Data Recovery for Smart Phones

By Matt Brennan

We’re all carrying around computers in our pocket. The information that can be stored by our smartphones, tablets, and other devices is quite remarkable. Think of the music, pictures, and documents that you can quickly access. But with that technological convenience comes another reality to consider.

Smartphones are prone to crash. Their data can corrupt. We also tend to be rough on them through everyday usage. We drop them on the ground, in water, or crack their screens, and break them in new and innovative ways. It’s easy to lose the data that we’ve taken for granted in our pocket.

A lot of people rely heavily on their smart phones, and a broken device may mean inaccessible business data. Photos, apps, and contacts can be inaccessible, creating a whole host of new problems. No one wants to start over with their data. With a little bit of understanding on the device and the issue, they may not have to.

The Location of Data May Vary

Where your smartphone stores data may vary by make and model. Apple’s iPhones store their data with internal memory. The various models use different sizes of NAND flash memory. You can also set your phone up to store information to iCloud or iTunes, Apple’s cloud-based solutions.

Android’s have a similar setup. They have internal memory, often NAND flash. Some devices also contain an SD card. If you’ve lost data it may be stored on this card. The SIM card itself may also have a copy of the data, but this may depend on the amount of memory previously available on the card. Most new Android phones also offer cloud options for data backup as well. Whether you’re operating with an Apple or Android phone, it’s recommended that you use the cloud option to back up critical data to avoid this loss.

How Smartphone Data is Lost

Physical damage caused by the user can result in a mechanical failure. This includes things like drops, water damage, or anything else that can disrupt the mechanical operation of the phone. With hard enough contact, the flash memory chip on the internal circuit board can break, and be rendered useless. Regular wear and tear of an aging phone can also be a cause for mechanical failure. Either way, it can result in missing file structures or links, or if there are faulty memory applications.

The good news is that many times with mechanical failures, the files are simply not able to be displayed. They are often, however still on the memory, and ultimately recoverable.

Recovering Lost Data on a Smartphone

Data recovery software for smartphones can be a risky endeavor. It doesn’t have a high success rate, and it can lead to larger problems, as noted in our recent post, The Hard Truth About Data Recovery Software. If you are looking for your best chance to recover lost data, you may want to hire a data recovery specialist.

Data recovery companies such as We Recover Data can use their extensive tools and resources to help you recover your lost data before it is too late. If you’re looking to recover smart phone data, call us today at (866) 400-DATA.