Michal Ždanský iOS 5 brought a great way to back up to iCloud, which happens in the background so you don't have to do regular backups on your computer. I too was recently forced to undergo this procedure, so I can report how it all went.
How it all started
I've always dreaded the day something goes wrong and I lose all the data on one of my iOS devices. The worst that can happen is, of course, theft, luckily this disaster has not befallen me yet. Instead, I got kicked by iTunes. Over the time that iTunes has existed, it has become an incredible behemoth with all the good and bad things that have constantly packed in features. Synchronization was a stumbling block for many, especially if you had multiple computers.
Another possible issue is the default auto sync setting. While I lived under the assumption that the apps on my iPad would sync with my PC, for some unknown reason this option was checked on my MacBook. So when I plugged in the iPad, iTunes started syncing and to my horror the apps on the iPad started disappearing before my eyes. In the few seconds before I had time to react and disconnect the cable, half of my apps disappeared, about 10 GB.
I was desperate at that point. I haven't synced my iPad with my PC for many months. I didn't need to, moreover, even the applications could not be synchronized on the PC. Here is another pitfall of iTunes - for another unknown reason, I unchecked the option that I want to synchronize applications. The moment I uncheck this option, I get a message again saying that all my apps and their data will be deleted and replaced. In addition, when checked, only some applications remain selected, and according to the preview in iTunes, the arrangement of icons on the desktop is completely thrown off. iTunes can't pull the current arrangement from the iPad, even if I check the same apps that are on the iPad.
I tried to solve this problem by backing up to my computer, syncing the apps and restoring from the backup. But I ended up with the app sync option unchecked again as at the time of the backup. If you happen to know how to fix this problem, please share in the comments.
We are restoring from a backup
However, I had no choice but to turn to iCloud. In the case of Apple, backing up to the cloud is very cleverly solved. It's done almost every day, and each new backup only uploads changes to iCloud. This way you don't have multiple nearly identical backups, but it works similarly to Time Machine. In addition, only data from applications, photos and settings are stored in iCloud, the application downloads the device from the App Store, and you can synchronize music from the computer again. To restore from a backup, you first need to factory reset your iDevice. You can find this option in Settings -> General -> Reset -> Wipe data and settings.
Once the device is restored to the condition you found it in when you bought it, the wizard will start. In it, you set the language, WiFi, and the last question awaits you whether you want to set up the device as new or call up a backup from iTunes or iCloud. It will then prompt you to enter all your Apple ID and password. The wizard will then show you three recent backups, usually within three days, from which you can choose.
The iPad will boot to the main screen and prompt you to enter all your iTunes accounts, if you use more than one. In my case, it was three (Czech, American and editorial). Once you have entered all the information, just tap off the notification that all the apps will be downloaded from the App Store. Downloading apps is the most tedious part of the recovery process. They were all deleted during the restore, so be prepared to download up to tens of gigabytes of data over a WiFi network for several hours. The data stored in iCloud is also downloaded with the applications, so that when they are launched, they will be in the same state as on the day of the backup.
After several long hours of downloading, your iDevice will be in the state you had it in before the disaster. When I consider how much time I'd spend getting back to the same state with a months-old iTunes backup, iCloud literally seems like a miracle from heaven. If you don't have backups turned on yet, definitely do so now. There may come a time when it will be worth its weight in gold to you.
Note: If, during the process of downloading applications from the App Store, you want to download one as a priority because you want to use it while others are being downloaded, click on its icon and it will be downloaded as a priority.
iCloud restore fixes app sync issue
As I mentioned above, I still have the app sync option checked on my MacBook, which I don't want since I have my app library on another computer. However, if I were to uncheck it, iTunes would delete all the apps on the iPad, including the data in them. So if you want to get rid of that tick, you need to start restoring from iCloud backup first.
Once iOS starts up and starts downloading all apps from the App Store, uncheck the sync option at that point and confirm the change. If you were quick enough, iTunes won't delete any apps. No application was installed on the device at the time. iTunes does not see those that are being downloaded or are in the download queue, so there is nothing to delete. If you were not fast enough, you will lose about 1-2 applications, which is not a big problem.
Do you also have a problem to solve? Do you need advice or perhaps find the right application? Do not hesitate to contact us via the form in the section Counseling, next time we will answer your question.
The easiest way is to transfer purchases to itunes, this will prevent any deletion, and then during synchronization it doesn't matter what you do with it ;)
LOL. And have you tried it? The fact that it crashes your desktop applications, cancels folders, etc. doesn't bother you, does it?
I'm missing the information there that the whole download will fail if one of the backed-up applications is no longer in the AppStore. I don't know if they fixed it yet…
right-click on the iPhone/iPad in iTunes and you can transfer purchases to iTunes, everything will be transferred from your iOS device and you're done with your worries...
Hello. I don't have any experience with iCloud and somehow I haven't looked it up yet despite having MB (or its predecessor) for over 8 years, because I don't own an iOS device. I don't plan to buy it until this year or next, so I would like to ask how much the iCloud actually costs per year. Thanks…
The basic version (5 GB) is free, if necessary you can buy more space for backups, but the basic one is usually enough.
Good luck, identical problem... as the writer of the article, transferring the purchase to frtunes didn't solve anything, the next time I connected, the apps were deleted again... the ipad has been without a mac for a long time and that's because of the ip4S purchase plan where I want to use the cloud to the fullest and not have an ipad there...
I don't care how much they steal from iCloud with 20 GB of applications and maybe 300 photos from iPad 2? does anyone have an estimate or at least their number.. it is crucial for me...
For those applications, it depends on how much data they take up. In addition, in Settings, you can set which data will be backed up. 300 photos will not take up more than 300 MB. To give an idea, my iPad backups (32 GB version) take up about 1,1 GB with photos
I am fully satisfied with i Cloud, I have a MacBook, an iPad and an iPhone. I have 2 email addresses set up, and when I started iCloud, I got another one with the ending "me.com". I have this address installed on my Mac Book, but I can't install it on my iPhone or iPad. When I tried to install the new mail, it always returned me to my company mail address (it is also the login to the App store. Can you advise me? Thank you
I don't understand how anyone can be so excited about iCloud backup. Not that it's a bad thing, but the complete restoration is an incredibly time-consuming affair. Here it is written about long hours, but I have already heard about tens of hours and I definitely do not intend to undergo that. I just back up to my computer and it's absolutely no problem. When I bought an iPhone 4S as a replacement for a XNUMX, the backup was done within an hour and the new iPhone was in exactly the same condition as the old one. I then back up the computer via Time Machine.
About a week ago I was also forced to upload everything from iCloud to the iPH4. Since then, I have been haunted several times a day by the request to enter the Apple ID password, both name and password. (By default, my iPH only requires a password, the name is inactive.)
The name is pre-filled in this message as follows: jo2k12@hotmail.co.uk, which is not my address, let alone the address I would be registered with iTunes.
If I request an upgrade or if I download a new app, a standard message appears (passive name) and after entering my password, everything works.
I have reset everything again but the problem persists and I have no other idea how to deal with it. Don't know what to do with it?
by default, this made it illegal for users in the case of a jailbroken phone and downloaded applications, so it probably requires the email and password of the person who "cracked" it... if this is not your case, then I have no idea where the problem could be
Unfortunately, this is not really my case, I haven't found a reason to jailbreak so far. Additionally, I realized that the problem arose immediately
after installing new/latest iOS.
Thank you for your interest.
Chatterbox
Again, I have the experience that I backed up to iCloud, but after restoring, the settings of games and applications were not returned to me. Otherwise, if the internet is good, the backup does not take more than an hour, and the backup may have been over 3GB.
Do not forget that this does not include applications and all content from the iTunes Store, but only application data in the order of KB (settings, documents) and tens of MB to several GB (images, videos).
I connected the iPhone to the computer after the vacation and suddenly iTunes opens and automatically restores the iPhone... nothing could be done about it.. so I waited for it to restore and suddenly everything I had on the iPhone was gone.. is there any way to restore it? I couldn't make a deposit here on vacation.. so what about that?
How did you deal with your problem? The same thing happened to me :-(((((….
Nothing :( unfortunately I had to accept it :/
When I restore the backup, will the original (older) iOS also be restored? or iOS remains and only the add-ons are restored? thank you