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Data transfer between two apps within same iPad

coolwater

coolwater

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 8, 2009
722
1
Say, you have both the iPhone and the iPad versions of the same app in your iPad.

A. Task Now for iPhone
B. Task Now for iPad

You've been using A on your iPad because the developer did not release the iPad version until recently. Now, you also installed B in your iPad so you'd want to transfer all your data from A to B.

My question is can this data transfer be done directly from A to B within same iPad without doing any syncing or going through a third program? I mean, is this something the developer can provide? Or, this kind of direct data transfer from App A to App B is just not feasible on iPhone or iPad anyway.
 
From what I understand, the only way to transfer data between apps is to have the support built into the app, each app stores all it's internal data separately, so if you have both distinct iPhone and the iPad versions installed, they are unique apps and you can't transfer.
 
There are several options for transferring data, but as posted above, the developer needs to implement them.

It's possible to transfer data between iPad and iPhone over Bluetooth or WiFi. Also, the data could be sent to a server, then be made available to the app installed any device (a "cloud" option). Another option would be to use app file sharing (built into iTunes) and the Mac/PC as an intermediary (transfer from one device to the computer, then back on to the other device from the computer). This could also be done using Wifi and a web interface.

All of those options must be implemented by the developer - if not, there's not really any workaround.
 
This issue needs to be handled better by the developers of all apps. The sad thing is that there are so many ways to do it.
My dream is to be able to play any game on my iPhone in the morning and seamlessly pickup at the same spot on my iPad in the evening.

Apple could add a bit more to make this easier on the developers, but they have provided enough tools to do this well today with a bit of work.

Fore example, an app could issue a background task at shutdown to copy the save data to your Dropbox or iDisk and check for an updated file on startup. Throw in a bit of logic to warn/prevent simultaneous device usage and you're done.
 
If your willing to get your hand dirty, you may be able to JB the device and manually copy the data files between the application folders with SSH or iFile. Keep in mind that there is no guarantee that this will work since the data structure could be different between the two versions.
If this does work you should be able to backup the iPad via iTunes and then do a full restore to remove the JB and keep the modified user data.
 
I've been playing with a desktp app called iPhone Explorer that let's you interact with much of the file system on your idevice without jailbeaking. Assuming the saved data is compatible, OP should be able to copy the save data between the two app folders. Be sure to backup before making any changes.
Using this app, I was able to copy my Infinty Blade save game from my iPhone to my iPad.
 
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