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Questions about wireless backup.

L

lsquare

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 30, 2010
697
67
I know that with iOS 5 I can now wirelessly backup my iOS device. Is that the same as backing up with iTunes and a cable?

The reason that I ask is because when backing up wirelessly, I have to do it with iCloud and I don't know if it's backing up everything the same way as it does when I use a cable and iTunes.
 
Yes! It backs up everything, except your manually synced books, music and such.

But all apps, data, screen layouts, messages and etc. are restored exactly as they were at the time it last backed up.
 
verwon said:
Yes! It backs up everything, except your manually synced books, music and such.

But all apps, data, screen layouts, messages and etc. are restored exactly as they were at the time it last backed up.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that a wireless backup is the same thing as a wired backup? There are no differences?
 
verwon said:
Yes! It backs up everything, except your manually synced books, music and such.

But all apps, data, screen layouts, messages and etc. are restored exactly as they were at the time it last backed up.
Click to expand...

Question: How do you manually sync the books and music? Is that where the wireless (or wired) sync to iTunes comes in ? It's confusing to figure out the roles of iCloud vs. iTunes. I know iTunes saves all your apps, even if you backup to iCloud.
 
Your backup will include pretty much anything on your phone that part of the iTunes sync process. Your settings, app data, SMS/Call history home screen layout, etc. are backed up to iCloud or iTunes. Synced data such as music, podcasts, photos, contacts, etc. are not part of this backup as, presumably, you can simply sync it again to a new/restored device.
 
Thank you for your response, but I'm still not clear on things...

Backup = iCloud
Sync = iTunes

Is this correct? If so, then you are saying books/music/photos need to be synced via iTunes, either wired or wirelessly?? Thanks.

----------

More...

My contacts and calendar sync instantly. How does this happen? Is it via iCloud, too? I guess I don't understand the role of iTunes any more. Sorry I'm so dense.
 
Arelunde said:
Thank you for your response, but I'm still not clear on things...

Backup = iCloud
Sync = iTunes

Is this correct? If so, then you are saying books/music/photos need to be synced via iTunes, either wired or wirelessly?? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Backup = iTunes or iCloud (you can choose which) - via wfi or usb
Sync = iTunes - via wifi or cable
 
Chenks and BlackViper,

Can you explain how the contacts and calendar sync automatically and instantly but the music and books don't and need iTunes (if this is correct).

Again, apologies for being so dumb.
 
Arelunde said:
Chenks and BlackViper,

Can you explain how the contacts and calendar sync automatically and instantly but the music and books don't and need iTunes (if this is correct).

Again, apologies for being so dumb.
Click to expand...

contacts and calendar don't originate from your iTunes library, music and books do.
contacts and calendar are part of icloud/mobileme etc.

music and books are not included in the phone backup as you already that content backed up elsewhere (in your itunes library).
 
I backed up to my computer on iTunes today after having iCloud do it for a while ... just to be on the safe side. iCloud is still an unknown for stability and having a local PC backup is comforting.

However, once you check "backup to computer" in iTunes, you have to go back into settings on your device and turn on the iCloud backup, if you want it active again. It's a one-or-the-other type of thing, apparently not both.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I'm totally lost now. What's the difference between a backup and a sync?
 
lsquare said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I'm totally lost now. What's the difference between a backup and a sync?
Click to expand...

Sync let's you add your music, podcasts and etc. A backup does your apps, data, contacts and such.
 
lsquare said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I'm totally lost now. What's the difference between a backup and a sync?
Click to expand...

backup backs up your data on the iphone to either icloud or to itunes
sync is what puts your music/video/books/podcasts on your iphone from itunes.
 
Thanks for the explanations, cleared up a few things for me.

If I start backing up to iCloud and exceed the 5G limit, I suppose I get an error message and request to pay. Anybody know if there is a an option to backup first 5G and prioritize what gets backed up first?

Val
 
Some of this depends on your individual settings. Contacts/Calender, for example, can be sync'd through iTunes or iCloud. Apps/books/purchased music is available to re-download from iTunes store, independently of your backups.

My backup is about 1.5GB, I suspect 5GB will be ample space for most users.
 
does anyone else have a lot of issues with wireless backup? like if i walk away from my computer with my iPhone, when i get back iTunes is complaining about having not been able to connect to the iPhone. this happens almost daily at work when i go for lunch.

and when syncing does occur it sometimes freezes and i have to force eject the phone from iTunes.

all this stuff happens just with my phone sitting on the desk near my laptop. no cords, no buttons pressed to initiate anything. is there some configuration setting i'm missing, or do i just have to shut off wireless sync to prevent all these errors?
 
Are you going out of wifi range when you take your iPhone with you? I know some parts of my house have very weak wifi signals because they are far enough away from the router with several walls in between.
 
BlackViper said:
Some of this depends on your individual settings. Contacts/Calender, for example, can be sync'd through iTunes or iCloud. Apps/books/purchased music is available to re-download from iTunes store, independently of your backups.

My backup is about 1.5GB, I suspect 5GB will be ample space for most users.
Click to expand...

Videos in your Camera Roll eat up space. You have to plug in to get them off your device.
 
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