Having ADB and fastboot available outside of the other two main downloads, first of all, saves space. Android SDK takes up 292 MB of space.

Previously, you'd have to download Android Studio or the SDK to get these, which are a 400MB-1.6GB download. Even the smaller command line tools download is still 200-300MB.

In our last look at ADB in our Android customization series, we go over how to install an app onto your Android device remotely from your connected PC and a locally saved .apk file.

If Google will, in the end, remove adb backup/restore from Android, it will force users who have relied on the free tool to backup their non-rooted smartphones and tablets [1, 2] to switch to ...