Back That Stuff Up!

Perhaps the most crucial pre-update task of all is having a proper backup of your iDevice. The problem for many is that those backups have begun to take longer and longer as we’ve filled up apps with files that aren’t part of the iTunes ecosystem -- the more impatient among us might decide to click on the “X” to stop the iTunes backup in order to get a new sync going, only to later find that they need to restore from said backup and find themselves unable to do so.

If you don’t use a lot of in-app files, this may not be such a big deal for you. Casual users can likely start from scratch without too much grief, but if you’ve used your iDevice for any length of time like many of us, chances are you’d rather have intensive, painful oral surgery than have to start over from scratch. However, if you port a lot of files onto your device for work or even casual uses such as reading comic books or large PDF files, having a good backup should not be optional.

To avoid long backup times, we recommend letting iTunes complete its backup each time you sync. Since the software is only backing up what’s changed since the previous sync, the incremental backup time should get shorter each time you do so. Also, once you have plugged into iTunes and completed a backup and sync, you won’t have to go through the backup process again unless you unplug the sync cable -- iTunes knows you’ve just backed up, so it simply does a quick sync until you plug the cable in again, in case you just want to just add new apps.

That said, you can backup your device at any time by selecting your iDevice in the iTunes sidebar with the Control key pressed down and then select “Back Up” from the submenu.

Organize Your Screens

One of the new features of iPhone OS 4.0 that’s most anticipated is Folders, Apple’s new way of organizing apps on your iDevice. With the current firmware, you’re only capable of seeing 180 apps on any one device across 11 screens (though you can always load more and find them via Spotlight). Thanks to the drag and drop simplicity of the Folders feature, you’ll soon be able to have up to a whopping 2,160 apps on your device and find them grouped by category -- assuming you have that many to begin with and use every available space in a Folder.

To prepare for Folders, now might be a great time to spend a few minutes organizing your apps so they’re in close proximity to each other based on how you plan to group them. That way, as soon as you update to iPhone OS 4.0, you can drag them together into Folders and you’ll be good to go. If you have a lot of apps spread over many screens, this task is made easier from within iTunes, where you can easily drag app icons from screen to screen or even rearrange whole screens at once.

It’s Safe to Buy Some iBooks Now

If you already have an iPad with iBooks installed on it, you can feel safe in purchasing all the e-books you want from the iBookstore, knowing that they’ll work just fine on your iPhone or iPod touch once you’ve upgraded to iPhone OS 4.0.

Buy as many iBooks as you’d like and then sync your iPad to iTunes, which will copy those new purchases across to your computer. After your upgrade to iPhone OS 4.0, you’ll be able to select the same e-books and copy them straight over to your iPhone or iPod touch, just like magic.

Let’s Not Forget iTunes Itself

While we hope to know for sure when iPhone OS 4.0 will be available to download during Steve Jobs’ WWDC 2010 keynote on Monday, June 7, keep in mind that the new firmware will most likely also require a new update to iTunes itself, if history is any indication. We’re guessing at the very least, a new iTunes will let us arrange apps by Folders, for instance.

The current version of iTunes at this writing is 9.1.1; if you haven’t updated lately, now would be a dandy time to do so. And really, there’s no reason not to -- while some previous iTunes updates have tripped up jailbroken devices, iTunes 9.1.1 isn’t one of them, and the hackers have already given a green light to use it.

Take Stock of Your Media

Finally, a new OS install is always a good time to take stock of that non-app iTunes media taking up space on your iDevice. If you’re like most of us, you’ve got old podcasts played long ago that you neglected to delete, music you wish had stayed in the seventies and probably even some space-guzzling videos you’ve already watched and have since bored of.

Why carry this stuff over to iPhone OS 4.0? Especially if you plan to buy a new iPhone, the less you have to restore and sync to a fresh device, the better. Purge that media now by deselecting it from within iTunes, and then click Apply to sync your changes and remove the great unwanted from your device. There, now don’t you feel better having done some summer cleaning?

Oh, and don’t forget about all the photos and movies you’ve shot with your iPhone! While those cherished memories are always backed up during an iTunes sync (so you can safely move them to a new device), you should make a habit of clearing them off your device on a regular basis, both for safety as well as speeding up that iTunes backup. Once those photos and videos are safely stored in your iPhoto library, you can always sync them back to your iPhone (where photos will take up less space by being optimized for the device’s screen) -- they won’t be backed up by iTunes since they can be restored simply by syncing from your photo library.

There’s one other very good reason to purge old media, too: If space on your iDevice is at a premium, you’ll want to free up some storage for OS 4.0 to make sure the upgrade goes smoothly.

Is Your Device Compatible?

iPhone OS 4.0 is expected sometime this month for the iPhone and (at additional cost) iPod touch. Sadly, Apple has already stated that the iPad won’t get any OS 4.0 love until the fall, so if that’s your only iDevice, enjoy your summer and don’t bother looking for a major update until then.

It’s important to note that not every iPhone and iPod touch is welcome to the OS 4.0 party -- specifically, the first-generation iPhone and iPod touch devices released in 2007 have been put on notice and OS 3.1.3 appears to be the end of the line for them. Recent reports claim that there’s no real technical reason to exclude them, and early beta builds of OS 4.0 have even been shown running on the original iPhone -- just don’t expect Apple to officially support that configuration, and you’ll still be limited as to what new features you’ll have access to.

Likewise, even if your device can install iPhone OS 4.0, you may not be able to use every new feature -- for instance, the iPhone 3G will not support multitasking. iPhone 3GS and third-generation (32GB or 64GB) iPod touch owners are good to go, as well as those of you holding your credit cards in your sweaty little hands waiting to buy the newest iPhone, expected to be announced at WWDC on Monday, June 7.

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Now that all of that hard work is over, only one thing remains: Waiting for iPhone OS 4.0 to actually be released. Hey Steve Jobs, maybe you can help us with that…?