How To Backup Your Smartphone: iPhone & Android Smartphone Backup Guide
With increasing number of users carrying around sensitive information with them on their smartphones, keeping a backup of your phone data has become essential. There are quite a few ways to do so too –Â such as syncing the phone with a computer , or using a microSD memory card. One approach that usually gets forgotten though, is using cloud storage.
Here’s a few reasons to consider a cloud storage as your primary backup option.
- Anywhere Access
The reason smartphones have gained so much popularity has its capability to let the user use it on the go. With the boom of 3G & 4G technologies, we have been accustomed to having access to any information at any time we please. So why not have access to our backups the same way ? Having the ability to download a backup instantaneously cannot be specified enough.
- Easy File Transfer
Not to mention how easy it has become to upload and download files. Nearly every cloud service can be used to save one copy of a document and share it with multiple people thus eliminating the need to send every concerned individual a separate copy of the file. Not to mention that a cloud service will let you share files much larger in size than by conventional means.
- Real-time Functionalities
Being able to share a file with multiple people at the same time comes with an added advantage. Every person that you can share your file with, can also collaborate with you in real time. From modifying documents to adding files that you missed, this is one of the best advantages of using cloud storage.
- Offsite Protection
One major concern with personal data is always security. Knowing that someone with malicious intent does not have access to your personal data is essential. While someone might be able to access your computer or microSD card, but its not as simple to  access the cloud. By keeping your backups on a cloud, you are placing it at a different physical location thereby eliminating anyone from gaining physical access to your backups.
- Multiple points of Failure
Along with keeping your data at a different physical location, most cloud service providers also tend to preserve data on multiple servers at any given time. In simple terms, even if one server develops a problem, you can be assured of another server being up and running so that you never loose access to your data.
- Safe & Secure
By using a cloud service, you are automatically putting another layer of security between anyone trying to access your data. In addition to the above mentioned security mechanisms, most cloud services allow you to use a two-factor authentication – giving you another valuable layer of security.
Big Players
Now that you know the advantages of using a cloud service, lets look at some major service providers that you can use. We’ve stuck to services that focus on consumers instead of businesses so you might find a few names left out.
- Dropbox
We start off with the first company that made a splash in cloud services. Dropbox – considered by many as the grandaddy of cloud services- supports multiple operating systems, has a clean interface and is probably the simplest to use among all the names in this list. It does offer lesser storage for free than the other provides on this list and works with Microsoft’s Office suite as well.
- Microsoft OneDrive
Being a product from Microsoft, it’ll come as no surprise that OneDrive is tied very closely with the Windows platform. That’s not saying its not available for other platforms, but if your an avid Windows user, OneDrive will be a preferred choice. Features include the ability to automatically upload all captured photos and videos directly, being notified whenever a change is made to any shared document  and even annotate and sign PDF files stored online. OneDrive gives you 5GB of free storage that can be upgraded by paying a fee. Another way to get additional storage is to sign up for Microsoft’s Office 365, which is tied closely with OneDrive.
- Google Drive
Google Drive – like its name suggests – is Google’s cloud service. And as such, is closely tied with Google’s operating system – Android. It also works seamlessly with Google’s other products like Gmail. It offers a user 15GB of free storage that’s a lot when compared to the previous 2 providers we’ve covered. It also works with Google’s companion app – Google Photos making it a preferred choice to backup your photos and videos.
- Apple iCloud
And now we meet Apple’s cloud service and is therefore ideal for anyone invested in the Apple ecosystem. From Find your Mac to iWork, iCloud is seamlessly embedded into Apple products & has automatic backup options so you don’t have to worry about backing up your files manually. That being said, it provides you with only 5GB of free storage. So expect to get the ” running low on storage ” option pretty soon if you’re into backing up photos and videos. Along with documents and media, it also provides you the option to sync contacts, calendars, email and bookmarks between every Apple device. Now, one can also use Pages (word processor), Numbers (spreadsheets) and Keynote (presentation maker) inside of iCloud, as well.
- Amazon Cloud Drive
Coming to the last option, Amazon does have a popular operating system of its own. Therefore, you need to use its website or app to use its services, just like Dropbox. That being said, Amazon does have a premium subscription service Amazon Prime & users of this services can avail unlimited backup for photos for a small fee and get 5GB of storage for everything else. Considering most of the media we create nowadays are photos, this makes it a sweet deal indeed. Like the other services mentioned here, it lets you carry out all the same actions play music and videos in your drive without the need to download them, search and share your files with just a link and collaborate.
