From the Frunk: Backup and Restore Trip Data

The various ways and means to backup and restore your trips

The Big Picture

Backup Superchargers, Truckee, California

EVTO stores it’s settings and trip data on your mobile device directly. This enables the best performance and availability for trip planning and execution. Because of this you will need to prepare your device to handle the backup and restore of your data, especially trip data. Settings and car data are unique to each device and easily replaced if needed so backup and restore are not necessary. These are the various techniques that you can use to backup and restore trip data in EVTO:

  • Using EVTO’s synchronization feature to backup trip data
  • Understanding where trip data is stored on your device
  • Configuring your device to automatically backup trip data
  • Restoring data if your device is lost, stolen or damaged
  • Restoring only EVTO trip data

In this tutorial we will discuss how to configure your device for each of the options. Note that the procedures are different for iOS devices and Android devices so make sure you are following the correct section for your device type.

Note: This tutorial assumes you are using EVTO version 6.0 or later.

EVTO Data Storage and Use

EVTO has multiple data storage techniques based on the data type and volatility:

  • Tesla Supercharger and destination data is stored on the device and also on the EVTO server to be used for routing and charger specific characteristics. The data is refreshed periodically from Tesla and is distributed to your devices if a update is necessary whenever the app starts up. The charger data will also be changed based on the region setting you have chosen. The current charger data is persistent across EVTO sessions.
  • Non Tesla charger data is acquired to your device dynamically when you select the plug icon in the map view. The charger types are displayed based on your selection criteria via the Filter Charger menu item. This data is discarded when the icon is toggled off.
  • Weather data is persistent within your trips but will be refreshed if routing changes or more than six hours have elapsed since the last update.
  • Cars and app settings are stored internally within each device and are not shared between devices. For this reason it is important that you manage each of the five cars that you can use to be in the same order on each device for simplicity and to make it easier to transfer trips between devices. While you can have different attributes for each device, in most cases it is suggested you configure the devices to be the same. This will eliminate confusion as you move between devices. Each change is persistent across sessions.
  • Trip data is stored as files on the primary storage of each of your mobile devices. Each trip segment is a separate file. The data is not stored in a cloud or server. Two devices can store the same trip but they are different files and depending on how you have set up trip synchronization, could be in different states. Trip data can also be sent to the EVTO server during a charger refresh but will not be persisted beyond that.
  • You can share trip data with other devices and/or users. In this case the trip data is stored within the EVTO cloud for at least 30 days. A specialized code for each trip and key is required to retrieve each trip.
  • If your device experiences an error EVTO will log the error, time and device type of the event in a server log. No user or personal device information is collected and the logs are purged generally weekly.
  • All data that is stored by EVTO either on your devices or with the EVTO server is never identified with a particular user or device. EVTO does not collect or correlate any personal user or device information transiently or permanently.

As was mentioned above, trip data is primarily managed and stored on your devices local primary storage. This data is non volatile and will persist across sessions. However if the device is damaged, lost or an error occurs, the data could be lost. The following sections will describe various techniques you can use to both back up your trip data but also restore it to your device in case of an unforeseen event that damages or destroys your trip data.

EVTO trip data is stored in a computerized, specific structure and is not easily readable outside of EVTO. It is also imperative that you do not attempt to alter or change any of the EVTO trip data files outside of EVTO. This could cause catastrophic failure to that set of trip files but could potentially render EVTO inoperable.

This document will describe various techniques regarding how you can backup and restore trip data within the EVTO framework. It is divided into two sections: Android and Apple, because of specific means each provider uses to storage and manage device data. Please refer to the appropriate section for you device type(s).

Backing Up Trip Data with Synchronization

While not technically a backup of trip data using the EVTO trip synchronization feature will provide for a secondary means of saving trips on another system. When you synchronize trips between devices each trip is stored on all devices you have synchronized with. Each time you open EVTO it will check with the EVTO server and synchronize any trips that have been set for synchronization. This means that you should have at least one extra version of a trip stored on another device if a trip on one devices is lost or destroyed. 

To restored a lost or deleted trip on a device where another device has that trip backed up, just resynchronize the trip again and the copy from the current device can be sent to the device that lost the trip.

Android

This section is specific to Android devices. See the following section on Apple devices if appropriate.

Where Trip Data is Stored

Trip data on Android devices is stored on the devices primary internal storage in an application specific folder. For EVTO this folder can be accessed by:

Internal Storage > Android > data > com.digitalautoguides.teslato > files

Each trip segment is a different file. The file name is a  ‘Globally Unique Identifier’ (GUID) that will be the same for each file instance of the same trip segment on every device. However each device could have a different version of the file depending on local edits. If you have selected a trip to be synchronized, EVTO will attempt to keep each device up to date with the most recent version. The trip segments are linked by a master trip GUID embedded in each file. The file extension will always be trp.

Configuring Device for Trip Data Backup

You can have your Android device automatically backup your EVTO trip data using the following procedure:

  1. Go into the System section of your phone’s settings, tapping “Advanced,” and then tapping “Backup.” On Samsung phones, you’ll instead tap the Accounts and Backup section and then select “Backup and restore” and look for the “Google account” area of the screen.
  2. Look for active toggle next to “Back up to Google Drive” (or “Back up my data,” on Samsung phones) at the top of that screen, and below that, you’ll see the Google account that’s associated with all of your system backups.
  3. If you tap the name of your phone (or the line labeled “Google account” on a Samsung device) it will display a panel letting you see what type of data has been backed up on your device and when it was last backed up. You can also see this information on the the Backups section of Google Drive on the web.
  4.  

Restore EVTO From a Backup

If you have selected the Google Drive backup from the previous section then if your device is lost, stolen or damaged you can restore the EVTO application data in it’s entirety from the backup.

  1. The list of apps you’ve installed from the Play Store is always synced with Google’s servers, and when you first sign into any new Android device, you’ll be given the opportunity to restore that complete set of applications or to cherry-pick certain titles from within the list. (That option typically comes up if you opt not to restore everything via a physical, USB-cable connection between your new and old phones.) If you’ve had more than one Android device active on your account recently, you’ll be able to choose which device you want to use as the source.
  2. Select EVTO and follow the instructions on your device to restore EVTO and its trip data last backed up on the device chosen.

Backing Up and Restoring Only Trip Files

An alternative to restoring all the EVTO data and trips is to only restore the trips themselves. To do that you will need to save your trip files to a cloud storage service such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Box. You can do this manually by accessing the EVTO trip files in the file directory mentioned above or to use an application such as Autosync. It’ll let you continuously sync folders on your phone with matching folders on whichever cloud storage service you choose.

To restore your lost or missing trip files just copy them from your cloud storage to the device folder storage for EVTO or use Autosync to make sure your files are recovered. 

If EVTO was deleted from your device accidentally then you will need to install EVTO first and update the Settings and My Cars before you copy the files over. Its suggested that you keep your cars in the same order so the trips are associated with the proper cars.

Apple

This section is specific to Apple devices. See the previous section on Android devices if appropriate.

Where Trip Data is Stored

Trip data on Apple devices is stored on the devices primary internal storage in an application specific folder. For EVTO this folder can be accessed by:

Internal Storage  > EVTO > Files > Library > Cloud

Each trip segment is a different file. The file name is a  ‘Globally Unique Identifier’ (GUID) that will be the same for each file instance of the same trip segment on every device. However each device could have a different version of the file depending on local edits. If you have selected a trip to be synchronized, EVTO will attempt to keep each device up to date with the most recent version. The trip segments are linked by a master trip GUID embedded in each file. The file extension will always be trp.

Configuring Device for Trip Data Backup

This section describes how to backup your data on an Apple device to iCloud and or to your local computer.

You can see how much space EVTO is using on your device by:

  1. Go to Settings on your Apple device
  2. Select General
  3. Selection iPad or iPhone Storage
  4. Scroll down the app area until you see EVTO-Tesla and select it

You will see both the App Size and Documents and Data, which are the trips and other data.

Your Apple device can be backed up to iCloud or your computer. In doing so you will be backing up both EVTO data and settings. To get more details on how to do this follow the link How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Setting up iCloud for EVTO Backup

  1. Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.
  2. Go to Settings > [your name], and tap iCloud.
  3. Tap Manage Storage
  4. Tap Backups
  5. Tap your device name
  6. Tap Show All Apps
  7. Scroll down to see EVTO-Tesla
  8. Make sure the toggle is On

You can have your Apple device automatically backup your EVTO trip data using the following procedures:

With iCloud

  1. Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.
  2. Go to Settings > [your name], and tap iCloud.
  3. Tap iCloud Backup.
  4. Tap Back Up Now. Stay connected to your Wi-Fi network until the process completes.

You can check the progress and confirm the backup completed. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup. Under Back Up Now, you’ll see the date and time of your last backup.

Automatically back up with iCloud Backup

To let iCloud automatically back up your device each day, here’s what you need to do:

  • Make sure that iCloud Backup is turned on in Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup.
  • Connect your device to a power source.
  • Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.
  • Make sure that your device’s screen is locked.

How to back up with your computer

  1. Connect your device to your computer. On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15, open Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes.
  2. If a message asks for your device passcode or to Trust This Computer, follow the onscreen steps. If you forgot your passcode, get help.
  3. Locate your device on your computer. If your device doesn’t appear on your computer, learn what to do.
  4. When the process ends, you can see if the backup finished successfully.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup

Note: this procedure will only work when you want to completely wipe all applications and data from your device or when starting with a new device.

You can obtain more information on these processes here.

In the event of a lost device or when you need a complete restoration and you have initiated a backup as outlined above follow these directions:

Restore your device from an iCloud backup

  1. Turn on your device. You should see a Hello screen. If you already set up your device, you need to erase all of its content before you can use these steps to restore from your backup.
  2. Follow the onscreen setup steps until you reach the Apps & Data screen, then tap Restore from iCloud Backup.
  3. Sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID.
  4. Choose a backup. Look at the date and size of each and pick the most relevant. After you choose, the transfer starts. If a message says that a newer version of software is required, follow the onscreen steps to update (If you don’t see onscreen steps to help you update, learn what to do).
  5. When asked, sign in with your Apple ID to restore your apps and purchases (If you’ve purchased iTunes or App Store content using multiple Apple IDs, you’ll be asked to sign in to each). If you can’t remember your password, you can tap Skip this Step and sign in later. But you won’t be able to use the apps until you sign in with your Apple ID.
  6. Stay connected and wait for a progress bar to appear and complete. Depending on the size of the backup and the network speed, the progress bar might need a few minutes to an hour to complete. If you disconnect from Wi-Fi too soon, the progress will pause until you reconnect.
  7. Now you can finish setup and enjoy your device. Content like your apps, photos, music, and other information will continue to restore in the background for the next several hours or days, depending on the amount of information there is. Try to connect often to Wi-Fi and power to let the process complete.

Restore your device from a backup on your computer

  1. On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, open Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes.
  2. Connect your device to your computer with a USB cable.* If a message asks for your device passcode or to Trust This Computer, follow the onscreen steps.
  3. Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch when it appears in the Finder window or iTunes.
  4. Select Restore Backup.
  5. Look at the date of each backup and pick the most relevant.
  6. Click Restore and wait for the restore time to finish. If asked, enter the password for your encrypted backup.
  7. Keep your device connected after it restarts and wait for it to sync with your computer. You can disconnect after the sync finishes.

Backing Up and Restoring Only Trip Files

While the above procedure will restore EVTO, it’s data and settings it also requires that you have a clean device to restore. The method within this section will permit you to only restore EVTO’s trip data without the need to wipe the device clean first.

In order to only restore EVTO’s trip data without wiping the device first will require a third party application such as iPhone Backup Extractor, as Apple does not provide this feature natively. This procedure will assume you are using this additional application but the procedure would be similar for other like tools.

These procedures assumed that you have either backed up your device manually or automatically using iTunes or iCloud as described above. Turn off your automatic backups during this process.

Using iTunes

Extracting EVTO Trip Files from Backup
  1. Connect your device to your computer using a cable
  2. Start the iPhone Backup Extractor
  3. Find the appropriate backup you wish to use in the far left panel under LOCAL BACKUPS
  4. On the large right panel find the item Other Data about midway and tap that
  5. Scroll down until you see EV Trip Optimizer for Tesla and tap that item
  6. On the far right select Files and then Extract
  7. Select the folder you would like to extract the trip files to on your computer

Your trip files will be located in a sub folder of Cloud within a folder named Library in the folder you have selected. Each trip file will have an encoded name with an extension of .trp. Do not edit or alter any of these files.

Restoring EVTO Trip Files to Your Device

To restore the files to your device:

  1. Make sure that EVTO is not currently open on your device.
  2. Connect your device to your computer using a cable
  3. Start the iPhone Backup Extractor
  4. Find the appropriate backup you wish to use in the far left panel under LOCAL BACKUPS
  5. Scroll down midway until you see Expert Mode and select that.
  6. Scroll down until you see com.digititalautoguides.teslato and select that.
  7. Select Library and then Cloud.
  8. You can either right-click on Cloud and then select Add File or select and drag the files you extracted from the backup above to restore to your mobile device.
  9. After restoring the trip files you can start EVTO and then select Current Trips from the main menu to see all of your trips.

Using iCloud Backup

Extracting EVTO Trip Files from Backup

When using iCloud Backup to restore your trip files the procedure is the same as it is for using iTunes above with one small difference. You will need to select your device from the ICLOUD ACCOUNTS in the left panel of the iPhone Backup Extractor.

To use iCloud Backup to restore EVTO trip files:

  1. Download and install iPhone Backup Extractor for Mac or Windows.
  2. Open iPhone Backup Extractor and click “Click here to add an iCloud account”, or the + icon. That’ll bring up a window which will let you add your iCloud account.
  3. Select your device and backup in the ICLOUD BACKUPS list on the left panel.
  4. Select Expert Mode.
  5. Select Library and then Cloud to see EVTO’s trip data as files.
  6. Copy all of the files to a folder on your computer with an extension of trp. You must copy all of the files to ensure that you do not miss any associated or connected trip segments, as each segment is a separate file.
Restoring EVTO Trip Files to Your Device

Follow the procedures above for using iTunes to restore your EVTO trip files.