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Getting Ready for iOS 8: How to backup your device and set up the new iPhone & iPad OS

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With iOS 8 launching later today, it’s worth taking a look at how you should prepare your device for the new operating system. Before installing the update, it is recommended that you have a backup of your data. This how-to is going to walk you through backing up your iOS 7 device and transitioning it over to iOS 8:

First things first, let’s discuss the two different methods of backing up your iOS Device. You have two different options: Backing up to iCloud or Backing up to iTunes.

1.Ā Backing up to iCloud.Ā If you have iCloud set up, iCloud will automatically back up your data whenever your device is charging, locked and connected to Wi-Fi. To check to see if you have iCloud set up to backup, first make sure you are connected to a Wi-fi network by opening up Settings. Then tap on Wi-fi. Then scroll down until you see iCloud and tap on iCloud.

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Then scroll all the way down to the bottom and press on Storage & Backup.

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Then you want to tap on the white circle to turn iCloud Backup on.

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Now you have your iOS deviceĀ set to backup to iCloud. For the most part, doing an iCloud backup is hassle free. On occasions, there might be some difficulties performing an iCloud backup. Reasons that it can be difficult include: having an inactive email address as your iCloud account, using someone else’s Apple ID for your iCloud account, or your iCloud is full and no longer has room to back up. The links will take you to articles that will walk you through how to resolve those issues that you might experience.

2. Plugging the Device into Your Computer. You can back up your iOS deviceĀ by plugging it into iTunes on your computer. Just like with an iCloud backup, you want to be connected to Wi-Fi. You can do this on a MacĀ or a PC. The MacĀ already comes with iTunes installed. The PCĀ does not come with iTunes and you are able to able to download iTunes off of Apple’s website. Before connecting your iOS device to iTunes, you are first going to want to make sure that you have your computer authorized for your account and that you are logged into your iTunes account. To do this you are going to click on Store from the top of the drop down menu. Then click on Authorize this Computer and sign in with your Apple ID. Then again click on Store and then click on Sign In.

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Once you have done that, you can plug your device into iTunes using a USB cable.

On a Mac, iPhoto starts to open because it detects the iOS device as a camera. You are able to easily import the pictures from your iOS device to your Mac by pressing the Import Photos button in Blue in the upper right hand corner.

Screenshot 2014-06-15 17.32.44On a PC, an AutoPlay window will appear, because it detects the iOS device as a camera. Press Import Pictures and Videos to import the pictures. Sometimes the AutoPlay window will appear, and other times it won’t. This is all dependent upon your settings on your PC. To enable this setting you would change your settings under Scanners and Cameras.

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After you deal with your pictures, you can go back to iTunes. These instructions will be the same on both a Mac and a PC, except that the buttons might be located under a different drop down menu on the PC. In iTunes click on your iOS device. The iOS device can be found in one of two places: in the upper right hand corner, or it will be on the left hand side in the Sidebar.

 

Before backing up your device, I recommend transferring any of the purchases you made on your iOS device from the iTunes Store, App Store or iBooks Store. To do that, you have two options. The first option is up at the top from the drop down menu: you would click on File, Devices then Transfer Purchases. The second option is you can do a right click/secondary click on the device listed in the Sidebar and then choose Transfer Purchases.

After it is done transferring the purchases, you are now ready to back up. You have three different methods: The easiest one to find is directly in the center of the screen that says Back Up Now; the second method is to click on File from the drop down menu, then Devices, and then Back Up; the third method is to do a right click/secondary click on the device in the sidebar and click Back Up.

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Up at the top in the center of the progress bar, you are able to monitor the status of your device while it is backing up.

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If you see the Black apple in the center of the LED status bar, that indicates that your iOS device is done backing up. However, I would recommend double checking and make sure that the backup was indeed a successful backup. To do so, press on the word iTunes in the upper left hand corner of the screen from the drop down menu. Then click on Preferences.

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Then click on Devices at the top. If your backup was successful, you will see the name of your device as well as the date and time the backup completed.

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Now that you have your iOS device successfully backed up you will now be ready to iOS 8. We will have a walkthrough of iOS 8 up alongside the software’s release as well as several more how-to articles in the coming days.

There are two different methods for updating your device to iOS 8. With both of these options you do have to be on a Wi-Fi network.

1.Ā Over the Air (OTA) Update. To do an OTA update, go into Settings and then General. Then you would press on Software Update.

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2.Ā Plug the Device into iTunes. You can plug in your iOS device into the computer and do the update through iTunes. Above the Back Up button you used earlier to back up the iOS Device is the Check for Update button. And then it will update.

You do have to be patient while your iOS Device updates.

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Once that black bar fills across two times, you are able to start using iOS 8.

When you first turn on the iOS device with iOS 8, Apple welcomes you with a “Hello,” in a variety of different languages. Then slide from left to right to start setting up the device. It prompts you to select your language, country and to choose a Wi-Fi network.

Then iOS 8 asks you if you want to set up Location Services by either enabling them or disabling them. If you do not know what Location Services are or want to learn more about it you can tap the easy to find and see, blue About Location Services button, and it explains it simply.

Then it asks about how you are setting up the device: whether it’s a new device, restoring from iCloud Backup, or restoring from iTunes Backup.

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First let’s discuss how to Restore from an iCloud Backup. Then I will discuss the process as to how to set up the device as new.

For those of you who do want to Restore from an iCloud Backup, it works very similar to the process in iOS 5, iOS 6 and iOS 7. While doing an iCloud restore you do need to be on Wi-Fi in order for it to download your apps and media. You are always able to leave the Wi-Fi area and it will automatically stop restoring. New in iOS 8, you can easily tell that you are in the middle of doing a restore from iCloud by looking at the lock screen and it says Restoring from iCloud Backup.

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Instead of doing a restore from iCloud backup, and you choose to Set Up as New, it then prompts you about setting up an Apple ID on the device. If you scroll down further, it explains the benefits and features of using an Apple ID.

 

It then asks you to agree to the Terms and Conditions. You can either read the Terms and Conditions by tapping on each heading and reading it, have it be sent to your email by tapping on the Send by Email button in blue up towards the top, or press the blue Agree button in the lower right hand corner.

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It may take a few minutes to set up your Apple ID on the device.

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There are then prompts to set up iCloud by tapping on the Use iCloud button, or the Donā€™t Use iCloud button, with a brief description about what iCloud is below it. If you want to learn more about iCloud tap on the About iCloud button.

New with iOS 8, Find My iPhone is set up automatically. Just like with iOS 7,Ā Activation Lock is set up and it requires your Apple ID and Password to be inserted into iTunes to re-activate your iOS Device, which has helped deter thefts.

The system asks you to create a food digit passcode right away. The system is smart and does detect if you are wanting to use a simple, easy to guess, commonly used passcode and it has you confirm whether or not you want to do it. Examples of easy to guess, commonly used passcodes are 0000, 1111, 2222, 1234, etc. Before iOS 7, if you use a simple, easy to guess, commonly used passcode it did allow you to proceed and create the passcode without questioning you. Having a passcode is not required, and you can choose to not have a passcode by tapping on the Don’t Add Passcode button in blue above the number pad. However, if you want to use iCloud Keychain, it is required to have a passcode.

If you were using iCloud Keychain, there is the option to restore your passwords that are stored in iCloud. If you want to restore your passwords, tap on use iCloud Security Code and enter it in. If you decide not to restore your passwords choose Don’t Restore Passwords. If you want to learn more about iCloud Keychain, tap on About iCloud Keychain and Privacy in blue.

Then it asks if you want to use Siri. If you tap the blue About Siri button down at the bottom, it will tell you more about Siri.

The last question you have to answer is whether or not you want toĀ sendĀ Diagnostics report.

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After choosing whether or not to participate and help Apple and developers with their software you are now ready to use the device.

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Press the blue Get Started button and it takes you to the home page where you will have iOS 8.

We will be publishing multiple how-to articles about new iOS 8 features over the course of the next several days, so stay tuned.

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Comments

  1. hosseruk - 10 years ago

    So which is the option I have to avoid if I want to upgrade to iOS 8 today but am not using Yosemite and want iCloud to continue to work across my devices?

    • junkrar - 10 years ago

      Select “Not Now” when it asks to upgrade to iCloud Drive.

      • hosseruk - 10 years ago

        Thanks – I see there is now a new story on the front page detailing this very thing! :)

  2. chrisl84 - 10 years ago

    Any word on the amount of free space required to use OTA update?

    • Chad Massie - 10 years ago

      I just checked for an updated, says requires 4.6 GB of free space

      • chrisl84 - 10 years ago

        Thats way more than I hoped it would be….thanks

      • Chad Massie - 10 years ago

        Yeah, I’m downloading now, the actually update file is 957MB

      • Cesar Morales - 10 years ago

        5.8 GB for me on iPhone 5s

    • Raul Pino (@papo2) - 10 years ago

      4.6gb on iPhone 5

    • matthiasf - 10 years ago

      For some reason I need 6.9 gigs, that’s half my storage. Need help, I can’t even delete that much from I ipad to make space.

      • chrisl84 - 10 years ago

        Try connecting to iTunes to update. It shouldn’t require any space management that way.

  3. verizon2828 - 10 years ago

    GREAT guide here! And thank you for pointing out the multiple ways to complete some of the steps. You covered all of the bases here. I usually share this kind of stuff with my co-workers and this guide is perfect in that I don’t expect to get any questions on the process!

  4. Matt Soslow (@MSoslow) - 10 years ago

    Any idea as to what time the update should start rolling out?

  5. Martin Perdomo - 10 years ago

    what can i do if itunes isn’t letting me backup my phone anymore? since july i have not been able to do a back up, it will do the steps and then when it gets mid back up it will tell me that my device has been disconnected. i have tried everything like reinstalling itunes and using different cables and such. also i have a dev authorized version of ios8 so i need to roll back to ios7 to then install ios8.

  6. miguelguzz - 10 years ago

    Ok i have an important question, can i back up my phone with iCloud, then WIPE my phone deleting everything ( to give me space for the update) and then once i download the update, back up my phone with iCloud again to get my stuff back??! Will “erasing all content and settings” even erase my iCloud backup??

    • verizon2828 - 10 years ago

      You’re ok to do that if you want. Erasing all content and settings only deletes the local data on the phone. After that process is finished, you’ll find yourself at the welcome screen and can follow the setup wizard where you can choose an iCloud Restore. The other option is to update using iTunes. Download the 2GB IPSW file from one of the download links. In iTunes, hold Option on Mac or Alt on Windows when clicking Restore, navigate to that file and you can install that way. You’ll still need like 2.5GB open for that option, but it might be faster than deleting EVERYTHING from your phone. I did this 2nd option on my wife’s 16GB iPad because she only had 3.5GB available and the update needed something like 6.9GB.

  7. elmyestro (@elmyestro) - 10 years ago

    How can I update my four iPhone and iPad iOS without having to download the iOS each time for each phone?

  8. pussytoes - 10 years ago

    I’m having trouble with iOS 8 on my iPhone5. It will not recognize the passwords for my iClous account or for my WiFi (one of the mobile hotspot gadgets from AT&T made by Netgear; the name shows up as “UNITE” followed by a letter, digits, and another letter. The password comes with the device. I know it is correct. And my iCloud ID is also correct.

  9. Cesar Morales - 10 years ago

    5.8 GB on iPhone 5s
    Had to do a restore because even after deleting lots of apps and more than half my pics and vids, it wont come down to the required 5.8GB.
    Will set up as new then restore via itunes.

  10. Har Cy - 10 years ago

    Hi help please… already did the update but i can’t use my backup from icloud :(

  11. housfarteen - 10 years ago

    Okay, hopefully I’m not the only one with this problem. The ios8 download seemed to work fine. All my contacts, calendars, notes, texts, emails, etc re-loaded from iCloud… HOWEVER, all of my pictures that were on iCoud are gone?? When I click on photos, there’s a “photos” “shared” (with a could picture) and “Albums” icons on the bottom of the page. When I click on the “cloud” it asks me if I want to create a new shared folder for family and friends. When I click on photos, it has only what is on my iphone. When I click on Albums it has Recently Added, Recently Deleted, and the albums I created, BUT NO ICLOUD.

    Please help a brother out!!@!@

    • verizon2828 - 10 years ago

      I ran into this yesterday. Go to Settings > Photos & Camera and toggle the My Photo Stream option to Off. It’ll state that it’ll delete your photos. Click ok and it’ll take a second or two to shut off. Then toggle it back on and you should see your photos start to appear in your Photos app. It might take a minute but this worked for me.

      • housfarteen - 10 years ago

        Thanks Verizon, that suggestion allowed me to retrieve 107 of my photos. Unfortunately the other 700 are lost in the cloud until I retrieve them via my iPad.

      • verizon2828 - 10 years ago

        Here’s the other thing…the Photos app works differently than the old Photos app. If you tap Photos in the lower left of your Photos app, you’ll probably find that ALL of your photos are in your phone…they just aren’t in your “Recently Added” folder. There is a Summarize option in Settings > Photos and Camera that changes how things are sorted so you can try that as well. The photos probably ARE there though.

  12. Kyra Oyenz - 9 years ago

    hi there, please please please. i need an answer here. i want to restore my ios8 iphone because the my previous software update seems not really successful so then my battery percentage already 100 but i still hv 7 hrs more to go until the downloading of the software complete. so is it okay?

  13. Dakota Ehart Crouch - 9 years ago

    My apple id and password work to log into my iCloud but not to authorize my computer, therefore, if I back up my phone now I will lose all the apps I purchased. When I tell the apple program to reset my password I don’t get an email. What am I supposed to do?

  14. If I chose the “Set up as new” option by mistake and I want to start over, how can I do that?

    • verizon2828 - 9 years ago

      Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content & Settings. Go through the prompts, phone will reboot and you’ll be at the welcome wizard again.

  15. Elisabeth Anne Leonard - 9 years ago

    Having a problem with photos. I’ve read about the loss of the camera roll and new use of collections/moments and I understand that. My issue is figuring out what on earth is actually on the phone. This is a new phone running ios8 and restored from my old phone’s backup. Everything else seems to have moved over fine.

    When I go into General > About under Settings, it tells me that I have 551 photos.
    When I open up Photos, it tells me I have 444.
    When I go into Recently Added, it tells me I have 72, which is the actual # in the folder that I shared via iPhoto. This is also about how many photos I can see thumbnails for in the Collections. I don’t have any other albums.
    When I go into the General > Usage > Manage Storage > Photos & Camera, it shows that “My Photo Stream” is taking up 681 MB.

    The Collections doesn’t include the photos that were in my photostream, even though I can still get those on my iPad and Macbook.

    1) Why do I have 3 different numbers for how many photos I have?
    2) If the 444 or 551 is accurate, where on earth are they?
    3) If the 444 or 551 is accurate and I can’t get access to them, how can I get them off to free up space?
    4) Why is the phone telling me I am storing pictures on “My Photo Stream” when I don’t have a photo stream?
    5) Since “My Photo Stream” did not get exported to Collections/Moments as it apparently is supposed to, is there a way I can export it?

    I have a hunch this is some sort of weird data management issue and the pics are not actually taking up space on the phone (but I would like my phone to give me info about it and not about multiple devices, thank you).

    Thanks much for any help.

  16. Nelson W (@Clermont1) - 9 years ago

    Personally my favorite line in this whole article is “The system asks you to create a food digit passcode right away. ” Im actually trying to find out if I need to install ios8 on my iPhone 5 before I transfer to iPhone 6. Anyone know or care to comment, share stories? thanks, N