Word on the street is that Google is building a cross-device app restoration feature into the Google Play Store application. The feature would allow users to not only restore all of their previously installed applications but also restore app data. Apparently users will be able to choose which backup to restore, all backups from an Android smartphone or tablet will be associated with their Google account.
This feature will surely take the pain out of restoring applications and app data on an Android device particularly after it has been wiped, or the user has moved to a new device. While a backup & restore option is provided during the initial setup on an Android device the option usually only restores apps the user downloaded a long time ago and often leaves out some of the most used ones.
The fact that a good backup and restore feature hasn’t been available for Android has led to the creation of many third party tools such as Titanium Backup. Its a well known app that is used by people who frequently flash custom ROMs on their devices. Unfortunately Titanium Backup needs root access and not every Android device user knows how to root.
Being able to restore not only apps but their app data as well would completely take the pain out of this process. It is believed that this feature is currently in early development and may debut when Android L is ready for public release.