As we all know android is great at giving you options in backing up your information wirelessly through a number of applications. This is great for people like me, because I don’t mind using a few different tools to handle all my important stuff. But for the average user let’s be honest, you want something simple and easy and fast that can help you manage things all in one place. Moborobo aims to help you do just that. In this review we’ll go through what Moborobo has to offer in the way of management tools for your android device and some simple steps on how to make it a breeze.
Aside from being a backup manager for your contacts, (you knew this would be a feature), you can manage your sms and call logs as well. In addition to these few given but very important features there is also a tab for themes which are compatible with moborobo’ partner application mobo launcher. A gallery for wallpapers, a tunes tab for music management and even a built in ringtone maker. They are also working on a feature for live streaming and screenshot captures for your android. Pretty cool! Oh, and did I mention full application management to backup and install your programs? Yea its got that too. On top of all this, moborobo make its extremely easy to transfer contacts and full message threads from an iOS device to android.
Now moborobo supports a wide array of Android devices both phone and tablet alike. From software version 1.5 all the way up to 4.0. Yes the few of you users left that are still on Android cupcake have not been forgotten. Now official support lists that its only available all the way up to 2.3 gingerbread but I can assure you, both of my devices running Android 4.0 ice cream sandwich work just fine when I ran through checking out moborobos features. Even though the program works with virtually any android version, not all versions will support every list of features. Apps to SD for instance is only supported on versions android 2.2 froyo and above.
First things first. Connecting your android device with Moborobo:
Connecting your device is relatively easy. Just open Moborobo and then connect your usb to the android device you are trying to manage. Before you do this, make sure that usb debugging is enabled on your android device. If you are connecting a phone, this is usually located under settings/ applications/ development. If you are using a tablet or a device running ICS however, then this is located under system settings/ developer tools. The even cooler and more convenient way to sync up though (which I am happy to report does not need root access!!!) is through local wifi. If your computer and android device are linked up on the same wifi network, then you can connect the device up wirelessly. Simple and easy. To do this, you’ll notice that if you open your app drawer that mobo robo installs an app called Mobo Daemon. (this is done the first time you connect your device via usb. So the first time you use the program you must connect your device with its usb cable.) All this does is generate a 4 digit code that you type into the program and hit connect. All done! You are now ready to use Moborobo.
Home interface:
Once connected the home interface appears and you should be fairly pleased by its eye catching user interface and all around appeal. From left to right at the top of the screen you can choose from Home, data, apps, tunes, images, videos, and themes as your list of tabbed options. On the home screen is where you’ll be able to back up your device ( internal storage or SD) access the file manager and even see the storage capacity on your device and SD card. On the left you’ll notice your devices image which is supposed to display a live stream of your device, displaying whatever screen or action is happening at the time. This is to be used for the screenshot feature but it appears your device must be connected through usb to use it. The same is true I have found for a few other features as well.
Next on the home screen is File manager and Backup/restore. The file manager of course is just a file manager. Just like the ones you probably have preinstalled on the device or picked up from the Play store like Astro file manage.( my personal favorite) You can basically see a full view of all your devices file folders and have the ability to organize them around. Much like my computer. You can back up your contacts, images, messages, call logs, apps and even your app data! Now you can save all your levels in angry birds space without fear of losing your high scores!
App manager:
Under the apps tab you will be able to manage your applications as well check the webs resources for new available apps. Three categories make up this tab listed as installed apps, local apps, and web resources. Under installed you will of course see all the applications installed on your device split up into user apps and system aps, and have use of the app updater. Local apps lists you pc’s apk library and web resources is where you’ll find new and exciting apps to download and install. The app manager will give you the ability to install apps onto your device under user apps. You can even export the apk from any installed application and list the permissions.
Media manager:
This is just a simple media manager. You can import or export music or videos to and from your device in a simple fashion just like on any other device you connect up to your PC. Enough said.
Image manager:
Now the image manager is nice and clean. Categories here are Images on device, images on pc and web resources. Images on device lets you select from camera, device gallery and wallpapers. (which lets you drag and drop photos or images inside to set as wallpapers. Pretty self-explanatory) Images on pc is where you’ll find all your computers photos. Now web resources here is a nice little gem as you can sift through plenty of wallpapers to download from moborobos gallery.
Data management:
This is perhaps the most powerful part of this entire tool. Inside the data management tab you have options broken down into contact manager, call manager and message manager. You can of course backup your contacts and sms messages as well as you call logs but you can also send messages from inside the app itself which is awesome. The contacts management is grouped up into recent, all, ungrouped, favorites, or custom. The panel in the middle lists your complete contact history while the panel all the way on the right lists the information for the currently selected contact. Making it easy to edit information and switch between contacts easily. Message manager is broken up into all, unread, and drafts. Moborobo pulls all the sms data off of your device, and lists it inside the panels in threads by contact. If you wish to export your sms data you can do so and even choose to export as xml, txt, or xls format. It seems though that there is one particular defect with the sms management in that even if you individually select certain threads, and uncheck certain others, ALL threads are exported or imported, as stated by addictivetips.com. Such a little bug is considerably noticeable and one that could prove to be quite an annoyance.
All of these features make for a full and well rounded pc management suite for your android device, BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!!! It even plays nice with iOS . Should you own an iOS device fear not, you have not been left out as you can partake of the awesomeness that moborobo has bestowed upon us Android users. Of course you could just do yourself a favor and convert. While not all of the iOS features are usable right now it seems you can still take advantage of the data management part of the tool. This allows you to back up your contacts, sms logs and call logs and place them in a nice little folder somewhere for safe keeping.
So, after spending some time with moborobo I can say that is the most extensive tool for device management I have come across for use with android devices. If you are looking for a one stop shop kind of program to handle all your backup needs with a few sweet feature thrown in here and there, I recommend picking up this program from moborobo’s website. After reading this little review, what do you readers out there think? Will you be making the jump to moborobo for all its glory? Do you currently have a tool or tools that you use to handle these kinds of tasks already?