Backing up is something that you don’t think about until it’s ALL you can think about. You don’t really need it until the day comes when a device fails, and then you REALLY need it. As the old adage says, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” In that spirit, let’s take a look at what you can do to be sure you are prepared when the day comes that you need that backup right away.
Backing up your iPad is the most important habit you should try to keep with regard to routine maintenance of your device. It’s the first step in your line of defense before ever attempting any trouble-shooting measures. Furthermore, it is a prudent operation you should take prior to updating to a different device. By backing up your iPad you instantly have a fail-safe to fall back on in the unlikely event that your iPad is lost, stolen, or has to be replaced for other various reasons. With back-ups you have a snapshot of the information on your device that makes it possible for you to transfer your data to another iPad.
So this then begs the question–how do you back-up your iPad, and which method will work best for you? Not all back-up are created equal, so it’s important to know the differences between the two methods.
Every new year since the introduction of the original iPhone back in 2007, Apple has released a new version of their “flagship” phone.  Whether this is your first iPhone, you’re on a yearly upgrade cycle, or you ride your current iPhone into the ground before buying a new one, one thing remains the same–you will need take a little time to set-up your phone before using it for the first time.  After you get home and take your iPhone out of the box, there are a few important steps you should follow so they you can start enjoying your new gadget ASAP.  Here is our list of the first (5) things you need to do after your purchase.
Every time you make the decision to update an older iPad and purchase a new one of your first considerations is how we you can seamlessly transfer your current data to a new device without fail. When approaching this process you have two choices in how to proceed. You can either use iCloud or iTunes to transfer your selected content between the two devices.
If you choose to utilize an iCloud backup to transfer your content to a new iPad the first thing you need to do is to make sure you have a recent iCloud backup. Open the Settings App–> iCloud–>Backup. Here you can see if/when the most recent iCloud backup was created. Additionally, at this time you can also choose to initiate a new backup on the fly.
To use Apple services you need to start with an Apple ID. Your Apple ID is based on an email address you would like to associate with your account. Your Apple ID is your gateway to adding all kinds of content to your iPad, including Music, Apps, Movies, and Books. When you set-up your Apple ID you have the option to also use the same ID for your iCloud services account. However, this isn’t a requirement. You can also choose to set-up one Apple ID for for iCloud services, and a separate account for your iTunes, App Store, and iBook Store purchases.
Confused yet? Apple recommends creating one ID for both services to eliminate some of the confusion. They caution that using multiple Apple IDs might be confusing and might cause issues with accessing purchased content or using some services. However, in the event that you still want to keep your services separate, he is a quick and dirty how-to.
If you’ve ever used Paypal as your payment method for the App Store / iTunes you may have noticed that Apple seems to have quite a serious vendetta going against Paypal. I’ve used Paypal as my payment method since the very beginning of the App Store and several times over the years the iTunes Store has hit me with messages and roadblocks suggesting that Paypal was ‘not an accepted payment method’.
Well, I’m here to tell you that is nonsense. Paypal has always been an accepted method and it still is now.
This morning I had one of these occasions where the App Store got its knickers in a twist – apparently because there was some issue with payment for an In-App purchase I made recently. For some reason the payment did not clear successfully with Paypal. My balance in Paypal is always far larger than needed to cover any iTunes purchases – so I imagine on that particular day the App Store was just unable to hit the Paypal authorization server or some such circumstance. In any case, I never received any sort of notification of a failed purchase at all – from the ITunes store or Paypal.
I was in book buying mode on the iBookstore on my iPad mini last night. I bought Hamlet: The Shakesperience and another title, and wanted to purchase a couple more. But the iTunes Store decided maybe I shouldn’t, or rather I couldn’t. When I went to purchase a 3rd book I was greeted with this error message:
The iTunes Store is unable to process purchases at this time. Please try again later.
At first I didn’t worry much about this error. I thought it was likely some sort of iTunes Store server strain related issue and guessed it might resolve itself quickly. So I tried again after a few minutes – and got the same error. Then I tried a different book – still the same error. I left it for around an hour and tried again – same result.
I rebooted the iPad, and signed out and back into my iTunes account within the iBooks app – still no change and the same error when trying to buy a book. Just for grins, I tried buying an app in the App Store and a single in the iTunes Store. Both of those purchases went through just fine – leaving me a little baffled, as this seemed to rule out both a general sort of server issue on iTunes and a general problem with my iTunes account.