So I have an application that logs medical data entered by user. I need to add functionality for backing up and restoring that data in case user changes their Android phone OR switches to and iPhone (there is an iPhone version of this app, which I have limited visibility into).
The data is currently stored inside a SQLite DB on the device.
I need help figuring out cleanest/easiest way to do this. So far I am thinking about these options:
- add UI to email DB file to + UI to accept a DB file and copy it over current DB. Seems hacky.
- create a web service which will store user data and sync on the background. I would need to build sync process and introduce some kind of account system. This seems like quite a bit of work, though likely the most flexible solution in the long run.
- switch to Google Calendar as my data storage (data is essentially a set of event entries anyway). This would probably be most seamless, but iPhone option is out of the window.
Are there other pros/cons to these options that I am missing? Or perhaps there are some standard solutions to this?
Option #1 is filled with a lot of problems. Sideloading databases from files coming from external sources is no easy task. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Option #3 should be a possibility – but it require the user to set up a Google account which (imho) shouldn’t be required. Furthermore the addition of a new calendar and/or a lot of events wouldn’t be many users favorite feature. Personally I would hate it.
The second option seems like to most promising. You can build it as simple as you like. You could even make it require only a simple identification code for backing up – or only provide “live” synchronization. It is true that you need some sort of server and accounting system – but these things come as standards and servers are cheap. This option would be the one of my choice.