How to Backup iPhone 6 using iTunes and iCloud Backup

Making a backup of your iPhone is extremely important as its very easy to lose track of vital information in a jiffy. There are a couple of ways in which you can make a backup of your iOS device; via an iCloud backup or via an iTunes backup or a combination of both. Each method comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. We take a look at how both backup solutions work, and which backup solution is best for you.

You can use iCloud or iTunes to automatically backup your iPhone but not both simultaneously. If you use iCloud for automatic backups, you can use iTunes for manual backups.

When to do an iCloud Backup?

When you pick up an iOS device, you are automatically entitled to a free iCloud storage of up to 5 GB. Once you sign in to iCloud on your iPhone with your Apple ID, you can set your device to do an iCloud backup to automatically backup your documents, photos, videos, app data, home screen and app customizations, messages, ringtones, visual voicemail and purchase history on the cloud.  The backups will happen over WiFi when its connected to a power source and is locked.

iCloud backups are automatically encrypted so your data remains safe when it is transmitting to your devices as well as while its on the cloud.

You can do an iCloud Backup if:

• You want your iPhone to do an automatic cloud backup when connected to WiFi or Power.
• You want to restore your data from just about anywhere using WiFi.
• You don’t use iTunes.
• You rarely hook your iPhone to a Mac or PC
• You don’t own a Mac or PC.
• You don’t have movies, music, or TV shows purchased outside iTunes or don’t want to back such data.

Backup iPhone 6 with iCloud Backup

On an iPhone 6 running iOS 81.:

1. Go to Settings-> iCloud and sign in with your Apple ID and password ( if asked).

2. Go to Backup, then turn on iCloud Backup.

You can access the time and date of your last backup at the bottom of the Backup screen.

To do an Instant iCloud backup:

Go to Settings-> iCloud-> Backup, then tap Back Up Now.

Backup iPhone 6 Using iTunes

You can also hook your iPhone to a Mac or PC and do an iTunes backup. It makes more sense to do an iTunes Backup if:

• You often use a MAC or PC that hosts all your backups.
• You don’t have an iCloud account or don’t want to use a cloud backup.
• You want on-site and networked backups.
• You prefer to do a manual backup.
• You want to use iTunes backup as a secondary option to iCloud Backup.

An iTunes backup does not create a duplicate copy of your music, movies, apps, and podcasts. it only syncs your content from your computer using iTunes. And in case you want to backup your HealthKit data using iTunes, you first need to encrypt your backup using the Encrypt iPhone backup option (you’ll find this in the Summary tab in iTunes) and then proceed with syncing.

To turn on backups on your computer:

1. Connect your iPhone to the PC.

2. Open iTunes 12.0.1. On the Device screen, on the Summary tab, you will see the various options for backup.

Managing Your iCloud and iTunes Backups

• Go to Settings-> iCloud. Here, you can manage which apps are backed up by turning them on or off.
• Go to Settings-> iCloud-> Storage-> Manage Storage to remove existing backups as well as to manage the data in iCloud Drive.
• In iTunes, you can manage your backups in iTunes preferences.

Now that you have a fair idea of the situations when it is best to do an iCloud backup and iTunes backup, you can backup iPhone 6 anytime and manage your backups effectively.