Has Backing Up Your iOS Device(s) Backed You into A Corner?

Do you know the difference between backing up your iPhone or iPad to iTunes versus backing it up to iCloud?

Rather than taking my turn at reinventing the wheel, I thought I’d paraphrase an Apple Support document (linked at the end) that was updated in March 2019.

Heads or Tails?

An iCloud Backup is the right choice, if you:

  • don’t want to regularly connect your iOS device(s) to a computer. 
  • need a backup to run automatically when you connect your device(s) to Wi-Fi and power.
  • want to restore data to your device from wherever you are using a broadband Wi-Fi connection.
  • don’t connect your iOS device to a Mac or Windows computer very frequently or you don’t own one at all.
  • want to supplement a connected, manual iTunes backup with an automatic solution.

Note: An iCloud Backup will only back up music, movies, and TV shows that you purchased from the iTunes Store. And it won't back up any podcasts, audio books, or photos that you originally synced from your computer. An iCloud Backup will restore your purchased music, movie, and app content from the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBooks Store during the background restore process.

An iTunes Backup is the right choice, if you:

  • frequently use the computer that hosts your iTunes Backups.
  • don't have an iCloud account or don't want to use iCloud.
  • want on-site and networked backups.
  • would like a secondary backup solution to use together with iCloud Backup.

Note: an iTunes Backup doesn't create a duplicate back up of your movies, music, podcasts, and apps. Rather, your media content is restored from the data that was previously synced with your primary computer using iTunes. 

Also, it’s important to select “Encrypted [device type] Backup.” With this box checked, you’ll be backing-up your Health data and all of your important settings and Keychain data. Restoring from an encrypted backup will bring your device back to 99% of its original state!

Heads You Win. Tails You Win.

Personally, I’ve always kept dual backups. 1) To cover all the bases for backed-up content, 2) To give myself the option of restoring from iCloud following a catastrophic failure of my idevice when I’m computer-less, and 3) Because a large portion of my brain is now stored on my mobile devices.

The Cold Hard Facts

For anyone who wants to dive into the ugly details of each backup method, below are two lists that I grabbed from Apple’s support page, paraphrased, and alphabetized for quick reference. Unfortunately, it’s not an apples-to-apples (so to speak) comparison, which accounts for my dual backup strategy and my unrealized fear that I’ll lose something important if I choose one approach over the other.

iTunes Backup List 

  • App Store app data (Minus the app itself) 
  • In-app purchases
  • App settings, preferences, and data, including documents
  • Calendar accounts, events, and subscribed calendars
  • Call history
  • Contacts and Contact Favorites
  • Game Center account
  • Health*
  • Home screen arrangement
  • Installed profiles
  • Keyboard shortcuts and saved suggestion corrections.
  • Keychain* (Including email account passwords, Wi-Fi passwords, and passwords you enter into websites and some apps)
  • Location service preferences for apps and websites you've allowed to access your location
  • Mail accounts (but not your Mail messages)
  • Map bookmarks, recent searches, and the current location displayed in Maps
  • Messages (iMessage and carrier SMS or MMS pictures and videos)
  • Microsoft Exchange account configurations
  • Network settings (saved Wi-Fi hotspots, VPN settings, and network preferences).
  • Nike + iPod saved workouts and settings
  • Notes
  • Paired Bluetooth devices (will only work if restored to the original device)
  • Photos (photos, screenshots, images saved, and videos taken) and Saved Photos (on devices without a camera).
  • Safari bookmarks, cookies, history, offline data, and currently open pages
  • Autofill for webpages
  • Offline web app cache/database
  • Web clips
  • Trusted hosts that have certificates that can't be verified
  • Voicemail token (Used for validation when connecting. Only works when the phone and SIM card phone numbers match.)
  • Voice memos
  • Wallpapers

Note: PDFs downloaded directly to iBooks are not included in the backup. To back these up, in iTunes use the top line menu to go to File > Transfer Purchases.

When you restore a backup to a different device, installed configuration profiles, such as accounts, restrictions, or anything that can be specified through an installed profile, aren't restored. Any accounts or settings that aren't associated with an installed profile will be restored.

* If you encrypt the backup, your Health and Keychain information can also be transferred to a new device.

iCloud Backup List:

  • App data
  • Device settings
  • Home screen and app organization
  • iMessage, text (SMS), and MMS messages
  • Photos and videos on your iOS devices
  • Purchase history for music, movies, TV shows, apps, and books. Your iCloud backup includes information about the content you have purchased, but not the purchased content itself. When you restore from an iCloud backup, your purchased content is automatically downloaded from the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBooks Store.**
  • Ringtones
  • Visual Voicemail
  • Your iOS device backup only includes data and settings stored on your device. It doesn’t include data already stored in iCloud, for example:
  • Bookmarks
  • Calendars 
  • Contacts
  • Documents you save in iCloud using iOS apps and Mac apps
  • iCloud Photo Library beta
  • Mail messages 
  • My Photo Stream
  • Notes
  • Shared photo albums

** Some types of content aren’t downloaded automatically in all countries, and previous purchases may be unavailable if they have been refunded or are no longer available in the store. For more information, see the Apple Support article iTunes in the Cloud availability by country. Some types of content aren’t available in all countries.

Here’s the original Apple Support Page: Should I use iTunes or iCloud to back up my iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch? (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204136)

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