how much stuff IS actually in an iPad Backup ?

[timmy_toad]

i have established that my missus has got to have a new battery in her iPad 2, so i have to BACK IT UP ! but How much of her precious iPad is actually Backed Up in, iCloud and/or iTunes ??.

She has stuff on her iPad that means more to her than I do !!!!!!!!! and i am NOT joking

For example, Bookmarks and Tabs in Safari, Photos in iPhoto, both Camera Roll and Photo Stream, Ancestry Data and dozens of very important Emails in Mail of of course Email account settings as well !!!

I am only positive that her Photo Stream will be OK and Settings. But how much more is DEFINITLEY backed up ?

I have used Photo Capture to Import all her Photos to my MacBookPro, but apart from that, i am not too sure about anything at all, to be honest !

In a way i am pleased her iPad means so much to her, 'cause when i bought it for her 2years 3 months ago she didnt really want it, never having actually used a computer ever before !. So it was £400 well spent.

Tim

 

[chas_m]

You can select (in iTunes on your Mac) whether you want a backup made locally or using iCloud.

The iCloud backup will be smaller; for example it doesn't physically make a backup of the apps, since you got them all from the App Store; it just makes a note of what apps they were and restores them.

Here's some of the differences, straight from Apple:

"iCloud Backup does not back up music, movies, and TV shows that you did not purchase from the iTunes Store, or any podcasts, audio books, or photos that you originally synced from your computer. iCloud Backup will restore your purchased music, movie, and app content from the iTunes and App Stores during the background restore process. Previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer in the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBookstore."

And about a straight iTunes backup:

"Keep in mind that iTunes Backup does not create a duplicate back up of your movies, music, podcasts, and apps. As noted in this article, your media content is synced from your primary computer via iTunes."

Bottom line: the iTunes Backup backs up EVERYTHING. The iCloud backup backs up MOST things but doesn't back up movies/music/media that didn't come from the iTunes Store (but that's not to say you can't easily put all that stuff back on).

 

[timmy_toad]

Thank you so much chasm that is most helpful

Yeah so backed up to my Hard drive using iTunes it is ,

furthermore i have NOW found out, after much searching, because, i was most concerned about EMAIL's not being BACKED UP at all, so i found out it didnt matter, because all the GMAIL emails would be re-downloaded from the relevant GMAIL Accounts on the WEB.

So i can now rest easy, thanks CHAS_M

Tim

 

[mrplow]

If you have such vital information on the iPad, I'd setup iCloud so that it backups up automatically.

Switch it on in Settings - iCloud - Storage & Backup
It will backup automatically, daily when the iPad is on wi-fi and power (like overnight when charging)

You can backup to iTunes and iCloud.

 

[chas_m]

mrplow is right -- you can set it to backup to both iCloud AND your hard drive. In my case, I opted to back up my iPad to iCloud and my iPhone to my hard disk. I probably should just do both with both.