Considering the fact that our cellphones have become our secondary computers (or primary for many) and hold important personal information, keeping a backup of the data is essential. And losing a mobile phone is easier than losing a computer. So mobile backup and mobile sync have become more important.
I have categorized the tools under popular cellphone operating systems, and also have a section for tools that work universally on all phones.
iPhone
iTunes
iTunes can backup and sync almost all of the important stuff on your iPhone like contacts, calendars, notes, bookmarks and more. The entire list of information it is capable of backing up and more about the process is provided on this Apple support page.
Wi-Fi Sync Tool For iPhone
Wi-Fi Sync for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad is a pretty cool tool that lets you sync your iOS device with iTunes over a Wi-Fi network. It’s a third party app and you won’t find it in the App Store. You’d also need to jailbreak your iPhone if you want to install this app.
Blackberry
Blackberry Desktop Manager
The latest Blackberry desktop manager lets you backup and restore your Blackberry data. Here’s a complete guide to Blackberry backup and restore using this tool.
Blackberry Protect
Blackberry Protect is an advanced backup, restore and security software for Blackberry phones that’s currently in beta and being rolled out slowly. It can help you do wireless backups and also track your lost Blackberry device.
Android
Instead of mentioning Android backup apps and tools, I would direct your to this superb guide to backing up your Android phone by Tested. The article pretty much sums up all the available methods to get your Android device backed up safely.
Windows Mobile
Microsoft My Phone
Microsoft My Phone is a brilliant backup and sync tool for Windows Mobile phones. It can backup all the important data like contacts, text messages, photos etc from your cellphone to their site where you created your account. It can also help you track your lost Windows phone.
PIM for Windows
PIM Backup is another excellent, free backup tool for those who own Windows Mobile units. Apart from backing up your contacts and messages, it also backs up your call logs, appointments and any folder you add. Backups can be scheduled, too.
Tools that Support All Kinds of Phones
Here are certain tools that work not only for the smartphones mentioned above, but also on Symbian devices like Nokia phones and other brands.
Vodafone 360
Zyb, the popular online mobile backup and sync tool was rechristened as Vodafone 360 after its acquisition by Vodafone. It looks like all the Zyb functions that included online contacts and address book backup, photos backup and sharing it on social networks (among other features) have been kept intact. It may not be available for your country, however, so you’ll have to check that when signing up.
BitPim
BitPim is a nice, cross-platform backup software for CDMA phones and lets you backup and manage most of your mobile phone data like contacts, calendars and wallpapers. It works particularly well for LG phones..
AT&T Mobile Backup
AT&T Mobile Backup is a service by AT&T to help its users do an online backup of their cellphone contacts and other data. It supports a wide range of phones and brands.
iDrive Lite
iDrive Lite is a nifty tool that can backup your contacts on iPhone, Android and Blackberry. It can also locate your contacts and has a “map” feature.
When it comes to mobile backup and sync tools, I’ve only highlighted a few. There are others – share with us in the comments as to which ones you’ve used – and what you’ve thought of them.
Conclusion
This wraps up the backup and sync series. Here are the links to the other articles that make up the series:
1. What Data Should You Back Up?
This was the first article in the series that talked about the importance of data backup, what are the different things you should consider backing up and certain methods to adopt.
The second post in the series talked about various data backup and sync software that could help you backup and sync the kinds of data mentioned in the first article.
This article talked about benefits of using Dropbox as your personal backup and sync solution.
While this series has given an overview of backup and sync options, ultimately what needs to be stressed is no matter which strategy you use – have one. The only thing worse than not having your data updated and at your fingertips is to find out that you don’t have any data left at all because you failed to back it up.
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