Transfer data between Fedora and Waydroid

I'm using WhatsApp chats data as an example to backup to Fedora and then restore after fresh Waydroid installation.

Backup

1. Install Android Debug Bridge:

   sudo dnf install android-tools

2. Connect to your Waydroid device using adb:

   Grab Waydroid IP address from Android Settings -> About phone.

   In my case, it's 192.168.240.112.

   Then connect to your device:

   adb connect 192.168.240.112

   You may see failed to authenticate message like below:

   

   That's because you need to allow USB debugging.

3. Allow USB debugging on your Waydroid device:

   A popup will show up automatically on your Waydroid device, click Allow.

   

4. Verify connected devices:

   Run adb devices and you should see your device in the list:

   

5. Backup WhatsApp chat data:

   # Create directory in ~/Downloads
   mkdir -p ~/Downloads/whatsapp-waydroid-backup
   
   # Copy WhatsApp data from your Waydroid device to the above directory
   adb pull /storage/emulated/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp ~/Downloads/whatsapp-waydroid-backup

Restore

1. Fresh install Waydroid.

2. Install WhatsApp, but do not open it yet after installation (important).

3. Push your saved backup directory back into Waydroid:

   adb push ~/Downloads/whatsapp-waydroid-backup /storage/emulated/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/
   

When WhatsApp starts, it scans local storage and should detect: Local backup found.

Then you can restore.

Warning

One very important Waydroid caveat:

If Waydroid generates a completely different Android ID/device state, WhatsApp may occasionally refuse local restore until verification completes.

Usually this still works fine after SMS verification.