[OnePlus 8T Questions & Answers] mrich72:
Hello folks,

I'm not an android developer & don't have much android technical experience.

I recently purchased a OnePlus 8T & I'm interested placing a custom ROM on it.

I would like to have nandroid backups of this device. Specifically, I'd like to backup the OS, OS settings, Apps, & App settings. I'd like to do this backup without a PC or internet connection; using only the device itself.

I originally planned on using TWRP because when I installed it on my Galaxy Note 4 the nandroid backup & restores were quick & simple.

I've been researching the use of TWRP on the 8T. An unofficial version of TWRP is available for the OnePlus 8T.

However, on the XDA Discord Server, some have suggested against installing TWRP on this device.

I did a keyword search "OnePlus 8T nandroid backup" & get these reports that suggest using TWRP: Nandroid Backup? & OnePlus 8T TWRP Recovery. With the same keyword search I find this article, Nandroid/Complete Phone Backup Or Similar Without TWRP?, that says to use Migrator that is a Magisk Module.

One person on the XDA Discord Sever also suggested Migrator. I haven't been able to find much on this. I do a keyword search & find only this post on XDA & the GitHub description. Some on XDA have reported trouble with this not working & people losing data. Although I see suggestions about performing a nandroid backup before using Migrator, I didn't see anything about this app itself having a nandroid backup feature.

These articles also suggests installing TWRP on the OnePlus 8T: Best Custom Roms For OnePlus 8T [Android 12]- Install Via TWRP & Comprehensive Guide to Install TWRP Recovery and Root Your OnePlus 8 / 8T.

Other search engine results for "nandroid backup" in general also say to use of CWM or TWRP. They include: What Is A Nandroid Backup and How Exactly Does It Work? & How to Create and Restore NANDroid Backup?.

Are these people all mistaken?

Why they are suggesting this, when other experts on the android OS are advising against it?

Then I started wondering if there was an alternate custom recovery option for this device. I found this article, Best Custom Recovery for Android devices 2021, that says there are 4 other custom recoveries available besides TWRP. They include: OFRP, SHRP, PBRP, RWRP. I briefly did a search to & found no info about their compatibility with the OnePlus 8T.

-OFRP, originally designed for the Xiaomi devices, for OnePlus there is only unofficial that's available for the Nord.

-SHRP, not available for the OnePlus 8T, only available for 6, 6T, & 6 Pro, according to this post.

-PBRP, is not available for the OnePlus 8T.

-RWRP, no information on this custom recovery being available for the OnePlus 8T.

So, from what I understand none of these are compatible with the OnePlus 8T.

Based on what I've gathered so far, it appears there is no stable custom recovery exists for the OnePlus 8T.

Is this right?

I have Titanium Backup. However, that doesn't do nandroid backups.

I did a search on Google Play for "nandroid backup" & found these apps: Alpha Backup Pro; Swift Backup; ROM Manager (ClockworkMod). When I observed the description for Alpha Backup Pro & Swift Backup I don't see anything about nandroid backups. ROM Manager doesn't specifically mention nandroid backups. However, it does say that it manages ROMs & installs ROMS. Is this basically a nandroid backup? One comment for this app says it requires CWM installed in the recovery of the device.

This article, How to Backup Android Device Completely suggests FlashFire, that it describes as "a multi-utility tool for rooted users. It allows a rooted Android user to perform multiple actions like wiping partitions, flashing ROMs and OTAs, and most stuff that only a recovery could do." The FlashFire description on Google Play has no reference to nandroid backups. Yet, it does say that it "offers full device backup and restore functionalities in several formats." Would that include nandroid?

Once again, I'd like to find a way to to easily & quickly perform a nanroid backup of the OnePlus 8T without a PC or internet connection. The backup would include: OS, OS settings, Apps, App settings (without data).

Any useful suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

thank you,