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Why does iCloud automatically back up every single app by default?

T

TH55

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Original poster
Nov 5, 2011
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I just got an email saying I had almost reached my storage limit and would need to upgrade, so I went into my iCloud settings to see what I was backing up and I found this list. Is there any reason anyone would want or need to back up words with friends or facebook?

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Small White Car said:
An automatic backup that simply threw out data because it thinks "eh, he doesn't need this" would be pretty much the most pointless piece of software ever written.
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It does it in almost every other area of iOS and most other smart software the defaults, other than for lock screen notification, are "smart" and intuitive - based on what most people will likely prefer.
 
Seems like one would expect it to backup everything it could until/unless one would change the settings themselves. It's simple enough to change those settings if and when needed/desired, so that pretty much takes care of it.
 
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TH55 said:
It does it in almost every other area of iOS and most other smart software the defaults, other than for lock screen notification, are "smart" and intuitive - based on what most people will likely prefer.
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There's noting "smart" or "intuitive" about a backup function that, by default, chooses to back up nothing. Most users would end up turning on iCloud backups, and then get a shock when they need to restore and discover that, no, backups weren't really turned on... because they had to turn it on, then turn it on again for each individual app.

Quite the contrary, I'd bet that most people would likely prefer that it defaults to backing up all app data, and let the user decide - if they want to - to specify app data they don't want backed up.
 
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Part of Apple's plan for iCloud was to lure users into subscribing to cloud storage, rather than the free storage available on user's own spacious hard drives. The other part was that Apple could sell you more devices with iCloud helping you sync personalized data such as email, notes, calendar, contacts, links.
 
FieldingMellish said:
Part of Apple's plan for iCloud was to lure users into subscribing to cloud storage, rather than the free storage available on user's own spacious hard drives. The other part was that Apple could sell you more devices with iCloud helping you sync personalized data such as email, notes, calendar, contacts, links.
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Ding ding ding. Best answer.

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scaredpoet said:
There's noting "smart" or "intuitive" about a backup function that, by default, chooses to back up nothing. Most users would end up turning on iCloud backups, and then get a shock when they need to restore and discover that, no, backups weren't really turned on... because they had to turn it on, then turn it on again for each individual app.

Quite the contrary, I'd bet that most people would likely prefer that it defaults to backing up all app data, and let the user decide - if they want to - to specify app data they don't want backed up.
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When did I say it should back up nothing?? I simply said it shouldn't back up everything.
 
scaredpoet said:
Who decides what's backed up and what isn't, then? And how is that inconsistency communicated to users?
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Since storage costs money, it should only back up the most vital data. The rest should be optional.
 
TH55 said:
Ding ding ding. Best answer.

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When did I say it should back up nothing?? I simply said it shouldn't back up everything.
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Huh. So who decides what gets backuped? Same with time machine it backs up everything as it should and if you don't want certain things in the backup you exclude them.
Imagine it would do what you suggest, there would be millions of people so pissed of when they restore their phone and half the stuff is missing. You really didnt think this through did you? :confused:
 
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TH55 said:
Since storage costs money, it should only back up the most vital data. The rest should be optional.
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Who is in the position to decide what is vital and non-vital data to you? That definition itself is subjective to every users. There is nothing smart about backup unless you specifically tell the system what to and not to backup. If left on default, I would rather Apple errs on the safe side of backing up everything rather than finding out later the data I want isn't backup because it doesn't fall inside the vital data list of Apple.

Seriously? Have you ever backup anything in your life before?
 
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orpheus1120 said:
Who is in the position to decide what is vital and non-vital data to you? That definition itself is subjective to every users. There is nothing smart about backup unless you specifically tell the system what to and not to backup. If left on default, I would rather Apple errs on the safe side of backing up everything rather than finding out later the data I want isn't backup because it doesn't fall inside the vital data list of Apple.

Seriously? Have you ever backup anything in your life before?
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I just had to manually go through and turn off 40+ backups for apps I've never even opened so I didn't run out of storage space. Extremely inefficient.
 
TH55 said:
Since storage costs money, it should only back up the most vital data. The rest should be optional.
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Again, who decides which data is most vital?

Also, iCloud storage only costs money if you specifically buy it. If your backup data exceeds your storage level, you're notified and can then make decisions about waht to do, whether that means buying more storage, or deciding something has to go.
 
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scaredpoet said:
Again, who decides which data is most vital?

Also, iCloud storage only costs money if you specifically buy it. If your backup data exceeds your storage level, you're notified and can then make decisions about waht to do, whether that means buying more storage, or deciding something has to go.
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You have to buy it, there's not enough space for everything it backs up by default.
 
TH55 said:
Since storage costs money, it should only back up the most vital data. The rest should be optional.
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So how much app/game space is taking up, like that Words with Friends example you used?

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TH55 said:
I just had to manually go through and turn off 40+ backups for apps I've never even opened so I didn't run out of storage space. Extremely inefficient.
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You mean you actually did what you should be doing and decided what you need to backup and what you don't. You just didn't like that you needed to spend a few minutes once (or once in a rare while) to do it.

Cleaning the house is quite time consuming and has to be repeated on a regular basis. Extremely stupid isn't it? Why do we bother doing it when we can just perhaps not do anything inside a house and so things won't get dirty nearly as quickly?

It's all just reality. Many might not like many aspects of reality, but it doesn't change what it is just because someone might not like it.
 
C DM said:
So how much app/game space is taking up, like that Words with Friends example you used?

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You mean you actually did what you should be doing and decided what you need to backup and what you don't. You just didn't like that you needed to spend a few minutes once (or once in a rare while) to do it.

Cleaning the house is quite time consuming and has to be reappeared on a regular basis. Extremely stupid isn't it. Why do we bother doing it when we can just perhaps not do anything inside a house and so things won't get dirty nearly as quickly?

It's all just reality. Many might not like many aspects of reality, but it doesn't change what it is just because someone might not like it.
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I'm sorry, terrible analogy. Cleaning is unavoidable. Technology and software is 100% man made and its prime objective, at least smart phones, is to make life easier and more organized.
 
TH55 said:
I'm sorry, terrible analogy. Cleaning is unavoidable. Technology and software is 100% man made and its prime objective, at least smart phones, is to make life easier and more organized.
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It still needs to be managed. That's one important piece to overlook or to think that doesn't or shouldn't exist.

When you get a new phone why doesn't it turn on for the very first time and have everything set up and configured to your liking? Why do you have to spend some time (usually well over a minute or even a few minutes) setting it up? It's technology and some of the newst technology but we have to "waste" our time configuring it when we start using it.
 
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In any case, how much space are we talking about here when it comes to app data?

Based on a few phones that I've dealt with over the years and various family members (as well as my own) the numbers involved are mostly in KB with occasionally being a few MB, meaning they are practically statistically I significant as far as the space they take up compared to everything else.
 
If you've never opened the app it's not storing anything in a backup. Hence why it says no data.

To that point, if you've never opened it why do you have the app on your device?

Maybe you should look at what is actually filling your backups. Probably photos/videos, and messages conversations.
 
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TH55 said:
I'm sorry, terrible analogy. Cleaning is unavoidable. Technology and software is 100% man made and its prime objective, at least smart phones, is to make life easier and more organized.
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It's actually an excellent analogy. And as you point out, the technology is man-made, and humanity is distinct in being particualrly non-uniform in how they think and what their preferences are. As a result, what works for many people may not work for a minority of certain other people. Unfortunately this time, you're on the losing side of this. It happens.

Until Apple perfects hardware that can read minds, some effort will be required to let your phone (and icloud account) know what your preferences are.

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TH55 said:
You have to buy it, there's not enough space for everything it backs up by default.
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Like your whole argument, you're assuming that your specific experience is universal. It's not.
 
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