iCloud Camera Roll backup, Photo stream and iTunes wifi sync??

[sulpfiction]

Can someone clear a few things up for me please. It is confusing me at the moment.

My iCloud 5gig storage is full with the vast majority (approx 4.7gig) being the camera roll.

Here is where I am confused...I have Photo stream ON and also have the Camera Roll backing up to iCloud. With Photo Stream, all of my photos get sent to iPhoto on my mac under the tab "Photo Stream". But they also get saved into my photos by Month (e.g. Feb 2011 Photo Stream, March 2011, etc). So essentially they are "backed up" even though the actual "photo stream" tab photos get replaced.

So I have a few questions...Do I even need to have my Camera Roll backed up to iCloud? And where is the actual "back up" of Camera Roll on iCloud? (other then Photo Stream)

And if I turn off "Camera Roll" in iCloud backups (Settings>iCloud>Storage & Backup>Manage Storage>My iPhone Backup>Camera Roll>OFF) but leave Photo Stream on, I would still have my photos backed up on my Mac in iPhoto, right?

And also, in backup options it shows all of my apps, and allows me to toggle them on or off. For what reason would I want the data backed up to iCloud from say Facebook or Weather Channel? If I had Facebook "off" and went to restore my phone from and iCloud backup would it not put the Facebook app back on my phone?

And one last thing...Wifi iTunes sync..Doesn't that transfer any new apps, music ,etc that I bought on the phone itself into iTunes on my mac?

It's all just confusing me at the moment. If someone could give me a simple explanation on what each actually does, I would appreciate it.

 

[PNutts]

I have Photo stream ON and also have the Camera Roll backing up to iCloud. With Photo Stream, all of my photos get sent to iPhoto on my mac under the tab "Photo Stream". But they also get saved into my photos by Month (e.g. Feb 2011 Photo Stream, March 2011, etc). So essentially they are "backed up" even though the actual "photo stream" tab photos get replaced.

So I have a few questions...Do I even need to have my Camera Roll backed up to iCloud? And where is the actual "back up" of Camera Roll on iCloud? (other then Photo Stream)

No. It's part of the "back up". There is no selective restore at this time.

And if I turn off "Camera Roll" in iCloud backups (Settings>iCloud>Storage & Backup>Manage Storage>My iPhone Backup>Camera Roll>OFF) but leave Photo Stream on, I would still have my photos backed up on my Mac in iPhoto, right?

Yes, except for videos. That's what I've done.

And also, in backup options it shows all of my apps, and allows me to toggle them on or off. For what reason would I want the data backed up to iCloud from say Facebook or Weather Channel? If I had Facebook "off" and went to restore my phone from and iCloud backup would it not put the Facebook app back on my phone?

I can't think of any reason so I turned mine off. Yes, just the app.

And one last thing...Wifi iTunes sync..Doesn't that transfer any new apps, music ,etc that I bought on the phone itself into iTunes on my mac?

Yes.

It's all just confusing me at the moment. If someone could give me a simple explanation on what each actually does, I would appreciate it.

Yes, it is very confusing.

 

[Agent-P]

And also, in backup options it shows all of my apps, and allows me to toggle them on or off. For what reason would I want the data backed up to iCloud from say Facebook or Weather Channel? If I had Facebook "off" and went to restore my phone from and iCloud backup would it not put the Facebook app back on my phone?

If the developer has enabled the api for their apps (which is most of the big name ones), then the app's data will get backed up to iCloud as well. In the case of the Facebook app, it will save your login settings so that when you restore, you won't have to log in again. For something like Angry Birds, keeping that on will save your high scores and level progress so when you restore you don't lose all that. If the app has something you'd like to save, then I'd say keep it on in iCloud settings. If for example you don't mind having to log back in to Facebook after a restore, then you can toggle that off.

 

[sulpfiction]

So if I toggle off every app, turn off camera roll backup, but keep iCloud backup On and I restore my phone from that backup, What exactly would I get back?

 

[Whorehay]

So if I toggle off every app, turn off camera roll backup, but keep iCloud backup On and I restore my phone from that backup, What exactly would I get back?

Likely all your core phone settings, e-mail, contacts, calendars, etc.

 

[sulpfiction]

Likely all your core phone settings, e-mail, contacts, calendars, etc.

Thank u. This is all I really need from my backup.

If I am missing anything, please feel free to chime in. I really want to understand all of these functions.