Having a strong backup strategy means that you are protected no matter what happens. Luckily backing up your iPhone is not so difficult. Learning how to back up your iPhone is easier than you might think because there are a few perfect tools for getting the job done. In this post, we take a look at the different options for backing up your iPhone.
APPLE’S BACKUP SOLUTIONS
There are many different backup solutions on the market that back up your iPhone. iTunes and iCloud are types of backup solutions offered by Apple.
There are also other backup solutions from third-party vendors.
They claim that their services can back up your phone, but because of software limitations, they can only do so partially. iCloud and iTunes are the only complete options, backing up not just photos and videos, but also your contact list, text messages, applications data, and settings from your iPhone. However, there are still some issues if you rely only on Apple’s standard iPhone backup solutions. Let’s take a closer look at all of the options.
ICLOUD BACKUP
With iCloud backup, you back up to the cloud automatically when you have a Wi-Fi connection. You back up:
- Purchase history for files purchased from the iTunes, App or iBook stores.
- Photos and videos, app data, home screen, settings, iMessage, SMS and MMS messages, ringtones.
The iCloud backup option can be chosen either from the iOS device itself or its settings in iTunes. You can perform backups automatically or manually. Although it does not back up your purchased apps, music, movies, and books, it will download them from the App, iTunes, and iBook store when you restore from an iCloud Backup.
Steps to back up using iCloud:
- Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network
- Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
- Scroll down, choose iCloud Backup.
- Tap Back Up Now.
- To ensure that the backup finished: Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Storage > Manage Storage. Then select your device — the backup must appear in the details with the time and backup size.
Apple gives 5GB of free cloud storage per Apple ID. You may finish 5GB of storage soon, but you can purchase additional iCloud storage for a fee.
ITUNES BACKUP
Today iTunes can be a great backup utility for your iPhone’s most important memories. Below are the steps to get your iPhone back up to your computer.
- On your computer open iTunes and connect your iPhone to it. If asked for verification, follow the on-screen steps.
- Select your chosen device within iTunes.
- From the Settings Menu choose Summary. Then select This Computer from the backup options under the Backups heading. In case you want the backup to be encrypted, tick the respective box.
- Tap the Back Up Now button on the right side.
- When the backup is complete, check Latest Backups to confirm whether the backup was successful.
Using this method, you can back up everything from your iPhone to your computer whenever you wish. As iTunes is free, your backup is also free. Still, there are a few things to remember when using this method.
- It`s a manual operation, not automatic. You need to remember to do the backup. It takes a few minutes, but your initiative is a must.
- Leave enough free space on your computer’s hard drive to store the iPhone backup. With up to 128GB of storage on your iPhone, it could be an issue.
BACK UP WITH A THIRD-PARTY SERVICE – ONLINE STORAGES
There are online storage services and applications that run on your iPhone and backup or sync information from your iPhone into the cloud storage for the application you are using. The most popular online storage services are Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon Cloud Drive, Dropbox, but there are many more out there. Some of them have separate apps that can be downloaded to take advantage of individual features.
Online storage services are usually less expensive (if not free) than purchasing storage with iCloud. If you are not sure you will stick with Apple forever, they give you the freedom to switch to Android and still have access to all your data via your phone. Online storage services are not extensive backup solutions: they mainly backup only photos, videos, and contacts. They don’t back up text messages, voicemail, settings, applications, application data, and other things which you only use on your phone.
Even being far from an absolute backup solution online storage services are a great supplement when you are out of space on your free iCloud backup. When your computer already doesn’t have enough space for your iTunes backup, they can serve as an alternative backup solution. An additional bonus is when you have Internet access you are always able to access your files, no matter which devices you are using.
Using online storage services, you can upload and store your photos, videos, and other files online either from your phone or your computer. Though a lot of the files saved with an online storage service need to be uploaded manually, many services automatically back up photos when you keep them on your phone, so you don’t need to move each file yourself.
You can use iCloud storage to back up your apps, contacts, text messages, and settings, and online storages to store your image/video library.
CONCLUSION
Following these backup steps will mean you can lose your iPhone and still have everything you need to be backed up. When you get a new iPhone, you can restore your data using iTunes in a few steps. Even if you buy an Android device, your photos/videos can be easily restored from your computer.
In case you lose both your iPhone and your computer, you will still have everything automatically backed up online. With this approach, your iPhone becomes an important part of your overall backup plan, and you enjoy the highest level of protection.
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