Guide to iPhone Syncing and Backups: Complete with Troubleshooting Advice

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Although syncing your iPhone with your computer is a bit of a bugbear for some, it’s certainly a good idea to do it every so often. It can often take a long time to complete, and if you don’t do it that often then it takes even longer. If you think about how much and what type of information you have on there, then it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a backup, and regular syncing sees to that for the most part.

Of course there are apps that can do it for you too and we take a look at some of the best ones in this syncing and backup guide. And of course there are those frantically annoying times when things just won’t work the way you want them to, so we’ve thrown in some troubleshooting guides on syncing and backups too.

There are also sections that address specific syncing needs such as music, or contacts – just think how lost you’d be without either of those.

Even if you don’t want to sync your phone to your PC or Mac frequently, you’ll definitely want to make sure some of your more valuable data is backed up, and everything you could possibly need to know is in our Let’s Backup section.

Using your Computer to Sync

Although syncing your iPhone to your computer is usually straightforward, we make no assumptions that it will always be the case. We get you started here with some general guides on syncing up computers and iPhones whether you have a PC or a Mac. And what about when you get a new computer? We’ve got that covered too.

Troubleshooting - When Things Don’t Go to Plan

Although usually your iPhone will present you with very few problems in its lifetime, we have catered for those occasions when things don’t work as they should. These troubleshooting guides will help you out with your syncing problems whether general or specific – such as problems with Exchange email. Those annoying times when you can’t get iTunes apps to sync are few and far between, but our last article in this section will steer you through the murky waters.

Syncing & Backing Up Music

One of the most valuable areas of data on your iPhone is likely to be the music – especially if you use it as your iPod as well as your phone – so backing it all up is really important. If you think your average tune costs 99 cents on iTunes then even if you have just a couple of hundred songs on there, you certainly don’t want to lose them. Let us guide you through the process of syncing music even if you don’t want to use iTunes; there are some alternatives to using iTunes if you don’t wish to and PwnTunes is just one of them.

Specific Syncing According to Task

Most of your apps and music will get automatically synced when you connect your iPhone to your computer, but of course there are other areas of your phone that you want backed-up or synced too. Photos are too precious to risk losing, but we also take a look at contacts, emails and calendars, as well as what to do about syncing those Cydia apps if you have a jailbroken iPhone.

Apps to the Rescue

We all know that there’s an app for everything, so meet our small but perfectly formed group of apps to help with your backing up and syncing needs. The beauty of these, of course, is that you don’t have to keep syncing your iPhone on your computer, as these options use websites and cloud storage so you don’t have to worry about that. There are many apps out there that can help with this problem, but we reckon these are your best options.

Let’s Backup

Although syncing your information ensures that the important stuff on your phone is also on your computer, there are times when you want something a bit more comprehensive than that. For example, do you know how to backup your contacts or other more basic information, that although it may be basic you’d really miss if it wasn’t there? We’ve also thrown in some troubleshooting help here when backing up too, including what to do when the backup is taking too long.

So there we have it, our guide to syncing and backups is complete. If you take action on what you’ve just read then you certainly won’t be sorry – remember to bookmark it for future reference. Please let us know if there’s an app for backup and syncing that you wouldn’t be without by leaving a comment below.

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All articles from Bright Hub.