Sadly, Apple has never produced a backup application for mobile that allows for granular restoration of data. This is a bad move for the user and disallows some really useful troubleshooting/emergency procedures. It’s definitely something that could be done but it’s likely they never will.
2 Likes
I don’t backup my iPhone or iPad to iCloud, largely because Apple can access them. Now that they’ve introduced Advanced Data Protection, I may revisit that.
I do backup my iDevices to my home server (Mac Mini) which, in turn, gets backed up via TimeMachine and BackBlaze. Whether or not I choose to enable iCloud backup, I will continue to do local backups because (if they’re encrypted) they preserve more data and make recovery easier.
1 Like
This may be true, but in 10+ years of using an iphone and nearly as long with an iPad has never been an issue.
I do have some processes though. I only allow people to email documents, never to send them via messaging systems. All my passwords are in a password manager that connects with my laptop. All my daily drivers; Craft, Ulysses, Things, Logos, and Ninox, sync to my desktop.
In the good old days on ios apps stored their data in the app. This is now not the case and removes the need for me to backup the device. I used to be fussed with message threads, but 99% of this is now on Whatsapp and has a 90 day deletion set by default. This makes me copy out any data I might need.
2 Likes
I don’t back up my phone, but I backup my Mac and that has everything on it. There’s nothing in any messaging app such as WhatsApp that I’d really miss.
1 Like
On a couple of occasions I’ve had to recover personal files that had been deleted more than three years earlier. Once I had to recover accounting files for one of our executives that had been deleted for almost seven years. And I know of two businesses, that did not test their backups, that closed their doors within 30 days of a major data loss.
I guess forty years of watching people lose their data has made me a bit of a backup “enthusiast”.
7 Likes
Not quite correct, when I tap on Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → iCloud Backup → (device name) to get to the backup detail screen there’s a list off apps + app data with toggles next to each app to turn off those apps one does not wish to be backed up.
All pf the third party apps and a couple of Apple apps show in that list, but the majority of pre-installed Apple apps do not show up in the list.
2 Likes
They used to. Not so much any more. See the discussion below for details:
I have totally forgotten about that thread. Thank you for reminding me. 
I have to admit that I have not been using iMazing for automatic backups in the more recent past. So I did not experience these issues that have been introduced with the mentioned iOS update.
@liminal, thank you for pointing out those options for more granularity in backing up app data in iCloud.
I know that I probably do sound like a fanboy saying this, but I just turn on iCloud backups and then I do not really think about it any longer.
I’m not on a percentage.
In a household with 4 iPhones and 4 iPads, I pay (now) £8.99 for 2TB of storage which means that we’re all backed up and can access our photos at any time.
We also have a shared Photo Library. My youngest daughter alone has about 300GB of photos.
A few times we’re had to reset to factory defaults and restore and the grief it’s saved me is worth it.
But of course everyone needs to make their own decision. I’m lucky that I can afford it. iCloud storage is on my 2nd level of priority for bills that must be paid I.e. not “Nice to have” but not “We’ll be living In a cardboard box if we don’t pay this”
1 Like
Brilliant, I knew it used to be there. That’s not where I expected it to be.
I’ve been debating this. We’re also a four iphone family and my daughter saves media like there’s no tomorrow!
What will you do when 2TB is full?
I still use iMazing to back up bith iPad and iPhone but it’s not automatic anymore. I will not use iCloud for backup.
However, a big gotcha is that I am now months into a bug in Calendar where I cannot backup or restore calendars on any mobile device from my Mac. The formerly tried and true method of connecting via cable, selecting info and then selecting to sync calendars does not work. Worse, I cannot overwrite whatever is on my iPhone with what is on my Mac (the canonical source for my calendar) After going through factory resets, trying to sync only individual calendars at a time, safe morde, new user and more it still is broken. Just like the printcalednar to list format if I want more than 15 days in the list still crashes the Calendar app.
This!!!
The only choice at the moment would be to take on Apple One premium and add on 2 TB.
That’s a long way away for me though. I’ll start worrying when I reach 1.5 TB
This seems like an odd question, since the alternative is “no backups at all”, isn’t it?
Realistically, I think for a handful of iDevices 2 TB is going to be plenty. Some app data isn’t backed up. For example, I have Logos Bible Software, and I have probably 50 gigabytes of data downloaded. That’s not in the backup. I have probably 20 GB of data in Overcast. That’s not backed up. When you add up all that stuff, it effectively means my backups - even on a 256 GB iPhone - are relatively small.
So I wouldn’t be worried about backup space in the short term. I would potentially be worried about a family iPhone taking an unplanned bath and all of their saved media vanishing.
I reduced my online storage needs by removing music and movies I had ripped from physical media.
I still have a local copy and the original media. Most of my movies are available to stream, usually for free. And the music I upload to YouTube doesn’t count against my Google Drive storage.
1 Like
Does iCloud save device backups to the same cloud where general iCloud data is stored? I’m thinking of the obvious point of having your data and backup in the same place. If something broke with iCloud, would that compromise not just icloud data but all the device backups also?
Yup. Following the 3-2-1 backup strategy instead can help mitigate issues that may arise if a single backup fails.
(edit) I use Apple’s free configurator app to backup my phone and ipads locally to my mac in addition to icloud backup.
I’m curious: what is the advantage of using Configurator over Finder?
I pair lock all of my devices to my desktop Mac, so using Finder isn’t an option for me.
What Apple did to iMazing is an inconvenience. What iMazing does is a requirement.
1 Like