Your iPhone is no less than your digital diary in the contemporary “smart” internet-driven era. From your chats to messages to photos to entire contact list to downloaded business files- you have everything on this hand-held Apple wonder.
Now, despite your security measures, your iPhone is never 100% immune to hack, theft or damage. Just imagine how disastrous it would be if your confidential chats and messages get into the hands of the phone thief.
The phone software may also suffer a crash. Thus, it’s important that you get a sound cloud backup for your phone so that all the documents and data gets stored on the independently on the internet. But, how to backup iphone to cloud?
Apple’s iCloud
Well, Apple has developed its own cloud computing system called iCloud which was launched in 2011. Thus, when we are talking about cloud backup for your iPhone, we mean backup to iCloud. Apple’s iCloud allows easy data sync & storage across all Apple devices. And iCloud is an embedded feature with every iPhone. Thus, you can set the backup for your phone by turning the feature in one tap.
How to backup iphone to cloud?
There are two ways to backup your phone to iCloud- manually and automatically. We will discuss both below.
iPhone backup to cloud manually
- Step 1: Connect your iPhone to Wi-Fi network
- Step 2: Click on Settings, enter your name, followed by a tap on iCloud. In case, your phone runs on iOS 10.2/ a previous version, click on Settings and scroll down. You will find iCloud below. Tap on it to turn it on.
- Step 3: Now, just tap on “Back Up Now”. Do not disconnect the internet support till the process gets finished.
You will be able to keep track on progress of your iPhone iCloud backup. After the backup gets complete, confirm it and set the date & time for future reference. To do that, click on Settings, type your name, click on iCloud and then on iCloud Backup. You will reach to “Back Up Now” again. Then, simply fill up the time and date boxes and you are done.
iPhone backup to cloud automatically
We will proceed with the knowledge that the iCloud Backup feature on your phone is already turned on.
- Step 1: Connect iPhone to some power source
- Step 2: Connect the phone to your Wi-Fi network
- Step 3: Make sure the device screen has been locked
- Step 4: Make sure you have go t sufficient space in your iCloud for backup.
- Step 5: Follow the process mentioned above to complete that backup process.
- Step 6: Do you want to check the backup? Well, just go to Settings, followed by iCloud, then Storage. The Storage field carries an option called “Manage storage”. Click on it and then choose your device (iPhone in this case). You will be able to check the latest backup.
What will your iCloud backup (for iPhone) include?
- App data
- Device settings
- Call history
- Home screen & app organization
- HomeKit configuration
- SMS, iMessage as well as MMS messages
- Videos and photos
- Ringtone
- Purchase history (Apple services) of online shopping you have done from iPhone
- Visual Voicemail security password
iCloud upgrade for more storage
It’s to note here that Apple offers 5GB of free storage with iCloud. Your iPhone definitely contains more GB of data and 5GB won’t be enough here. For more storage on iCloud, you have to upgrade your account and pay monthly fee. There are packages to choose as per your storage needs and budget. It will cost you $0.99/ month for 50 GB and $2.99 a month for say 200 GB. If you want a larger storage capacity, like 1 TB- it will come to around $9.99 a month.
iCloud data security and privacy
iCloud assures solid security for your phone data backup with its industry-leading security technologies. The system will encrypt your data when they are in transit and the entire thing will be stored in encrypted format only. Secured tokens will be deployed for authentication and you can be assured of complete data security on iCloud.
In regards to sensitive and extremely confidential information, Apple counts on end-to-end encryption. It implies, the encrypted data can be accessed by the user only and nobody else. Besides, the data can be accessed only on Apple devices, provided you are signed to iCloud. In fact, Apple too is denied of the access to your end-to-end encrypted data.
So, what kind of data will fall under end-to-end encryption? These include:
- Health data
- Home data
- All saved accounts & passwords that form the iCloud Keychain
- Payment data
- Information of Wi-Fi network
- Siri information
2 factor authentication
When it comes to accessing data secured by end-to-end encryption, you have to pass 2-factor authentication exam for Apple ID. The advanced authentication procedure comprises of two things- 6 digit verification number and your password. When you want to access the data from another device, you have to turn on the 2-factor authentication feature for Apple ID.
Advantages of iCloud backup
We will wind up the article with a few points on the benefits of backing up your iPhone to iCloud.
- Simple and easy
It’s a breeze to use iCloud for backing up your iPhone data. You won’t need any advanced tech skill here and your basic computing knowledge will be enough. It just takes a few numbers of clicks to complete the whole process.
- It’s free
As mentioned earlier, Apple offers you 5GB iCloud storage completely free of cost. This way, you can start at no cost and then gradually scale up the storage limit as your budget permits.
- No messy cable for backup
This is one of the most important advantages of getting your phone backup to iCloud. There is no need of any messy cable or computer to conduct the whole process. You will only need to plug into your Wi-Fi connection to kickstart and complete the backup process.
