iPad Restore: Someone Please Explain This To Me

[Jason Dunn]

<p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/lpt/auto/1304561659.usr1.jpg" /></p><p>I admit it: when it comes to the world of Apple devices, there's still a lot I don't know. Some things make intuitive sense, while others I find baffling. This is the latter. <MORE /></p><p>Today I returned my black 32 GB iPad 2 and exchanged it for a 64 GB model. I've become quite enamoured with the iPad and am excited to use it for photography so I wanted to have the extra storage. The local Apple store here gave me some amazing customer service - I'll write more about that in another post - and I was able to upgrade to the more expensive product fairly easily. Before returning the 32 GB iPad 2 to the store, I did one final sync to back it up, then I reset it back to factory specs before boxing it up. When I connected the 64 GB iPad 2, I opted to restore the image I'd created just a few hours earlier. The results of the restore weren't very impressive.</p><p>First, rather than the three screens of icons that I very carefully organized over a period of two weeks, I have ten screens of apps. It will take me at least an hour to put everything back where I want it. Only four of my dozen or so folders are there, and they only have one app each. Next, after I connected to my Wi-Fi network - it needed the password, which I found odd - I was peppered with half a dozen password prompts. Exactly what kind of a restore is this? Other than putting my background wallpaper on there, this seems like a poor "backup" that was taken of my previous iPad. I watched as every app was installed again - though than. I can understand&nbsp;<em>somewhat</em>&nbsp;the password issue - it's a security precaution so someone doesn't clone your device and get access to all your accounts. But it's a hassle for the user. If my backup was encrypted in iTunes, would it still work this way?</p><p>Am I missing something, or does Apple really not understand the expectation that a backup should restore a device to the exact same state it was in at the time of the backup?</p>

[Jerry Raia]

My experience going from the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4 was identical. Granted, two different pieces of hardware. The apps scattered all over was the most frustrating for me as well.

[rockinthesixstring]

I don't know about the icon bit. When I migrated from iPad to iPad2, I didn't experience that.

I did however experience the password bit. I was actually satisfied that it asked me for all the passwords. I like the sense of security it gave me.

[Dyvim]

Jason, if you encrypt your backups (which you should be doing anyway), you won't be prompted for the passwords on restore (at least it works for email, WiFi, and MobileMe passwords- not sure about 3rd party apps).

The folders issue is a painful bug. I've had some weird experiences with that. In some cases it seems to organize apps into their folders on the 2nd sync after a restore. But yeah I went through the same thing when I wanted to start my iPad 2 off by restoring it from my most recent iPad 1 backup.

[Vincent Ferrari]

Do you sync your iPod Touch to that same computer? I'd bet any amount of money you do.

Not that this is an excuse, because I agree it's broken, but I never have this problem with my iPhones and ALWAYS with my iPads. It seems that iTunes doesn't deal with multiple iOS devices very well and always mucks up the process.

Apple definitely needs to fix this.

PS: That's why I just call it a day when I lose an iPad. I NEVER sync apps on my iPad to iTunes any more; just music and tv shows and such. Everything else, I do OTA. Yes, it's a pain in the ass when I have to 'start over' but I'd rather deal with that than the syncing drama.

It's definitely a broken experience, which is surprising because Apple really is good with UX stuff.

[Dyvim]

And off-topic, I'm really enjoying using my iPad 2 to preview photos taken with my shiny new Nikon D3100 (which I got after watching your video review of it), which is my first DSLR.

[Jason Dunn]

Jason, if you encrypt your backups (which you should be doing anyway), you won't be prompted for the passwords on restore (at least it works for email, WiFi, and MobileMe passwords- not sure about 3rd party apps).

OK, that's what I figured. I'd have encrypted it if I knew about that feature - I frankly didn't look at the little check box down there until recently. Might be nice to make that part of the initial iPad setup ("Do you want your backup to be encrypted?").

The folders issue is a painful bug. I've had some weird experiences with that. In some cases it seems to organize apps into their folders on the 2nd sync after a restore.

I tried a second sync, but no dice. :mad:

[Jason Dunn]

Do you sync your iPod Touch to that same computer? I'd bet any amount of money you do.

You bet. Just like most people I'd guess. :) You'd think that over the past year Apple would have fixed this. Sucks. :mad:

PS: That's why I just call it a day when I lose an iPad.

Uh, how many iPads have you gone through exactly??? :eek:

[Jason Dunn]

And off-topic, I'm really enjoying using my iPad 2 to preview photos taken with my shiny new Nikon D3100 (which I got after watching your video review of it), which is my first DSLR.

Nice. Glad you're enjoying the camera! :D

[Jason Dunn]

OK, now I'm getting more irritated: none of my Flipboard settings were transferred over, so I have to re-input Facebook and Twitter feeds. Grr. This is the most useless "backup" process I've ever seen! :mad:

[Vincent Ferrari]

Uh, how many iPads have you gone through exactly??? :eek:

When I said Lose, I don't mean physically lose. I'm on my 3rd. I had 2 32g wifis (bought one, sold it, got another one a few months later), a 64g wifi, and this is my first iPad 2.

And yes, Apple really screwed the pooch on this.

[griph]

OK, now I'm getting more irritated: none of my Flipboard settings were transferred over, so I have to re-input Facebook and Twitter feeds. Grr. This is the most useless "backup" process I've ever seen! :mad:

Oh come on Jason! - we all remember the issues with Windows Phone back up and restore - if you bought a new device you couldnt restore with any reliability at all - it was a fresh set up everytime! Even with third party backups it was a pain in the a$$. Not sure what its like on WP7 - not going down that path - MS had their chance and messed up (and from what I see continue to do so)!

[Jason Dunn]

Oh come on Jason! - we all remember the issues with Windows Phone back up and restore - if you bought a new device you couldnt restore with any reliability at all - it was a fresh set up everytime! Even with third party backups it was a pain in the a$$.

What does one have to do with the other? I should lower my standards for what I expect from Apple because Microsoft did an even worse job? No way. We're talking a backup of one iPad 2 being restored to a factory-fresh iPad 2. That should be brain-dead simple. Apple products are supposed to "just work", right? So that's what I was expecting here.

And FWIW, back in the Pocket PC days I used Spb Backup or Sprite Backup and didn't recall having any serious problems with them - I'd backup my device, test some software, then restore it and keep going. That's the way it should work.

[Jerry Raia]

If Apple has an Achilles Heel it is definitely iTunes. It should be rewritten from scratch.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Can one jailbreak and look for an app that does proper backups/restores?

[alex_kac]

The backup/restore Apple does is nearly complete, but its got a few fatal flaws:

1) Unless you ENCRYPT your backup, all security settings, passwords, etc... will not be backed up and restored. Read that again. I just learned this myself! It used to a long time ago, but I guess someone complained or something. So now if you want a backup to be a REAL backup, encrypt it within iTunes.


2) The loss of folders, app placement, etc.. is a bug and one tha'ts been around since iTunes 10.00. I hate it. However you can fix it by doing a sync of your apps first and THEN doing a restore. The problem is that the apps are not there when the backup is restored so the placement is lost. Big bug as far as I'm concerned.

[Jason Dunn]

Oh, would you look at that - Flipboard has none of my Facebook/Twitter feeds in it. It looks like the restore process restores some data - I see my high score in Tiny Wings is there - but not all data. I wonder how many of my other apps are going to be missing data?

Is this a fail on the part of the developer, or on the part of Apple?

[Jason Dunn]

2) The loss of folders, app placement, etc.. is a bug and one tha'ts been around since iTunes 10.00. I hate it. However you can fix it by doing a sync of your apps first and THEN doing a restore. The problem is that the apps are not there when the backup is restored so the placement is lost. Big bug as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks for the confirmation Alex. Wish I would have known that before I did the restore! :(

[Phronetix]

Wow. This is not great at all. I totally feel for you. My experience has been very unlike those listed so far.

I have had my fair share of devices - original iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPad and now iPad 2 - and to a letter the backup process has been perfect for me. It had gotten to the point that I have nearly unwavering confidence in Apple in this regard. I even bragged how, when my first two 3G phones were defective, that I could bring my MacBook, and my phone to the Genius Bar, get a new phone and leave the store not being able to ever tell I had the unit replaced.

I did have an issue with iBooks at one point on my daughter's iPod touch, but that is it, and was rather easily fixed with a reset.

Dennis

[Dyvim]

Is this a fail on the part of the developer, or on the part of Apple?
I'm pretty sure it's developer fail. On my restore to iPad 2, Flipboard was the only app that lost my settings.

Apps have 2 directories to write files to (i.e. save user settings, cache temp files)- 1 is intended for state information like scores, settings, generated content, etc. and 1 is intended as temporary storage for things like file caching, etc. The former is backed up, the latter is not. My guess is Flipboard is storing its feeds in the wrong directory- the one intended as temporary cache that is not backed up. Some apps do the opposite- store temp files in the other directory, which can make your backups huge and slow (and filled with useless temp files)- e.g. iEnvision used to do this. Apple's developer resources are pretty clear on explaining the differences between the 2, but of course not everyone RTFM.

[Jason Dunn]

I have had my fair share of devices - original iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPad and now iPad 2 - and to a letter the backup process has been perfect for me.

That's really curious - why is your experience different than ours? When you organize the apps on your iPad, do you do it on the device itself, or on your desktop via iTunes? Someone else mentioned to me this may be the determining factor, baffling as though it may be.

[Phronetix]

That's really curious - why is your experience different than ours? When you organize the apps on your iPad, do you do it on the device itself, or on your desktop via iTunes? Someone else mentioned to me this may be the determining factor, baffling as though it may be.

Several thoughts:

1. I don't encrypt all my backups on all devices, so it can't be that.
2. I think it may have to do with the apps that I use. Perhaps I am not using any of the apps whose developers place data in that non-permanent folder that was mentioned above.
3. I have moved icons around once using iTunes, otherwise always on-device.
4. I run only OS X on my machines.
5. I have a tendency to not tolerate an app that acts up on me. I just turf it.

That's all I've got.

[Jason Dunn]

4. I run only OS X on my machines.

This is the only factor that I think could be relevant. If the Windows version of iTunes has a bug that the OS X version does not, it could cause this. But it seems to be happening to other people in this thread that I know are running OS X...:confused:

[Macguy59]

Odd. I don't encrypt any of my backups and I sync my iPhone 4 with the same machine I sync my iPad 2. To date the only time I've experienced my icons and screens being different from the backup was going from iPad 1 to iPad 2. Rearranging your app screens can be speeded up a bit by doing it with iTunes. With your iPad connected, go to the Application tab (within the sync window) and if you look to the far right you'll see the various screens and app arrangements on your iPad. From there you can move apps around to suit you. Then sync it again.

[Jason Dunn]

With your iPad connected, go to the Application tab (within the sync window) and if you look to the far right you'll see the various screens and app arrangements on your iPad. From there you can move apps around to suit you. Then sync it again.

I think that interface was designed by the most sadistic programmer Apple could find. I really dislike it and for the amount of organizing I have to do, using the iPad directly will work better. It's a lot of work either way though. :(

[Brad Adrian]

...I used Spb Backup or Sprite Backup and didn't recall having any serious problems with them...
What a nice blast from the past! Say what you want about the rocky road that the Windows Phone has traveled, but there WERE some great successes along the way, especially when it came to great software developers like Sprite and Spb.

[griph]

What does one have to do with the other? I should lower my standards for what I expect from Apple because Microsoft did an even worse job? No way. We're talking a backup of one iPad 2 being restored to a factory-fresh iPad 2. That should be brain-dead simple. Apple products are supposed to "just work", right? So that's what I was expecting here.

And FWIW, back in the Pocket PC days I used Spb Backup or Sprite Backup and didn't recall having any serious problems with them - I'd backup my device, test some software, then restore it and keep going. That's the way it should work.

I dont think I said that Jason - I was pointing out that back up and restore issues is nothing new! In respect of SPB BackUp/Sprite Backup - used them - and they were OK if you were restoring the same machine back from an earlier backup - but absolutley cr@p when trying to restore a backup from one device to another!

[now4real954]

I had the same issue with my 3GS when I upgraded to 4.something...it was so distressing because I have hundreds of apps on my 32GB...I get them mostly when free and then slowly go thru them but I had to redo all of my folders...

but my situation was much worse...I specifically did a back up of the iPhone before the update...and then there was NO back up there...so I was screwed big time...

I lost all of my pics that were not transferred so you know I was beyond mad...because I had also used the wallpaper making apps that use neon etc to make cool backgrounds and I lost all of those as well...

and redoing the damn folders for all those apps is a nightmare...still have not finished it...and 4.something came out how long ago...lol

so I have not updated my iPad for fear I will throw it across the room

too afraid

how about the bug that on the iPhone if you have too many apps to update in App Store that when you update all it removes the apps from their folders and sometimes just removes all the folders all together...yuck that has been a pain in the past

PS I wish you had your comments on the same page as the original article...blogs like that are so much easier to comment on...just my humble opinion