Does colouring progress survive a new phone?
It depends entirely on where the progress lives. Here are the three places it can be, what each one survives, and how to check before you wipe the old device.
There is no single answer, because progress can live in three different places and each one survives a different set of events. Working out which one applies to you takes a couple of minutes and is worth doing before rather than after.
The three places progress can live
- On the device only. Fast, works offline, private. Survives an app update. Does not survive deleting the app, and only moves to a new phone if the transfer includes app data.
- In the device backup. Whether this happens depends on the app not excluding its data from backup. Restoring a new phone from that backup brings the pictures with it.
- On an account. Survives everything, including losing the phone, but requires signing in and means the data is held somewhere other than your device.
Many apps use the first, some the second, and apps with accounts use the third. None of these is wrong; they trade privacy against portability in different ways.
What each one actually survives
An app update: all three. Updates replace the app, not its data.
Deleting the app: only the account case. On-device data usually goes with the app, and this is the most common way people lose progress — deleting to free space, intending to reinstall.
A new phone set up from a backup or direct transfer: the first two, usually. A new phone set up as new: only the account case.
How to check before you wipe the old one
- Look for a sign-in or account screen in the app’s settings. If there is one and you are signed in, you are in the third case and there is nothing to worry about.
- If there is no account, assume the data is on the device and plan the transfer accordingly — a full device-to-device transfer or a fresh backup restore, not a manual reinstall.
- Keep the old phone until you have opened the app on the new one and seen a picture with the right regions filled. Not until you have seen the app icon — until you have opened a picture.
- Only then erase the old device.
That third step is the one people skip. An app that launches is not evidence that its data came across.
Where Numbrush fits
Numbrush keeps progress on the device, per region, with no account required — so it works offline and nothing about your pictures leaves the phone. That also means a new phone needs a transfer or backup restore that includes app data, and deleting the app removes the pictures with it.
Frequently asked questions
I deleted the app and reinstalled it. Are the pictures gone?
If progress was stored on the device only, then yes — deleting an app normally removes its data. Restoring from a backup taken before the deletion is the only route back.
Does switching between iPhone and Android carry progress over?
Almost never, unless the app has an account that spans both. Device backups do not cross between the two systems.
Is an account-based app safer for this?
For not losing progress, yes. The trade is that your data sits on someone else’s server and you need to sign in. Which matters more is a genuine preference, not a right answer.
Try it on a real canvas
Numbrush is colour by number for adults: mandalas, rose windows and geometric pattern work, twelve colours a picture, a magnifier for the tight spots, and a wrong tap that costs you nothing. Free, offline, no ads and no account.