iCloud Backups Lawsuit

The backups most people are really thinking of are the pictures. Apple doesn't technically monopolize backup of those, though I don't think third party apps can upload them in the background for long.

I do think they need to do better with iCloud storage and the backups, because one of the main advantages of iOS for the average user is that they manage to hold on to their data through phone upgrades, much of the time unaware of how that is even happening.

It's good as-is, but they could focus on it more and make it even better. Not sure how they could open it up to third parties more due to the way iOS works.

@Bart Well, Apple itself doesn’t really back up pictures! Cloud syncing is not a backup. And, yes, third-party apps are limited by background time and scheduling.

To me, the main problem with iOS backups are that you can’t backup/restore per-app and that you can’t control how long backups are kept. These are the types of things third-party solutions would probably take care of if only they could access the data.

Apple should definitely work to improve their backup solution(s) for all of their platforms, including providing more space on iCloud for that purpose. They should not be forced to open any of that up to third parties though.

I'm still waiting for some stock analysts to realize that they need to ASK Apple if they are properly calculating (or, more correctly, NOT) deferred revenue for iCloud storage going to the Services silo for devices where users are ALSO already paying for iCloud+. They should NOT be, however seeing the numbers that the public sees, it seems likely that Apple is still deferring revenue regardless of device subscription status. Which drives Services revenue, shows Services growing at a fast pace, effectively doing some 'magic accounting' by pulling revenue from Hardware where growth is "slowing"; since Apple never actually provides any 'service' for the deferred money, doing so deceptively pumps the Services silo.
Even more reason to be kinda angry—aside from the fact that we effectively paid for 5GB of storage for every Apple device we'd bought in the past decade or so, that doesn't stack—that Apple is asininely chintzy with the iCloud services (no 'true' backup, for instance; no iCloud Drive file versioning, while they leave Time Machine to rot on the vine).

@Michael and @Scott

Both great points. It’s not really a backup and Apple still doesn’t really treat the iPhone or iPad as actual computers. There’s still a lot of iPod legacy.

The fact that the only actual backup is a clunky process involving a Mac or Windows computer with iTunes is indeed shameful.

Another great example of one of the many, many things they should have been doing instead of wasting time with cars and movies and pointless UI redesigns every year and a million other things.

Photos are in fact backed up if you don’t use iCloud Photo Library, however restoration involves rolling back your entire phone annd only to the few save points that your iCloud backup has made available.

Backing up iCloud Photo Library is possible by having it on a Mac and not using optimize storage. Then backup with Time Machine, Backblaze, etc. This came in handy when iCloud wiped out over half my photo albums although the fix was very clunky: erase all photos data, restore the entire library from Time Machine, and re upload my entire photo library.

I agree it is long overdue to be able to use iCloud backup to restore a single app to a previous state without having to roll back your entire phone. It would also be great to roll back the version of an app so if a buggy version comes out you can get back to a working one instead of being stuck with the broken one and waiting for the next update to fix it.

@Eric Yeah, I think not using iCloud Photo Library is a non-starter for most people. If you’ve had an iPhone for a long time, you probably have enough photos that they don’t fit on it. And then they don’t sync to your other devices. I used to try to copy them manually, but then Image Capture got buggy.