)); } public void clearLastSyncData() { SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sharedPreferences.edit(); for (DataType type : DataType.values()) { editor.remove(type.maxSyncedPreference); } editor.commit(); } ``` MaxSyncedDate could be manually entered in perhaps the advanced setting fragment as a way to force resync from a particular date. This is where it display the most recent sync date on the main screen [StatusPreference.java](https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/blob/master/app/src/main/java/com/zegoggles/smssync/activity/StatusPreference.java) ```java private void idle() { syncDetailsLabel.setText(getLastSyncText(preferences.getDataTypePreferences().getMostRecentSyncedDate())); statusLabel.setText(R.string.status_idle); statusLabel.setTextColor(idleColor); statusIcon.setImageDrawable(idle); } private String getLastSyncText(final long lastSync) { return getString(R.string.status_idle_details, lastSync < 0 ? getString(R.string.status_idle_details_never) : DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance().format(new Date(lastSync))); } ``` Another possible location for adding the sync start date would be in the dialog for first sync which ask you to skip or sync all. But the logic would need to be extended since it either sets the maxsyncdate to the current time and date or leaves it empty. [Dialogs.java](https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/blob/master/app/src/main/java/com/zegoggles/smssync/activity/Dialogs.java) ```java public static class FirstSync extends BaseFragment { static final String MAX_ITEMS_PER_SYNC = "max_items_per_sync"; static final int SKIP_BUTTON = BUTTON_NEGATIVE; @Override @NonNull public Dialog onCreateDialog(Bundle savedInstanceState) { OnClickListener firstSyncListener = new OnClickListener() { @Override public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) { App.post(which == SKIP_BUTTON ? BackupSkip : Backup); } }; final int maxItems = getArguments().getInt(MAX_ITEMS_PER_SYNC); final String syncMsg = maxItems < 0 ? getString(R.string.ui_dialog_first_sync_msg) : getString(R.string.ui_dialog_first_sync_msg_batched, maxItems); return new AlertDialog.Builder(getContext()) .setTitle(R.string.ui_dialog_first_sync_title) .setMessage(syncMsg) .setPositiveButton(R.string.ui_sync, firstSyncListener) .setNegativeButton(R.string.ui_skip, firstSyncListener) .create(); } } ``` The skip backup state could be built upon by making another SkipToDate state and passing it a date to inject as a new max date [BackupTask.java](https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/blob/master/app/src/main/java/com/zegoggles/smssync/service/BackupTask.java) ```java private BackupState skip(Iterable<DataType> types) { appLog(R.string.app_log_skip_backup_skip_messages); for (DataType type : types) { try { preferences.getDataTypePreferences().setMaxSyncedDate(type, fetcher.getMostRecentTimestamp(type)); } catch (SecurityException e ) { return new BackupState(ERROR, 0, 0, MANUAL, type, e); } } Log.i(TAG, "All messages skipped."); return new BackupState(FINISHED_BACKUP, 0, 0, MANUAL, null, null); } ```

kerem commented

2026-02-26 01:31:51 +03:00

Author

Owner

@nikkopt commented on GitHub (Aug 24, 2019):

"or to resync 40,000+ sms"
Don't take this the wrong way, i'm genuinely curious to know why some people store so many sms on their phones. I mean, you probably have gmail installed so you can see the sms's there whenever you need, right?
I do agree that the feature request is handy.

@nikkopt commented on GitHub (Aug 24, 2019): "or to resync 40,000+ sms" Don't take this the wrong way, i'm genuinely curious to know why some people store so many sms on their phones. I mean, you probably have gmail installed so you can see the sms's there whenever you need, right? I do agree that the feature request is handy.

kerem commented

2026-02-26 01:31:51 +03:00

Author

Owner

@realuser commented on GitHub (Sep 4, 2019):

It looks like it reads the timestamp of the last sms/mms/call log item and stores that for each type

@djhopkins2 Do you know where it stores the timestamp? I'm wondering if there's a way to go in and manually edit the storage to set the desired timestamp

@realuser commented on GitHub (Sep 4, 2019): > It looks like it reads the timestamp of the last sms/mms/call log item and stores that for each type @djhopkins2 Do you know where it stores the timestamp? I'm wondering if there's a way to go in and manually edit the storage to set the desired timestamp