iphone backing up, itunes query (basic questions)

[bob2131]

hi, im thinking of buying an iphone.

Im running itunes 8 on my mac.
I have not updated in a while my macbook.
Will a new iphone not work with itunes 8?

Can i install the latest itunes, even though im not running latest OSX?
Im using 10.5.4 leopard.

Is there a diff between using PC or MAC for iphone?
Does the iphone get formatted to either mac or PC the first time you connect it to either pc or mac? like ipod gets formatted to eithther mac/pc.

How often do you need to connect iphone to itunes?

Can you back up the iphone?
Can you back up pics and text messages? If so, how?

thankyou thankyou thankyou

 

[bob2131]

please help

 

[courtney.bella]

hi, im thinking of buying an iphone.

Im running itunes 8 on my mac.
I have not updated in a while my macbook.
Will a new iphone not work with itunes 8?

Can i install the latest itunes, even though im not running latest OSX?
Im using 10.5.4 leopard.

Is there a diff between using PC or MAC for iphone?
Does the iphone get formatted to either mac or PC the first time you connect it to either pc or mac? like ipod gets formatted to eithther mac/pc.

How often do you need to connect iphone to itunes?

Can you back up the iphone?
Can you back up pics and text messages? If so, how?

thankyou thankyou thankyou

You should really do a search, these questions have been asked and answered, but I'll go ahead and do so.


You should upgrade to the newest iTunes. Yes, you can upgrade to the newest iTunes running the OSX you are running. I'm running the new Itunes and the same OSX you have. I do not believe the iPhone is formatted to either PC or Mac, but I could be wrong. However, you can only sync to ONE iTunes library. You should connect the iPhone maybe every day if you can. A back up is done when you plug the phone into your computer and activate iTunes. Pictures and texts are included in the backup that iTunes makes. I don't know how exactly, but I know they are.

 

[bob2131]

thankyou

i think i might create a sandbox and then upgrade itunes and maybe update OSX too, see what happens. Just to be safe.

if its not formatted to pc or mac, it may be a flash drive inside then. ill look into that.

I wont be syncing to any itunes libarary, on my pc or mac. My mac has no music on it, and my pc library is 100gb.

i dont wanna be connecting the iphone to itunes at all if i can help it.
i dont know exactly why we need to connect to itunes. can we not just use the phone and charge it at an electrical mains socket? whats itunes got to do with the iphone?

so texts and pics are backed up to computer via itunes.
but can we browse and look at pics and text messages and notes on computer? or is it only a restorable backup?

can i alternate my connecting to itunes on pc and mac?
or will the phone only recognise one platform?
eg i would like to test out iphone on my pc itunes and also use it on my mac itunes, to learn, test, and convenience.
ive only bought music and videos on my pc itunes, i dont even know if i can buy with same account on my mac, havnt tried it.


thanks.

 

[courtney.bella]

thankyou

i think i might create a sandbox and then upgrade itunes and maybe update OSX too, see what happens. Just to be safe.

if its not formatted to pc or mac, it may be a flash drive inside then. ill look into that.

I wont be syncing to any itunes libarary, on my pc or mac. My mac has no music on it, and my pc library is 100gb.

i dont wanna be connecting the iphone to itunes at all if i can help it.
i dont know exactly why we need to connect to itunes. can we not just use the phone and charge it at an electrical mains socket? whats itunes got to do with the iphone?

so texts and pics are backed up to computer via itunes.
but can we browse and look at pics and text messages and notes on computer? or is it only a restorable backup?

can i alternate my connecting to itunes on pc and mac?
or will the phone only recognise one platform?
eg i would like to test out iphone on my pc itunes and also use it on my mac itunes, to learn, test, and convenience.
ive only bought music and videos on my pc itunes, i dont even know if i can buy with same account on my mac, havnt tried it.


thanks.

You get firmware updates via iTunes and because the iPhone is made to be used with iTunes. You add music, ringtones, applications, and your backup is done through iTunes, and you don't have to put ALL of your music on there. You can create an 'iPhone' playlist and only sync that to the phone. The backup is restorable only--you can't browse what's on your iPhone--texts and such--via the computer. You can buy with the same account on your Mac--that doesn't matter. What does is that iPhone will only sync to ONE iTunes, so if you choose your Mac, then you have to use that computer because of THAT iTunes, and vice versa if you choose your PC.

 

[bob2131]

thankyou thankyou

ok so the backup is restorable only.
But can you transfer pics taken with the phone, onto the computer? eg browser them and use them on computer?

nokia smartphones create backs up on pc too.
but ALSO alllow manual transfer of data back and forth, eg i can copy user defined data from phone to pc and vice versa. so my texts are text files on my hard drive, and my phone pics and recordings are actual files i can use on my pc.
seems like iphone is not as flexible as these nokia examples i gave?
maybe a 3rd party app that allows all this?

say if i have 1000 texts in my inbox, we should be able to empty that inbox onto the computer, to free up the iphone, yet still be able to have access to thsoe messages on computer, for future reference etc.

If iphone can only be used with ONE ITUNES PLATFORM....THAT DISSAPOINTING. i have diff stuff on both my itunes on my mac and pc. Seems like iphone will only be able to pick and use one or the other? and say if use pc, that is a desktop, and say if the desktop dies. what then?

iphone will only sync to one itunes? sorry, but i dont want to sync with any itunes. I want to manually transfer data back and forth.

im gonna check out the manual for the iphone.

 

[swiftaw]

There is no manual data transfer (without iTunes) between the iPhone and a computer. The only two options for data transfer is via iTunes when connected via USB or via the MobileMe servers remotely (requires MobileMe subscription).

iTunes will sync Contacts, Calendars, Notes, Apps, Music, Video, and Photos between your Phone and Computer.

 

[bob2131]

There is no manual data transfer (without iTunes) between the iPhone and a computer. The only two options for data transfer is via iTunes when connected via USB or via the MobileMe servers remotely (requires MobileMe subscription).

iTunes will sync Contacts, Calendars, Notes, Apps, Music, Video, and Photos between your Phone and Computer.

ahh man, this info is making me unhappy.

so say if we wanna use it as a hard drive, as we can use ipod as a hard drive. ipod does not require itunes. we can plug it into any computer and copy files across. Iphone cant even do this?

and manual says only to work with service pack 3 windows.
sigh. im running service pack 2 so thats that.
and i gotta rethink my mac osx set up as some features only work with latest leopard update.
THIS IS NOT GOOD. we shouldnt have to reconfigure our whole computer life/set up, just to acccomodate a mobile telephone.

 

[swiftaw]

ahh man, this info is making me unhappy.

so say if we wanna use it as a hard drive, as we can use ipod as a hard drive. ipod does not require itunes. we can plug it into any computer and copy files across. Iphone cant even do this?

and manual says only to work with service pack 3 windows.
sigh. im running service pack 2 so thats that.
and i gotta rethink my mac osx set up as some features only work with latest leopard update.
THIS IS NOT GOOD. we shouldnt have to reconfigure our whole computer life/set up, just to acccomodate a mobile telephone.

You cannot use the iphone as a hard drive, at least not without jailbreaking/hacking it, although there are apps from the app store which will allow you to store files on the iPhone.

 

[bob2131]

You cannot use the iphone as a hard drive, at least not without jailbreaking/hacking it, although there are apps from the app store which will allow you to store files on the iPhone.

thankyou

just read the manual, doesnt answer questions ive raised on this thread about having a mac and pc and wanting to use both itunes on both computers. etc. or any info about using phone with various itunes on various computers.
(but i think you can connect iphone to diff computers, as manual says about setttings regarding auto syncing etc for when connecting to a diff computer)

what about after 12 months, you have hundreds of text messages, some important, and we buy a new phone, but we dont want to restore them all to new phone as were talking hundreds. We basically lose them? we should be able to back up this message data onto the computer.
Sony erikson phones allow this.
Nokia phones allow this.

and what about the notes created on iphone.
can we not access them on computer?

what about i record a guitar riff into iphone.
can i not put this on computer?

HERES WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN, i dont know if it can:
 you connect iphone to itunes
 and you can drag and drop pics/messages/notes/recordings from phone to itunes, and then can read and browse/use these files on computer.

sounds like that in order to use data in a practical manner, we have to email to ourselves and then open it up on computer that way.

 

[swiftaw]

Notes, videos, photos, contacts, calendars, music, and apps are synced from phone to computer when you connect to iTunes.

Text Messages are not.

 

[thelatinist]

Apple will not allow your computer to access the file structure on an unjailbroken iPhone except in very limited ways. You will just have to accept that you cannot treat your iPhone's flash memory like any mass storage device. You can only get files off your phone that Apple allows you to, and only in the way Apple prescribes (namely, iTunes).

And now you know why so many of us jailbreak.