Setting up a new iPhone or iPad by restoring from an iCloud backup has the virtue that you can do it from anywhere – without needing a Mac with an iTunes backup to hand – but it can be painfully slow, and it’s always the app you most want to use that seems to be the last to download.
Have you noticed that virtually every aspect of the personal information on our iPhones can be restored individually via iCloud? Things like photos, mail, contacts, calendars, Safari bookmarks, and notes can all be individually recovered on a fresh install of iOS.
The one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is text messages and iMessages. Sure, it’s possible to restore text messages if you’re willing to backup and restore the entire contents of your iPhone, but what if you wish to perform a fresh install of iOS and then restore messages?
Fortunately, backing up and restoring SMS texts and iMessages on an individual basis is possible, as long as you’re willing to take some time to follow our step-by-step guide.
In a conference call with reporters last week, an Apple exec said it was reasonable to expect the company to continue strengthening the security policies of its products in light of the Apple/FBI battle.
In complementary reports today, The New York Times and Financial Times are detailing that Apple engineers are now actively developing new encryption methods for iCloud backups and iPhone hardware, so that Apple couldn’t even hack itself … if it was asked to again like in San Bernardino iPhone backdoor/unlock case.
Not only would this counter the orders by the FBI in the current court case for future iPhone owners, it would also close a security hole in iCloud backups that various law enforcement institutions have exploited thousands of times before …
Expand
Expanding
Close
With OS X El Capitan releasing today, Apple has also updated iOS to version 9.0.2 with an over-the-air software update. This bug fix update marks the second release since iOS 9.0 launched earlier this month.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Update: As of 6.30am PT, Apple had updated its status page as showing all services back to normal. The company said that 40% of users had been affected.
Apple’s system status page is showing a substantial issue with iCloud services, the problems affecting eleven different services and persisting for four hours and counting at the time of writing.
While Apple lists the services as “may be slow for some users,” many users are reporting that the services are either completely unavailable or time-out when attempting to login …
Expand
Expanding
Close
A forensics consult and security researcher who analyzed metadata from leaked photos of Kate Upton said that the photos appear to have been obtained using software intended for use by law enforcement officials, reports Wired. The software, Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker (EPPB), allows users to download a complete backup of all data on an iPhone once the iCloud ID and password have been obtained.
If a hacker can obtain a user’s iCloud username and password with iBrute, he or she can log in to the victim’s iCloud.com account to steal photos. But if attackers instead impersonate the user’s device with Elcomsoft’s tool, the desktop application allows them to download the entire iPhone or iPad backup as a single folder, says Jonathan Zdziarski, a forensics consult and security researcher. That gives the intruders access to far more data, he says, including videos, application data, contacts, and text messages …
Apple gives all iCloud users 5 GB of iCloud storage. For most users, this is more than plenty of space, but for some, it isn’t nearly enough. This space is used for iOS device backups, iWork and other documents, and email if you are using a @mac.com, @me.com or @icloud.com address.
In this article, we’ll give you some tips for managing your iCloud storage so you can get the most of the space you have available.
After issuing two reminders to former MobileMe customers that they would lose their free iCloud upgrade from 5GB to 25GB, Apple today reduced the storage limits as planned. Customers who have more than 5GB, and who haven’t bought a paid storage plan, will find that iCloud is no longer working.
If you exceed your storage plan on September 30, 2013, iCloud Backup, Documents in the Cloud, and iCloud Mail will temporarily stop working. To continue using these iCloud features without interruption, reduce the amount of iCloud storage you are using or purchase a storage plan by September 30, 2013.
As we’ve previously advised, much of the iCloud storage is usually taken up by iCloud Backups which can be deleted through System Preferences > iCloud > Manage. Those who need more than the free 5GB offered by iCloud can also use Dropbox to store photos and files.
Apple gives iCloud users 5 GB of iCloud storage space. At first, 5 GB does not seem like a lot of storage space, however it is. For a majority of users it is plenty. For others, it isn’t. This storage space is for backups, documents and data, and email only if you are using a @mac.com, @me.com, or @icloud.com address…
