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Given that Apple recently removed the ability to buy apps from iTunes, I think the writings's on the wall for the ability to locally backup iOS devices. Which i

Given that Apple recently removed the ability to buy apps from iTunes, I think the writings's on the wall for the ability to locally backup iOS devices. Which is a huge shame. My guess is they're waiting for more complete coverage in terms of iCloud functionality and maybe security. But Apple has been known to pull the plug on "pro" functionality like this and/or remove functionality before the replacement was quite ready yet.

r00fus 9y ago
What was the use case for buying apps on iTunes as opposed to any one of your iOS devices?
- tluyben2 9y ago
  Legacy maybe? You could only buy from iTunes in the beginning.
thisacctforreal 9y ago
For many years it has been possible to backup iOS devices using the native protocols, thanks to libimobiledevice. http://www.libimobiledevice.org http://www.libimobiledevice.org On macOS (I also use it on Linux, haven't tried on Windows): brew install libimobiledevice ## to disable iCloud backups idevicebackup2 cloud off ## if you want encrypted backups (native encryption) idevicebackup2 encryption on -i ## backup to a folder idevicebackup2 backup backup-folder ## restore from a backup idevicebackup2 restore backup-folder This uses the same format as iTunes, which stores them in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup There are more utilities included: idevice_id idevicedebugserverproxy idevicenotificationproxy idevicebackup idevicediagnostics idevicepair idevicebackup2 ideviceenterrecovery ideviceprovision idevicecrashreport ideviceimagemounter idevicescreenshot idevicedate ideviceinfo idevicesyslog idevicedebug idevicename iproxy You can also mount your iPhone's filesystem using ifuse (the only one in a separate package): brew cask install osxfuse brew install ifuse ## mount your iPhone ifuse mount-point ## unmount, or eject using Finder umount mount-point Parts of these protocols have been around since the first iPhones, I find it highly unlikely Apple will remove these anytime soon.

r00fus 9y ago

What was the use case for buying apps on iTunes as opposed to any one of your iOS devices?

tluyben2 9y ago
Legacy maybe? You could only buy from iTunes in the beginning.

thisacctforreal 9y ago

For many years it has been possible to backup iOS devices using the native protocols, thanks to libimobiledevice. http://www.libimobiledevice.org http://www.libimobiledevice.org On macOS (I also use it on Linux, haven't tried on Windows): brew install libimobiledevice ## to disable iCloud backups idevicebackup2 cloud off ## if you want encrypted backups (native encryption) idevicebackup2 encryption on -i ## backup to a folder idevicebackup2 backup backup-folder ## restore from a backup idevicebackup2 restore backup-folder This uses the same format as iTunes, which stores them in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup There are more utilities included: idevice_id idevicedebugserverproxy idevicenotificationproxy idevicebackup idevicediagnostics idevicepair idevicebackup2 ideviceenterrecovery ideviceprovision idevicecrashreport ideviceimagemounter idevicescreenshot idevicedate ideviceinfo idevicesyslog idevicedebug idevicename iproxy You can also mount your iPhone's filesystem using ifuse (the only one in a separate package): brew cask install osxfuse brew install ifuse ## mount your iPhone ifuse mount-point ## unmount, or eject using Finder umount mount-point Parts of these protocols have been around since the first iPhones, I find it highly unlikely Apple will remove these anytime soon.