iTunes Backup instead of iCloud Backup to move to new iPhone?

[contraband]

Hi all. A while back I excluded my Photo Roll from iCloud Backup, due to its size. I'm moving to a new iPhone soon, and I want to bring these photos with me. Would I be able to perform an iTunes Backup on my computer to capture these photos, along with everything else that is typically encompassed in iCloud Backup, to restore onto my new iPhone when I receive it? I have never performed iTunes Backup before -- I've been iCloud-only since its introduction but now this falls over with a huge photo roll (and a hesitance to pay for the 200GB plan, which would be required).

Thanks.

 

[Danjns357]

i would backup your photos separately then do an iCloud restore.

An itunes backup is an image of your phone and can often bring unwanted 'junk' onto your new phone. 80% of genius bar appointments could be stopped by people using iCloud backup instead if iTunes backup.

 

[MJedi]

I do iTunes backup all the time. And I restore it from there. I have many photos and videos, so I have to use iTunes to backup and restore. It's faster, too, since it's all local.

I don't have issues restoring from an iTunes backup. Maybe those people who have issues are restoring it wrong...

Besides, an iCloud backup the same as an iTunes backup. So all the "junk" will be saved and restored on your iPhone no matter what method is used.

iCloud: iCloud storage and backup overview

Here’s what iCloud backs up:

• Purchase history for music, movies, TV shows, apps, and books

• Photos and videos on your iOS devices

• Device settings

• App data

• Home screen and app organization

• iMessage, text (SMS), and MMS messages

• Ringtones

• Visual Voicemail

Your iOS device backup only includes data and settings stored on your device.

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12519?viewlocale=en_US

The bottom line: you can backup and restore using iTunes.

 

[contraband]

i would backup your photos separately then do an iCloud restore.

An itunes backup is an image of your phone and can often bring unwanted 'junk' onto your new phone. 80% of genius bar appointments could be stopped by people using iCloud backup instead if iTunes backup.

My Photo Roll is actually already separately backed up to my Synology NAS. So, I have the photos, but not an obvious way to slip-stream them into my new iPhone Restore.

I am definitely wishing for a way to do my clean iCloud Backup-based restore, plus with my Photo Roll in there too. I'm not interested in imaging on junk for exactly that reason. Is there a way I'm not aware of to do this cleanly? I want to preserve metadata for photos (date taken, GPS coords, etc.) Thanks.

 

[PNutts]

My Photo Roll is actually already separately backed up to my Synology NAS. So, I have the photos, but not an obvious way to slip-stream them into my new iPhone Restore.

I am definitely wishing for a way to do my clean iCloud Backup-based restore, plus with my Photo Roll in there too. I'm not interested in imaging on junk for exactly that reason. Is there a way I'm not aware of to do this cleanly? I want to preserve metadata for photos (date taken, GPS coords, etc.) Thanks.

I wouldn't believe all that about junk in a backup. Just do an iTunes restore and be done with it. If you strongly believe that there is junk on your phone now that will be restored, then iBackupBot allows you to add/remove items from an iTunes backup before you restore.

If you have a "small" number of photos you could use Photostream to bring them back down to the phone. In fact, Photostream also has an upload feature from a PC and I assume it also works on a Mac. I'm not sure if the upload I refer to would duplicate the pics already in Photostream. I've never tried that (I've only added photos that aren't in Photostream).

 

[contraband]

If you have a "small" number of photos you could use Photostream to bring them back down to the phone. In fact, Photostream also has an upload feature from a PC and I assume it also works on a Mac. I'm not sure if the upload I refer to would duplicate the pics already in Photostream. I've never tried that (I've only added photos that aren't in Photostream).

That would be ideal, but my Photo Roll is 20GB (hence why I excluded it from iCloud).

The best way to make a clean, automated transfer of a photo roll seems to be with the app PhotoSync. If I don't find anything cleaner I might just roll with iCloud Restore + PhotoSync to move all my photos over my home Wi-Fi.

 

[MJedi]

That would be ideal, but my Photo Roll is 20GB (hence why I excluded it from iCloud).

The best way to make a clean, automated transfer of a photo roll seems to be with the app PhotoSync. If I don't find anything cleaner I might just roll with iCloud Restore + PhotoSync to move all my photos over my home Wi-Fi.

Or just do an iTunes backup, and restore that to your new iPhone. No need to mess with moving photos.

 

[Rigby]

I am definitely wishing for a way to do my clean iCloud Backup-based restore, plus with my Photo Roll in there too. I'm not interested in imaging on junk for exactly that reason.

An iCloud restore is exactly the same as an iTunes restore (except for stuff that you have excluded from the iCloud backup if applicable). Itunes does not "image" any more than iCloud does.

Is there a way I'm not aware of to do this cleanly? I want to preserve metadata for photos (date taken, GPS coords, etc.) Thanks.

Sure. Just make an iTunes backup and restore. Much faster than iCloud restore too.

Alternatively, you may be able to upload the photos to your Photo Library on icloud.com using the recently added upload functions. Once they are in photo library, you should be able to access them on the phone too. Of course this is only an option if you have sufficient room left on your iCloud account.

 

[Pharmscott]

Another vote for doing a iTunes backup. It's fast and there is no disadvantage as compared to iCloud. I've done this personally several times when moving from one iPhone to another and never had any issues or difficulty.

 

[Woochifer]

I generally prefer iTunes backup, simply because reloading the apps and data from a local connection goes much faster than using my home internet connection. Plus, I don't have to worry about dipping into my monthly data allotment.

Just for maintenance (and reducing the size of the "Other" directory), I restore my phone as new and restore from a local backup about once every other month. Restoring as a new device flushes the caches and junk data, and reloads the complete iOS installation file. Restoring from a backup loads back the settings and apps, as well as photos and messages (which I believe that iCloud will not restore).

 

[Woochifer]

i would backup your photos separately then do an iCloud restore.

An itunes backup is an image of your phone and can often bring unwanted 'junk' onto your new phone. 80% of genius bar appointments could be stopped by people using iCloud backup instead if iTunes backup.

Not an exact image, because the backup does not save the iOS system files, nor any of the system or app caches. Restoring from an iTunes backup will actually purge a lot of junk that apps accumulate. Restoring as new will reload the entire iOS installation from a separate file that Apple has to revalidate.

Seems to me that updates and restorations done OTA are more prone to error, and have caused far more issues recently (i.e., the iOS 8.0.1 update that only affected users updating OTA). I've had several iTunes Match downloads hang, and leave junk files on my phone. I would not want this to happen during a backup restoration.

 

[Mr Kram]

i like the iTunes backup myself. i actually like to sync my devices daily as i have many smart playlists that constantly change. i also like to sync my photos to iPhoto and i pick and choose the photos i want to keep on the phone. and actually that is now moot since i have my entire photo library uploaded to amazon.

 

[wxman2003]

i would backup your photos separately then do an iCloud restore.

An itunes backup is an image of your phone and can often bring unwanted 'junk' onto your new phone. 80% of genius bar appointments could be stopped by people using iCloud backup instead if iTunes backup.

I like it when people make up stats.

 

[Robert1-1]

Then they should fix iTunes backup.

i would backup your photos separately then do an iCloud restore.

An itunes backup is an image of your phone and can often bring unwanted 'junk' onto your new phone. 80% of genius bar appointments could be stopped by people using iCloud backup instead if iTunes backup.

 

[zorinlynx]

Just for maintenance (and reducing the size of the "Other" directory), I restore my phone as new and restore from a local backup about once every other month. Restoring as a new device flushes the caches and junk data, and reloads the complete iOS installation file. Restoring from a backup loads back the settings and apps, as well as photos and messages (which I believe that iCloud will not restore).

Why do you feel you have to do this? My phone doesn't have performance issues, even after a year or more using the same restore.

 

[Weaselboy]

Would I be able to perform an iTunes Backup on my computer to capture these photos, along with everything else that is typically encompassed in iCloud Backup, to restore onto my new iPhone when I receive it?

Yes, an iTunes backup would bring in everything including your photos as others have mentioned.

One thing I have not seen mentioned, and the big reason I always use iTunes backup to migrate, is if you check the encryption box in iTunes backup for your device all your app passwords will be saved and restored to the new device. This saves me a ton of time not having to go back to individual apps and reenter all the account info and passwords.

These passwords are not saved and migrated with an iCloud backup/restore.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I use the cloud for everynight backups but still do a backup to iTunes every month or so.

But when ever I get a new phone, I always restore with a backup from iTunes and have never had a problem. The restore is quick, accurate and complete!

 

[newellj]

I use the cloud for everynight backups but still do a backup to iTunes every month or so.

But when ever I get a new phone, I always restore with a backup from iTunes and have never had a problem. The restore is quick, accurate and complete!

That's funny - I do it the other way (for no particular reason, other than I tend to update apps via iTunes rather than OTA). So, the backup is "free" (in terms of time/effort).

 

[MJedi]

Just for maintenance (and reducing the size of the "Other" directory), I restore my phone as new and restore from a local backup about once every other month. Restoring as a new device flushes the caches and junk data, and reloads the complete iOS installation file.

This is something I've always wondered when I update iOS using iTunes: is it better to restore as new and then restore the backup, or just go straight to restoring the backup?

 

[Newtons Apple]

This is something I've always wondered when I update iOS using iTunes: is it better to restore as new and then restore the backup, or just go straight to restoring the backup?

I just restore from iTunes backup and it only takes minutes and it is done.

 

[Woochifer]

Why do you feel you have to do this? My phone doesn't have performance issues, even after a year or more using the same restore.

I do this primarily to reduce the size of the "Other" directory. I load and unload a lot of playlists using iTunes Match, and the downloads will occasionally hang. When this happens, all of the expected data that was supposed to download gets thrown into the "Other" directory as garbage data. The only way to get rid of this is to restore as a new device. I also have a couple of misbehaving apps that gobble up huge amounts of space, and don't ever get purged unless I restore as new.

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This is something I've always wondered when I update iOS using iTunes: is it better to restore as new and then restore the backup, or just go straight to restoring the backup?

Restoring as new will purge the system caches and any garbage data you have hanging around (i.e., the "Other" directory). Restoring from a backup will purge the app caches, but will leave the system files intact.

 

[zorinlynx]

I do this primarily to reduce the size of the "Other" directory. I load and unload a lot of playlists using iTunes Match, and the downloads will occasionally hang. When this happens, all of the expected data that was supposed to download gets thrown into the "Other" directory as garbage data. The only way to get rid of this is to restore as a new device. I also have a couple of misbehaving apps that gobble up huge amounts of space, and don't ever get purged unless I restore as new.

Have you tried simply deleting all the music from your phone under the Usage section in settings?

This should theoretically nuke anything music-related.

 

[Woochifer]

Have you tried simply deleting all the music from your phone under the Usage section in settings?

This should theoretically nuke anything music-related.

That doesn't do anything. It will purge the files that actually download, but not the garbage data that gets left behind if the download hangs. Same thing happens if an app update gets interrupted and cannot resume.

 

[Agent-P]

When I got my 6 I restored from the iTunes backup of my 5 and haven't had any issues. Plus as others have said it saves time vs an iCloud restore.

 

[Angler]

I have never had a good restore from iCloud back up. Use iTunes faster and better.