On Phone Backups Prior to Herriman Repair Appointments

If you’ve had a smartphone for any significant period of time, chances are you’re aware of the realm of data backup and cloud storage. Many people store at least some level of sensitive information on their phone, and ensuring data is properly backed-up in case of the phone being lost, stolen or significantly damaged is extremely important for both privacy and practicality.

At FixIT Mobile, we’re happy to help with a wide range of iPhone and Android phone repair services in Herriman and other parts of Utah, ranging from simple issues like a broken phone screen or charging problems up to significant problems like water damage, overheating or many others. One action we often recommend to clients, especially those coming to us for a significant phone repair or upgrade: Back up your data before the appointment. Why is this important, what are some settings where you do or don’t need to worry about a backup prior to a phone repair, and how do you go about backing up the phone manually if you’ve never done this before? Here’s a primer.

iCloud Messages and Storage Space

First and foremost, has your phone recently been backed up? For some phone owners, though not most of them, this is a regular thing: They utilize their cloud space (either the free amount offered to all users or extra they’ve purchased) to keep their data backed-up at normal intervals.

However, for a majority of individuals, this is not the approach. Most phone owners don’t pay close attention to backups, or to the regular messages their devices will send them about lacking storage space. For instance, iPhones will regularly send messages that iCloud space is full and more needs to be purchased – some ignore these, figuring they have enough local storage space on their device itself not to worry.

That approach, though, breaks down the moment there’s a problem with your physical device. If it’s lost, stolen or significantly damaged in any way, that local backup you had in place might not work at all – and you might lose all the important data on the phone. This is why backup is so important.

So what if you’re bringing your phone in for repairs? Here are a couple common repair needs or situations, plus how you should approach the world of data backup prior to such an appointment.

External Repairs

For certain minor external repairs, such as a broken or cracked phone screen, it usually won’t be necessary for the phone’s data to be backed up. However, there are rare situations where even a seemingly-simple screen repair leads to other additional work that’s required – and if this work involves getting inside the phone’s motherboard or SIM card, a backup is always recommended. Especially given how little time it takes and how easy it is to perform (more on this in a moment), there’s no reason not to take a few minutes and back the phone up, even if you don’t think it will be truly necessary.

SIM Card

A quick word on SIM cards, which are important for certain parts of data protection and transfer within a phone – but do not represent the full picture, and cannot be used as an alternative to quality backups. SIM cards contain basic information pertinent to the phone and its user, but it does not contain things like photos, e-mails, texts and other types of data. These need to be backed up using more robust storage formats, typically the cloud. This sort of thing often becomes important while transferring data from an old phone to a new phone.

Backup Steps and Tips

Using the iPhone as our example for the purposes of this blow, let’s run through the basic steps on how to back your phone up using the cloud:

• Ensure the phone is connected to Wi-Fi and will be able to remain connected throughout the entire backup process.

• Go to Settings in your phone, and tap the section just below your name at the top, which contains Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes and more.

• Tap the iCloud button.

• Scroll down to iCloud Backup, and tap Backup Now.

• If you receive a message telling you there’s not enough storage space available, proceed to our next section below. If not, your phone should begin the process of backing itself up, which will usually take just a few minutes.

Creating More Storage Space

What if you’re attempting to back up your iPhone, but receiving a message that there isn’t enough storage space in the cloud to successfully complete this process? You have two options at your disposal in this case, which should be taken in this order:

1. Deleting old data: In many cases, a simple pass through what’s being stored in your cloud will allow you to free up plenty of new space for a backup. Maybe you have a bunch of old photos you don’t need, for instance, or perhaps you’re the sort of person who doesn’t delete texts – and has years of old text conversations still sitting in the phone. Your phone will present you with a breakdown of which areas are using up the most data, including older apps you may also consider deleting.

2. If deletion of data doesn’t open up enough space for a backup, especially if you use your phone to store important work data or other information that can’t be deleted for any reason, it’s likely worth your while to invest a small, manageable fee in additional cloud storage. You get a huge amount of additional space for very little money, and will likely never have to worry about backup issues again.

For more on the importance of backing up a phone prior to a phone repair appointment (and in general), or to learn about any of our phone repair, tablet repair or other device repair services in Herriman and numerous other areas, speak to the staff at FixIT Mobile today.