Folder naming standard for storing app backup data on user's personal cloud?

Question

A lot of web/mobile apps can store backups on your personal cloud storage ( Dropbox, Google drive, ... ). It's usually done by by creating a folder and storing the files that are needed for the app backup. Some examples I've seen:

• [root]/appName/
• [root]/apps/appName/
• [root]/_appBackup/appName/

Is there a standard for saving my app's backup folder on a user's personal cloud storage?

I imagine that if all developers use their own convention for this the user's cloud storage root will become messy if a lot of apps are used.

Answer 1

I know that with Dropbox, that sort of data is dealt with differently - as a DataStore instead of normal files you would expect a user to store within Dropbox.

They have a tutorial which deals with getting the users permission and creating and dealing with their DataStore to sync data.

https://www.dropbox.com/developers-v1/datastore/tutorial/ios

Answer 2

Never heard of any such standards as there are multiple options available for where to store data.

[root]/<appname>/<timestamp>/

Storing backup files in a folder with timestamp should be good enough. If you have multiple apps available then you can add one more level to backup path.

[root]/<developer or company_name>/<appname>/<timestamp>/

This will help you to organize & identify your data in much better way.

Answer 3

The primary idea behind a backup for app data is to be able to retrieve the data in another environment or another point in time. In such cases the user would prefer if this retrieval happens automatically without the user's intervention. Hence the onus is one the app which is promising to back the data up to ensure the retrieval happens easily.

Given all of this, the only entity which needs to be aware of the folder structure is the app which is originally backing the files up. Having a fixed standard is just pointless pain for the app developers since it is one extra step they need to comply. More flexibility might be better for people who build applications to make the world a better place.