I'm an apps guy. Since the App Store in iTunes rolled out, I've been downloading like a maniac. I knew there would be consequences, like slower backup during my iPhone syncing. Then, I synced for the first time after my iPhone was bloated with apps. A snail crept across the sidewalk faster than the syncing status bar. Seriously? Am I resigned to syncing my iPhone overnight so, hopefully, it will be ready to go by morning? Is there someone (or someones) out there who has wrested the baton from Apple's clutches and done what Apple should have in the first place by allowing syncing without backing up?? Read on to find out in this week's Tip!
Fortunately for those of us with BiSSD (Bloated iPhone Slow Syncing Disorder), there is a solution, brought to you by Michael Sitarzewski of Zerologic.com. In response to Michael's step-by-step procedure, another contributor to the Mac/iPhone community, Hendrik Holtmann, has also addressed this issue with a small app posted at eidac.com. Thanks to Michael and Hendrik, slow backups could be a thing of the past.
First, let's take a look at Michael Sitarzewski's method found at zerologic.com. Michael provides fair warning that his method will DISABLE the backup feature for your iPhone, meaning that when you sync, your data WILL NOT be backed up. He also suggests that backing up your personal data can be accomplished via MobileMe over-the-air syncing (and we all know how well MobileMe has been working, right?) or Time Machine.
In his own words, let's have a look at Michael's step-by-step from zerologic.com:
Seems easy enough. If you prefer to avoid making changes using Terminal, then Hendrik Holtmann's app may be more to your liking. You can read more about it and download it from eidac.de here, allowing you to enable or disable backing up your iPhone with just the click of your mouse. A link is also found on his site for PC users.
Armed with this knowledge from very knowledgeable contributors to the iPhone community (many thanks to both of you, Michael and Hendrik!), you can now proceed to sync your iPhone without fear of a lengthy, time-consuming backup. Backup when you WANT to. At least you now have the option.
That's it for this week's Tip. If you have a tip of your own that you would like to share with the rest of us, please leave a Comment or you can email me at: brian.hart@tipb.com.
Disclaimer: Tip o' the Week makes no guarantee, express or implied, that any tip found herein will be new or particularly useful to the reader (and please remember -- using the Tip above will result in NO BACKUP of your iPhone's data. You were warned! Caveat Emptor, baby!).
Reader comments
Tip o' the Week: Backup Blues Begone!
Ummm... I may be doing this wrong, but all I've been doing when I'm in a rush and don't want to wait for the backup, is press the little grey 'x' that appears right next to where it tells you it's backing up your phone.
This will skip the backup and go right on to syncing. That way, I let the phone back-up when I have time, or I skip it when I just want a quick sync.
I do the same thing with the grey "x"
Why does it take 20 minutes to back up about 20MB of data? I can copy an entire CD's worth of music to my iPhone in about a minute or two. That's what USB 2.0 is for. 480mbps and it creeps along at modem speed?
It's VERY odd that it's so slow!
@Jenny and @Zyber Joe -
That works for me sometimes, but I've found that iTunes gets a little crashy and loses its connection to the iPhone about half the time I try it.
@Jenny and @Zyber Joe
You're absolutely right. Instead of digging in terminals, first try the obvious :)
I've also been hitting X. Seems much simpler than going in and switching the settings. And occasionally it's nice to actually let the backup run. I'd hate to have to reconfigure when I felt like backing up.
i also hit the X... but some have said that causes corrupted files on occasion. so it's not a perfect solution.