How do you guys backup setting and data for Cydia apps before upgrade and jailbreak [Archive]

musashino

Oct 12, 2009, 01:29 PM

Do you just upgrade, then use blackra1n, then reinstall everything? Or there is a way to backup setting and data for Cydia apps? I use 3.0 iphone now with lots of apps. I don't want to lose all the data and game progress in 3.1. Anyone in the same boat?:D

spamdumpster

Oct 12, 2009, 01:59 PM

musashino

Oct 12, 2009, 02:22 PM

http://www.todaywasawesome.com/2009/04/08/backup-cydia-apps-iphone/

The instructions will allow you to backup cydia apps, but not cydia-app data. There also are apps that do this, but I'm not sure if they're free.

Yes there is a Cydia app (forgot the name) to let you backup apps. But all it does is to make a list of ur apps and reinstall them later. It's the data in the apps that is the most valuable. Sadly I haven't found a solution yet.

scottuf

Oct 12, 2009, 03:19 PM

when the new pwnage tool came out i ssh'd into the prefs folder (i think /var/mobile/Library/Preferences) then copied all of the prefs. upon jailbreak and reinstalling of apps, i put these prefs back. most of what i wanted got saved.

also, using applink, i went into the actual application folders and copied out the Library and Documents folders and replaced them as well.

of note, the file permissions may need to be repaired after putting them back, but i don't have the details for that step right now. if you don't correct file permissions, then things will NOT work correctly. that step took a while to figure out (ie, why SMS, phone, etc were crashing).

mdwsta4

Oct 13, 2009, 11:42 AM

so this would work if i wanted to save what i had downloaded from YourTube?
the other apps i have installed would be nice to have backed up, but are easy enough to replace. yourtube has a lot of data in it that i'd rather not mess with again.

Jollins

Oct 13, 2009, 11:54 AM

Yes there is a Cydia app (forgot the name) to let you backup apps. But all it does is to make a list of ur apps and reinstall them later. It's the data in the apps that is the most valuable. Sadly I haven't found a solution yet.
AptBackup is what you are thinking of. It works by embedding a list of jailbroken apps into your iTunes backup, which then aptbackup can re-download for you (after aptbackup is reinstalled of course).

That is true that is doesn't back up your data in the apps though, and I do wish we had an easy solution for this...

rKunda

Oct 13, 2009, 12:08 PM

AptBackup is what you are thinking of. It works by embedding a list of jailbroken apps into your iTunes backup, which then aptbackup can re-download for you (after aptbackup is reinstalled of course).

That is true that is doesn't back up your data in the apps though, and I do wish we had an easy solution for this...

I'd steer clear of Aptbackup. I used it today and it worked flawlessly for what it's supposed to do. All my Cydia apps were reinstalled. It however had the side effect of hiding, irreversibly, all of my app store apps.

bruinsrme

Oct 13, 2009, 12:11 PM

pen an paper

psywzrd

Oct 13, 2009, 12:25 PM

Rock did a great job of reinstalling all of my jb apps after I upgraded to the 3.0.1jb. It keeps a backup of all of your jb apps and it's tied to your Rock ID. Once you re-jb, you just reinstall Rock (it's automatically installed with Rock apps like Intelliscreen, elert, etc.) and restore from backup. It does not restore the data within your jb apps though. I'm not sure why none of these apps do that. Restoring from backup via iTunes restores your data for App Store apps so you would think that someone would come up with a way to do it with jb apps as well.

ngenerator

Oct 13, 2009, 12:47 PM

pen an paper

That's a good idea, I just do screenshots of all my installed Cydia apps and themes, then just redownload them all when I have an hour or so to burn.

dZp

Oct 13, 2009, 01:18 PM

I'm not sure why none of these apps do that. Restoring from backup via iTunes restores your data for App Store apps so you would think that someone would come up with a way to do it with jb apps as well.
App Store apps are sandboxed, therefore it makes it easier for iTunes to know where to find the files that need backing up. Jailbroken apps can have data stored all over the place and it would probably be a nightmare to work out for each and every apps. I'm not saying it's impossible for someone very clever to work out, just saying that it's not all that simple.

Just backup your data files manually and restore them after. That's what I do.

musashino

Oct 13, 2009, 02:44 PM

That's a good idea, I just do screenshots of all my installed Cydia apps and themes, then just redownload them all when I have an hour or so to burn.

sure u can get all ur apps reinstalled. But what about the game u r about to finish? U'll have to start over. All the data in these apps, that's what matters. Too bad there is not a simple way to backup all these.

ngenerator

Oct 13, 2009, 03:51 PM

sure u can get all ur apps reinstalled. But what about the game u r about to finish? U'll have to start over. All the data in these apps, that's what matters. Too bad there is not a simple way to backup all these.

Yeah, I don't really play enough games on my phone to warrant me worrying about that.. If I'm really going to spend money and time on finishing a game and being excited about it, I'm going to buy it for a real system (PS3, 360, Wii), but that's just my preference :) All the games I have on my iPhone are just throwaway games where I really didn't have anything better to spend my $3.

psywzrd

Oct 13, 2009, 07:08 PM

What about AppBackup? Would that backup app data for jb apps or just App Store apps?

dZp

Oct 14, 2009, 03:58 AM

What about AppBackup? Would that backup app data for jb apps or just App Store apps?
No. Only for App Store apps (http://www.scott-wallace.net/iphone/appbackup).

psywzrd

Oct 14, 2009, 09:38 AM

No. Only for App Store apps (http://www.scott-wallace.net/iphone/appbackup).

Bummer - thanks for the link. Luckily my jb apps don't really have a lot of data stored within them so it's not a big deal for me. Hopefully someone will come up with a solution for jb apps in the future.

darngooddesign

Oct 14, 2009, 10:32 AM

sure u can get all ur apps reinstalled. But what about the game u r about to finish? U'll have to start over. All the data in these apps, that's what matters. Too bad there is not a simple way to backup all these.

Well, find what you think is the game preference file and rename it to something else. If that gets rid of your data change it back. Thats one way to check.

More specifically, which apps are you worried about?

iMrNiceGuy0023

Oct 14, 2009, 05:00 PM

psywzrd

Oct 14, 2009, 07:17 PM

It's called RockApp - it's automatically installed when you install a Rock Your Phone app (I use Intelliscreen). I believe you need to buy at least one RockYourPhone app so that you can create a Rock ID (you'll see what I mean if you do it). Once you do that, RockApp makes backups and ties them to your RockID.

The way it works is that once I used pwnage to upgrade my jb from 3.1 to 3.1.2, I reinstalled Intelliscreen and RockApp was reinstalled automatically. Once I entered my RockID and password in the RockApp, I restored from a backup and it installed my jb apps automatically for me. To be fair, it did not install irealquicksms for some reason and I'm not sure why (could have been an issue with the source). Anyway, it worked for me but you may not want to go that route. You can also look into PkgBackup - people seem to really like that as well.

iMrNiceGuy0023

Oct 20, 2009, 09:19 PM

does appbackup work with 3.1.2 ??

Mystikal

Oct 21, 2009, 12:28 AM

Use PkgBackup. Trust me. Its only $2 I think and it works AMAZINGLY. AptBackup has so many problems...

dhlizard

Oct 21, 2009, 03:07 PM

Use PkgBackup. Trust me. Its only $2 I think and it works AMAZINGLY. AptBackup has so many problems...

http://images.macrumors.com/vb/images/icons/icon14.gif+ 2 for PkgBackup over AptBackup

danterner

Nov 4, 2009, 09:38 AM

A while back I bought PkgBackup through Cydia. I installed it, made a backup of my Cydia apps, and synced my phone. That was on 3.0. Yesterday, I upgraded to 3.1.2 and re-jailbroke. I went to Cydia again to redownload PkgBackup. Cydia reports that I "officially purchased" PkgBackup and allowed me to install it without a problem. When I run PkgBackup now, however, it reports that it has "limited functionality" and that I should "consider purchasing" and it won't restore my packages. I did purchase it, and I assume I don't have to purchase it again. How can I convince it of this? Cydia knows that I own it, but the app itself doesn't. Is there something obvious I'm missing?

TimSS

Nov 4, 2009, 11:01 AM

danterner-
It's a known issue the developer is working to correct.
Tim

istinkles

Nov 6, 2009, 08:41 AM

Pkgbackup is the best. mainly because it saves the data somehow as a contact. that way you don't have to rely on methods similar to what aptbackup does. and when you sync your contacts after your jailbreak, just download pkgbackup again, and it will restore every app from every source, including custom sources. you can even select apps that you don't want to redownload, like a theme or something.

thelatinist

Nov 6, 2009, 08:49 AM

+4 for Pkgbackup. It works much better for me than AptBackup because I usually like to set up as a new phone when I upgrade or restore. AptBackup won't work unless you restore from backup.

BearGibs

Jun 10, 2010, 05:00 AM

No. Only for App Store apps (http://www.scott-wallace.net/iphone/appbackup).

The answer eveyonenis lookin for is called pkgbackup and the new very simple to use version is 4.0. It backs up all your cydia and rock packages, emails them to you so you simply recreate a contact with the PkgBackup info in (which is explained in the app) and reloads all your packages AND SOURCES from cydia. I hope
this helps everyone as I joined this
forum just lto help answer this question!

tctony

Jun 10, 2010, 01:58 PM

+4 for Pkgbackup. It works much better for me than AptBackup because I usually like to set up as a new phone when I upgrade or restore. AptBackup won't work unless you restore from backup.

This is not exactly true. However, it is a bit more complicated.

Make your backup in AptBackup. Then go manually backup (I.E. SAVE TO YOUR COMPUTER) the 3 aptbackup files located in Private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences.

Now, when you get your new phone/new iOS/whatever, you will download AptBackup again, and (this is very important), run a backup. It won't have anything to backup, so it shouldn't take long.

Now SSH back to Private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences and paste the 3 original AptBackup files back. Now go back to the app and hit restore. All should work.