Back up your stuff
As you’d do before installing any new operating system, be sure that your data is backed up. You can do this either via iCloud or through iTunes on your computer. Let’s take a look at both options.
As you’d do before installing any new operating system, be sure that your data is backed up. You can do this either via iCloud or through iTunes on your computer. Let’s take a look at both options.
Back
up to iCloud
You can initiate this in two ways.
The first is to connect your iPad to your computer, launch iTunes, select the
iPad in iTunes, click the Summary tab, and in the Backups area enable the
iCloud option.
The other is to choose to backup to
iCloud from the iPad itself. You do this by going to Settings iCloud Storage Backup and in the resulting screen enabling the iCloud
Backup option. An alert appears informing you that your data will now be backed
up to the cloud. Tap OK to allow that to happen.
You'll find the option for backing
up via iCloud within the iCloud/Storage & Backups setting.
Back
up via your computer
To do things the old fashioned way,
launch iTunes on your Mac and string your device’s syncing cable between it and
your iOS device. Select your iPad in iTunes, choose the Summary tab, and in the
Backups area of the resulting window click on Back Up Now. If there are
apps on your device that aren’t in your iTunes library a window will appear
asking if you’d like to back them up. The choice is yours as you can always
wirelessly re-download any apps you’re missing from the iTunes Store, but
restoring them to your iPad will happen more quickly if they’re being copied
from your computer rather than being downloaded over a slowish broadband
connection.
You can also back up your iOS device
via iTunes on your Mac.
iTunes will now set about backing up
any apps on the device that aren’t in your iTunes library as well as other data
the device contains.
In either case, once you’ve
installed iOS 8 you’ll restore from the backup you just made.
Leave
a way back
This is something we’ll look at in
greater detail when iOS 8 ships as well, but forewarned is forearmed. Be sure
to have a copy of the latest version of iOS 7 compatible with your device.
There are invariably cases where people wish they hadn’t upgraded—perhaps
because an app they rely on hasn’t yet been updated for iOS 8 or, as it turns
out, they hate change (or their older device runs more slowly with the new OS).
If you act quickly, you can put things back the way they were.
What I mean by quickly is
this: Apple “signs” versions of iOS. This tells the device that the version you
wish to use is okay to use with that device. While that version is signed, you
can install it on your iOS device—even if it’s a version of the operating
system that’s earlier than the one you just installed.
However—and this is very
important—Apple traditionally stops signing old versions of iOS just a day or
two after releasing major updates (such as iOS 8). If you were to update to iOS
8 say, a week after it ships, you might find that you can’t go back to iOS 7.
So, if you intend to be among the earliest adopters, it’s not a bad idea to
have a copy of the iOS 7.1.2 .ipsw file at hand.
If you have a copy on your hard
drive you will find it, by default, by following this path: youruserfolder/Library/iTunes/iPad
Software Updates. (You access the Library folder in your user folder by holding
down the Option key in the Finder and choosing Go > Library.)
The Mac will delete this files under
certain circumstances so you may not have a copy of the latest one. If not,
launch your favorite web browser and search for "download
ipsw". You’ll find a number of
sites that offer links to the file you need. Just be sure to choose the correct
one based on the device you’re using.
When we discuss upgrading to iOS 8
in that future article I’ll also provide steps for rolling your device back to
iOS 7 (at least for as long as you’re allowed).
