At Phone Medics Plus, we know how much your phone, tablet, and PC mean to you. When something goes wrong with your device, it can leave you feeling pretty helpless. When you lose valuable data - family photos, important documents, contacts, and more - it can be devastating. That’s why we want to make sure you have the tools to keep your data safe, so that even if something goes wrong with your device, your valuable files won’t be lost. With that in mind, we’re publishing a series of blog posts about the best ways to backup your data. In our last post we told you about some of the best backup solutions for your PC. Today we’re going to tell you the best ways to backup your iPhone or iPad.
There are quite a few backup options out there for your iOS device, but the first ones you should look at are the ones that Apple provides: iTunes and iCloud. With iTunes it’s fairly easy to backup your iPhone or iPad. When you connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer, iTunes will give you options for backing up your device to your computer, including the ability to backup your device automatically when you connect it, and the option to backup over wi-fi, so that you don’t necessarily have to plug it directly into your computer to sync and backup your device.
The other tool Apple provides for backing up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch is iCloud. With iCloud, regular backups are made automatically via the internet, and all your device’s data is stored remotely on Apple’s servers. Like the cloud backup options for PCs that we talked about before, iCloud has the advantage of keeping your data safe away from your home, so that if your computer is lost or damaged, your data is still safe. Another major advantage of iCloud is that the backups are regular and automatic. It’s easy to forget to plug your iPhone or iPad into your PC for a few days to make a backup, and while iTunes Wi-Fi Sync works well, it doesn’t always sync as often as you might want it to. With iCloud, your device is automatically backed up once per day, as long as it’s connected to wi-fi and power. Even when you’re traveling and away from your computer, iCloud will continue to make daily backups as long as your phone is connected to a wi-fi network and plugged in to charge.
While iCloud sync is great, it does come with one major drawback: space. Every iCloud user gets 5GB of free storage space on Apple’s servers. Unfortunately, that isn’t a lot of space, and if you’re backing up a lot of data, it can fill up really fast. If you want more than the free 5GB, it’ll cost you. The good news is that it doesn’t cost much: $0.99 per month gets you 50 GB of storage space, and there are higher storage tiers at similarly reasonable prices. But realistically, the fact that you only get 5GB for free means that if you want to take advantage of iCloud backups, you’ll probably have to pay for it.
One of the biggest advantages of creating your backups using iTunes or iCloud is how easy it is to restore your device from a backup. Replacing a lost or stolen device or upgrading to a new device is much easier if you’ve kept your old device backed up, because you can restore the backup and pick up right where you left off.
In addition to iTunes and iCloud, there are a few other options for keeping your iPhone or iPad data backed up. There are numerous services that will back up parts of your data. Google Drive will backup your contacts, calendars, and all your photos and videos (at a slightly reduced resolution). The service is meant to make it easier to switch from iOS to Android, but it also works very well as a backup service. It won’t backup all of your data, or allow you to transition as seamlessly from one iOS device to another the way iTunes or iCloud backups will, but it’s still a powerful backup tool, and it’s free. Amazon’s Prime Photos service provides Amazon Prime members with free unlimited backups of their photos (but not videos, unfortunately) at full resolution. Other cloud services like Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox offer automatic photo backups, but like iCloud, the amount of storage space you get for free is limited.
Now, just like we talked about with PCs, any backup is better than no backup, but the best way to keep your data safe is to keep it in multiple places. Backing up your iPhone to iTunes is great, but if you also back it up to iCloud, you make sure that even if something happens to your personal computer, you’ll still be able to access your data. Adding a third backup for at least some of your data - like Google Drive - gives you yet another layer of security.
At Phone Medics Plus, we’re dedicated to helping you get the most out of your mobile devices, and to making sure that even when something goes wrong, like a lost or damaged phone, you’re able to get back to normal as quickly and easily as possible. If you need help with your damaged phone, you can call us, book an appointment online, or visit our repair facility at 91 E. Merritt Island Causeway in Merritt Island.
There are quite a few backup options out there for your iOS device, but the first ones you should look at are the ones that Apple provides: iTunes and iCloud. With iTunes it’s fairly easy to backup your iPhone or iPad. When you connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer, iTunes will give you options for backing up your device to your computer, including the ability to backup your device automatically when you connect it, and the option to backup over wi-fi, so that you don’t necessarily have to plug it directly into your computer to sync and backup your device.
The other tool Apple provides for backing up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch is iCloud. With iCloud, regular backups are made automatically via the internet, and all your device’s data is stored remotely on Apple’s servers. Like the cloud backup options for PCs that we talked about before, iCloud has the advantage of keeping your data safe away from your home, so that if your computer is lost or damaged, your data is still safe. Another major advantage of iCloud is that the backups are regular and automatic. It’s easy to forget to plug your iPhone or iPad into your PC for a few days to make a backup, and while iTunes Wi-Fi Sync works well, it doesn’t always sync as often as you might want it to. With iCloud, your device is automatically backed up once per day, as long as it’s connected to wi-fi and power. Even when you’re traveling and away from your computer, iCloud will continue to make daily backups as long as your phone is connected to a wi-fi network and plugged in to charge.
While iCloud sync is great, it does come with one major drawback: space. Every iCloud user gets 5GB of free storage space on Apple’s servers. Unfortunately, that isn’t a lot of space, and if you’re backing up a lot of data, it can fill up really fast. If you want more than the free 5GB, it’ll cost you. The good news is that it doesn’t cost much: $0.99 per month gets you 50 GB of storage space, and there are higher storage tiers at similarly reasonable prices. But realistically, the fact that you only get 5GB for free means that if you want to take advantage of iCloud backups, you’ll probably have to pay for it.
One of the biggest advantages of creating your backups using iTunes or iCloud is how easy it is to restore your device from a backup. Replacing a lost or stolen device or upgrading to a new device is much easier if you’ve kept your old device backed up, because you can restore the backup and pick up right where you left off.
In addition to iTunes and iCloud, there are a few other options for keeping your iPhone or iPad data backed up. There are numerous services that will back up parts of your data. Google Drive will backup your contacts, calendars, and all your photos and videos (at a slightly reduced resolution). The service is meant to make it easier to switch from iOS to Android, but it also works very well as a backup service. It won’t backup all of your data, or allow you to transition as seamlessly from one iOS device to another the way iTunes or iCloud backups will, but it’s still a powerful backup tool, and it’s free. Amazon’s Prime Photos service provides Amazon Prime members with free unlimited backups of their photos (but not videos, unfortunately) at full resolution. Other cloud services like Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox offer automatic photo backups, but like iCloud, the amount of storage space you get for free is limited.
Now, just like we talked about with PCs, any backup is better than no backup, but the best way to keep your data safe is to keep it in multiple places. Backing up your iPhone to iTunes is great, but if you also back it up to iCloud, you make sure that even if something happens to your personal computer, you’ll still be able to access your data. Adding a third backup for at least some of your data - like Google Drive - gives you yet another layer of security.
At Phone Medics Plus, we’re dedicated to helping you get the most out of your mobile devices, and to making sure that even when something goes wrong, like a lost or damaged phone, you’re able to get back to normal as quickly and easily as possible. If you need help with your damaged phone, you can call us, book an appointment online, or visit our repair facility at 91 E. Merritt Island Causeway in Merritt Island.
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