While a backup is running on a phone or tablet, it's best to stay on the app's backup screen and leave the device alone. If you do switch away, what happens depends on your device.
What happens if you switch away
On an iPhone or iPad, if you move to another app, lock the screen, or send Ultimate Backup to the background, the backup finishes the file it is part-way through and then pauses. When you come back to the app, it picks up again by itself, as long as the drive stayed connected.
On Android, the backup carries on in the background while you use other apps. Staying on the backup screen is still safest, since Android can close an app that has been in the background for a long time.
Why it pauses on iPhone and iPad
This is deliberate. iOS has been known to stop the backup unexpectedly once the app is in the background, and a backup interrupted in the middle of writing a file can leave that data damaged. Finishing the current file and then pausing cleanly avoids that.
Nothing is lost if it stops
If the backup does stop, for example because the drive was disconnected or the app was closed while you were away, reopen the app with your drive connected and start the backup again. It picks up where it left off and skips everything that is already saved, so you are not starting over.
Getting through a long backup
The easiest approach is to tap Start Backup, put the device somewhere out of the way, and leave it be until it finishes. The app keeps the screen awake while the backup runs.
This applies to the mobile app only
A backup running on a computer is not affected by any of this. Everything above concerns backups made on a phone or tablet.
Wondering how long the backup itself should take? See How long does it take to backup?
If you have any trouble getting a backup to finish, contact us and we will be happy to help.