Updating apps on your Android phone or tablet can be a double-edged sword. Sure, there’s the promise of new and exciting features, but there is also the risk that an option you particularly loved has been removed. There is no way to roll back to a previous version of an app in Android, but this is something that AppWereRabbit rectifies.

AppWereRabbit can auto backup Android app before they get updated so you can revert back to an older version if you are not happy with the latest version.

Start by heading over to Google Play and grab yourself a copy of the app.

Once installed, you’ll initially be presented with a list of all of the apps you have installed. At first glance, this may seem like information that’s available elsewhere in Android, but it’s handy to be able to see not only the names of all your apps, but also details of how much space they’re taking up and when you installed them.

At the bottom of the screen, you’ll also find an overview of the amount of free space you have left. Any apps that you have installed on your SD card will be highlighted in green.

There are now a number of options available to you. Tap on the name of an individual app and you’ll be given the opportunity to uninstall, launch, back it up and much more. If you want to keep a copy of the associated APK, select the the “Export apk” option.

The export option is different from backing up. Export the apk and you can then reinstall the app from scratch without the need to re-download it. The backup option enables you to save a copy of the app in its current state so you can rollback if you update and decide you don’t like the latest version.

These are obviously useful options, but they require a degree of planning to use them. Thankfully AppWererabbit can help to automate the backup process for you.

Auto backup

At the main screen of the app, swipe from left to right to pull out the left hand menu.

Scroll down through the list of options and tap “Settings” and then scroll down before tapping “Basic”. In the “Backup” section, use the “Backup folder” option to choose where backups should be stored and then scroll down to the “Auto Backup” section.

Tick the box labelled “Auto backup” and you’ll no longer have to worry about manually backing up an app before updating it – it will all be taken care of for you automatically every time you update an app through Google Play.

Backing up apps can use up a lot of space and you can help to keep this under control by limiting the number of backup versions that are created.

By default, AppWererabbit will store up to 50 versions of an app before starting to purge the older backups. This could mean you quickly eat through a great deal of storage space, particularly for app that are updated frequently.

Within Settings, tap the “Maximum version limit” entry and choose a new setting.

Restoring App

When the time comes to restore an app that you have backed up – be it manually or through automatic versioning – this is easily done.

Pull out the left hand menu and select the “Backuped Apps” option. Here you’ll find a list of all of the apps you have backed up. Tap an app you are interested in and you can opt to install it from Google Play, or tap “View versions” to select one of your backups.

Versioning and backing up are great ways to ensure that you always have access to the apps you need. There’s no need to worry about whether an app is going to disappear from Google Play, or if a feature you love is removed.

This is just a sample of what can be achieved with AppWererabbit. There’s more to explore, but this is arguably the most useful feature.

Mark Wilson is a software fiend and a fan of the new, shiny and intriguing. Never afraid to get his hands dirty with some full-scale geekery, he’s always trying out the latest apps, hacks and tweaks. He can be found on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.

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