Which is better? iCloud Backup or iTunes?

[WhackyNinja]

Hi, Im familiar with iOS. I had an iPod Touch (4th gen) in 2010 and now I have an iPhone 5. But I've been wondering.

Is it better to backup your iPhone on iCloud or iTunes?

I've been using iTunes backup ever since iOS 4 which was before iCloud

[Jessica Lares]

iTunes is much, much, much more convenient in my opinion. Otherwise you're having to restore from the internet (iCloud account), and that has a downside of taking much, much longer being that they can be in gigabytes.

[Small White Car]

You can do both. The thing you have to pick is which one you want to be automatic and which one you want to be manual. When you pick one that's what it's doing...saying which one is auto. It's not saying you can't do the other method in addition.

I have iCloud set to automatic so it happens when I'm asleep. Then, about once a week or so, when my phone is plugged in to iTunes I right-click it and tell it to back up. That way I have both.

If I'm ever planning ahead to restore (like, a I'm getting a new phone) I'll make a new iTunes back-up and use that. It's much faster.

But if my phone ever falls in a lake I'll be glad I have that nightly iCloud back-up that's probably newer than my iTunes back-up. In that case I'd restore from iCloud.

[nw9]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

iTunes is much, much, much more convenient in my opinion. Otherwise you're having to restore from the internet (iCloud account), and that has a downside of taking much, much longer being that they can be in gigabytes.

I agree. iTunes is still more convenient and quicker. It's also piece of mind to me when I have a backup that I can make sure is saved and backed up. iCloud has already had a major shutdown problem awhile back when many people couldn't access their iCloud accounts. This might happen again in the future when you need to do a restore. The worst case scenario would be if iCloud losses all your data.

That's the problem I have with cloud services in general. We have to trust someone else to make sure everything is backed up properly and that their servers will be available when we need them. Many of them do a good job, but there are times when it would've been good if I had my own backup copy to use. There have been a few times when I couldn't access my data when I needed it. Cloud services can be great, but I still wouldn't fully depend on them entirely.

Originally Posted by Small White Car

You can do both.

That's probably the best solution. It's a good idea to have multiple backups.

Originally Posted by Small White Car

But if my phone ever falls in a lake I'll be glad I have that nightly iCloud back-up that's probably newer than my iTunes back-up. In that case I'd restore from iCloud.

I've been good about backing up every night in iTunes, so it's not a problem for me. It's a habit that I've been doing with my Mac and my computers in general, so it was an easy habit for me to do with my iPhone. I know not everyone is willing to do it though.

[WhackyNinja]

Originally Posted by nw9

I agree. iTunes is still more convenient and quicker. It's also piece of mind to me when I have a backup that I can make sure is saved and backed up. iCloud has already had a major shutdown problem awhile back when many people couldn't access their iCloud accounts. This might happen again in the future when you need to do a restore. The worst case scenario would be if iCloud losses all your data.

That's the problem I have with cloud services in general. We have to trust someone else to make sure everything is backed up properly and that their servers will be available when we need them. Many of them do a good job, but there are times when it would've been good if I had my own backup copy to use. There have been a few times when I couldn't access my data when I needed it. Cloud services can be great, but I still wouldn't fully depend on them entirely.



That's probably the best solution. It's a good idea to have multiple backups.


I've been good about backing up every night in iTunes, so it's not a problem for me. It's a habit that I've been doing with my Mac and my computers in general, so it was an easy habit for me to do with my iPhone. I know not everyone is willing to do it though.

Thanks you two! I might as well probably do a iCloud backup and once a week an iTunes backup like it was said before. I still think iTunes is quicker but you never know when you may need a backup in an emergency.

[8a22a]

iCloud because you don't need a computer at all.

[nw9]

Originally Posted by WhackyNinja

Thanks you two! I might as well probably do a iCloud backup and once a week an iTunes backup like it was said before. I still think iTunes is quicker but you never know when you may need a backup in an emergency.

If you had to choose only one, I personally would pick iTunes backups for the speed and convenience. If you also have bandwidth cap limits then that would be a factor in your decision too.

[CTHarrryH]

I do both as others have stated.

I also have an issue - stated other places that when I wake my phone up in the am it always says it has just completed a backup (wake up at 5 - last backup time is 5) so I'm not sure I totally trust iCloud at this point in time. But if you ever need it and not at your iTunes computer iClouds will be very important.

[FlatlinerG]

Why not both? Let it back up to iCloud each night and use iTunes to back it up when you know you've made some significant changes that warrant an extra backup.

No harm in having more than one backup.

[KeepCalmPeople]

With iTunes on Windows 7, restoring from an iTunes backup has been very hit-and-miss for me. I'd say 50% of the time the backup runs successfully but the restore fails because the 'backup wasn't successful' (according to the message). When I restore I do an iCloud backup and iTunes backup, try to restore from the iTunes backup, and if that fails, restore from the iCloud backup (which has NEVER failed for me).

One other thing - if you restore from an iTunes backup, all your non-Apple content in iTunes also is restored.

[Sheldonsmith]

Is there a way to do a manual iCloud backup via WiFi, yet still sync normally to iTunes on a PC?

[CTHarrryH]

Originally Posted by Sheldonsmith

Is there a way to do a manual iCloud backup via WiFi, yet still sync normally to iTunes on a PC?

Sure - when on WIFI just go into icloud storage and backup and select the back up now button.