Keeping regular backups is one of the most important activities a smartphone user can undertake on a regular basis, but it is a task which differs wildly between platforms and one which has the potential to go wrong when you least expect it no matter what phone you are using.
I have had a few issues with BlackBerry’s over the past year, but the saving grace has been the backup process. A simple backup every 2 days ensures that I have my calendar, contacts, memos, financial data etc. etc. always up to date, and the process to restore this data is quick, accurate and most importantly complete. I can choose to restore the phone from the backup file and then add specific parts of the data if needed. In short, I have control over what I am backing up and restoring.
Apple is often applauded for hiding the technology in its products. This is great for the iPhone, the MacBook and other products, but the downside, in my opinion, is the lack of visibility and control over how the backups are done. Consider it from the perspective of a ‘normal’ person who does not have advanced knowledge and bear with me while I explain my concerns.
When my iPhone backs up nothing happens. A file is mysteriously created somewhere on my PC for use when and if I need it again. If my iPhone breaks I can click restore and often, in my experience, this does not always work. I have had two occasions where I cannot get all of my information back and this soon knocks confidence in the entire process of using the phone. I am sure that I am missing something here, but I go back to the ‘normal’ user who will be using this system and if they have a problem restoring they could be well and truly lost.
There is almost a sense that things could not possibly break in the first place and this leaves things wide at the beak end when the worst happens. We of course need to move away from the historically complicated processes that we have been used to in the past, but I believe the iPhone setup has gone too far the other way.
I have actually stopped backups altogether since using exchange server.. The only other information that is important is in ewallet which just resyncs anyway..
I don’t miss doing backups every week..
I’m using an iPhone.
My contacts, memos and calendar are on outlook and I backup outlook and don’t rely in the iPhone backup process.
My apps and music are in iTunes which I also backup to an external drive weekly.
In short, I don’t rely on the iPhone backup process as my iPhone is a reference device. The critical data is stored on my PC.
Sid
I agree that the iPhone backup is too hidden. Yes, it goes to a folder with a bunch of files, but those files have names with no resemblance to the app they are associated with. I don’t know what the average user of an iPhone does for backup. If they use MobileMe they are probably okay. If they are viewing their Google or Yahoo calendar on the iPhone calendar they are probably okay. I haven’t had to depend on the backup yet from iTunes, so I don’t know how dependable it is, but I have every important app backed up via wifi or synced to an online server. But the average user is completely relying on that iTunes backup for the most part.
I have recently heard the adage that your data should exist in at least three places – on the device & two external locations, whether a server sync or a backup. This thread is food for thought that I’d better make sure I have those three for all my important data.
It doesn’t really matter how simple or complicated the process is, if your backup file becomes corrupted in some way you are going to lose data.
Touch wood, I haven’t had a single problem with iPhone backups.
Tom, did you upgrade your iPhone to the latest version? The reason I am asking is that each time you upgrade, iTunes does a full back up of your device – it’s the only way to ensure that no data is lost.
I pay for the priviledge of MobileMe. My important PIM stuff is therefore in the cloud (however safe that is..:-) ) and also on my Macbook Pro.
I don’t even think about backups for me iPhone
I meant to say in the article that this is where the BlackBerry system wins hands down for backups. You back it up and every single part of the device software is available to restore as a whole of bit by bit. For example I can update my Ascendo Money data on its own if I want and the same applies to text messages and other third party apps.
I have had many issues with the iPhone where a restore lost some third party data. These can be backed up seperately, but give me an all in one / bit by bit system any day.
Yes, that makes sense. It’s the way Time Machine works on the Mac – you can even search your backup for individual files to restore.