Getting a new smartphone is a great time to think about your regular routine and whether it’s working for you or not. For example, are you really trusting all your photos, voicemail and text messages to that mysterious iCloud backup in iTunes? What happens if that fails? That’s why I have a redundant weekly backup of my new Apple iPhone X onto my computer through AnyTrans. Here’s how it works…
I think I’ve owned just about every single iPhone that Apple has released, along with most of the iPad and iPod models too. I started on the road with Apple way back with a Mac 512K. Not sure what that is? Google it. 🙂 Suffice to say, it’s been a long journey. The company, I have learned, makes beautiful hardware but its software is a bit more of a dicey proposition, notably the team of iTunes and iCloud. If they were “pretty reliable” that would be fine for most things, but when we’re talking about my smartphone, we’re talking about critical videos, photographs, communications from my children and family, voicemails and much more. Irreplaceable things.
There’s a lot more too, including my extensive audiobook library, tons of music, contacts, calendar events, etc. You’ve probably grown more and more reliant on your smartphone too as they have rapidly evolved into being powerful and capable ultra-compact computers. Not to mention all your app purchases, for that matter.
Problem is, what happens if that iCloud backup doesn’t work for recovery? What if you forget your password (Tip: many people get befuddled with which password is needed to access an iOS backup archive) and can’t get in? Your new iPhone – whether an iPhone 8, 8 Plus or iPhone X – gives you a chance to pause and ask the question: is there a better, safer way?
The answer is yes. iMobie just released an updated version of its AnyTrans program that not only enables you to extract specific data & files from iTunes/iCloud backups and export them to your computer – or simply grab specific files or data that iTunes won’t let you access individually – but now has what they call Air Backup capability. It’s simple too: once it’s all set up your computer can automatically – wirelessly – make a complete backup copy of all the data and files from your iPhone onto your computer.
Let me show you what I’m talking about. Start by simply launching AnyTrans [I’m using the Mac version, but it’s available for Windows computers too if that’s your preference]:
The strip of icons along the top are the main control and you can get to Air Backup with the button just to the left of the blue device image. A click and the first time through it tells you how to proceed:
Don’t get confused here: You have to connect with a direct wire just to set things up, but once it’s all configured, you’ll see, it all works just fine wirelessly, as long as your phone and computer are on the same wifi network.
Click “Enable Air Backup” once you’ve plugged in your iPhone X [or iPhone 8, etc etc]
You can see that the two main options are to automate the process of Air Backup or to manage it manually. In the latter case, just click “Back Up Now” whenever you feel the urge to backup your precious data, and in the former case enable Air Backup with the blue slider switch near the top, then simply indicate how often you want the backup to occur. The default is every 3 days but I suggest a lower frequency: I have mine set to once weekly, but you could even have a monthly backup too, particularly if this is redundant with iCloud.
Make sure your computer and iPhone are on the same wireless network and like magic the program will suddenly pop up with:
What’s nice is that there’s a small helper app that runs on your computer if you do automate the process, so you don’t need to have AnyTrans running for it to work. Your computer has to be up and running, of course, not asleep, but that’s all that’s required. Backups don’t take too long and after a bit you’ll get a status update on the main screen:
As you can see, the backup was 984.31MB and completed on Nov 13 at 1:25pm. And that’s it. Set to monthly (as shown above) I can set and forget, knowing that if iCloud goes completely wonky or the Apple backup of my iPhone is corrupt or inaccessible for some reason that I have a secret redundant backup on my computer thanks to AnyTrans Air Backup.
AnyTrans has a lot more power and capabilities too, so definitely don’t think of it as a one trick pony. I’ve written about it before, actually, including an article on how to use AnyTrans to migrate from an old iPhone to a new iPhone. Definitely worth checking out if you prefer insurance and planning ahead to avoid potentially catastrophic data loss!
AnyTrans is $39.99 for a single computer license with lifetime updates and only $59.99 for a five-computer license.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. The opinions, analysis and commentary expressed, however, is my own. As always.