Having a backup of your iOS device and its settings is important, so rather than completely disabling iOS backups in iTunes, you can choose to selectively disable only the automatic backup process. This is a much better solution because it allows you to create and retain local backups of an iPad, iPhone, or iPod when you want them, but they are no longer initiated on their own during the sync process.

The vast majority of users should retain the default behavior and allow iTunes to manage and back up your devices. This tip is intended for advanced users who have a compelling reason to disable the automated process.

Disable Automatic iTunes Backups

1. Quit iTunes and then launch Terminal, found in /Applications/Utilities/
2. Enter the following defaults write command:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes AutomaticDeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true

3. Relaunch iTunes for changes to take effect

Once automatic back ups are disabled, you can backup manually at any point by right-clicking on the device within iTunes sidebar and choosing “Back Up”, and you can continue to use iClouds manual initiation as well.

Re-Enable Automatic iOS Device Backups in iTunes
To reverse the change and re-enable automatic device backups, open Terminal and use the following defaults command before relaunching iTunes:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes AutomaticDeviceBackupsDisabled -bool false

Both sides of this change should only impact iTunes and have no effect on iCloud behavior.

A big thanks to Matt for the tip left in our comments!

We’ve all had the experience of one of our favorite app getting updated and the new version being worse than the previous version. Maybe it’s more intrusive ads, maybe it’s a terribly annoying feature, whatever it is, a poor app update can easily ruin your app experience. The easiest way to avoid this potential letdown is to save a copy of iOS apps, allowing you to downgrade them if you discover the new version is worse. This is much easier to do than you may think, we’ll cover the process of saving a local backup of the app and also how to downgrade to the prior version if you dislike the newest iteration.

Note that if you backup exclusively through iCloud you won’t have this option because the apps will not be stored locally. You can always backup locally in addition to iCloud to prevent that being an issue.

Save iOS Apps & Easy Version Downgrading

This process is best done manually before you update an app.

Saving & Backing Up Individual iOS Apps

1. Navigate to the iOS app location, this can be done by right-clicking the app in iTunes and choosing “Show in Finder” or by manually going to the local iOS app location at ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Mobile Applications/ and finding the app
2. Copy the app file to another location to serve as the backup, the iOS app files have a .ipa extension

If you feel like it, you could backup that entire directory to another location, though that’s usually unnecessary.

Sidenote for Windows users: the directory you are looking for is: C:\Users\Username\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Mobile Applications\

With the app backed up, you can now safely update to the newest version directly on the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. If you decide the new version is awful, downgrading is very simple.

Downgrading to Previous Version of an iOS App

1. On the iOS device, delete the app you wish to downgrade
2. On the computer, quit iTunes
3. Again navigate to the local iOS app location at ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Mobile Applications/
4. Remove the newest version of the app .ipa file from that directory
5. Copy the previously saved version of the app to the /Mobile Applications/ directory
6. Relaunch iTunes
7. Resync the iPhone, iPad, or iPod, and the older app version will restore to the device to complete the downgrade

In some situations the older versions of apps won’t be compatible with the newest version of iOS, you’ll know this is the case because the app won’t launch when you attempt to open it on the iPhone/iPad, or you will get a message stating a new version is available and asking to upgrade.

Finally, if you use something like Time Machine, you can always dig through the Time Machine backups to access older versions of apps if you’re in a pinch, but it’s generally easiest to just keep a specific backup of an app if you prefer a past version.

Anytime an iOS device is connected to a computer it will sync and backup the device, and though the syncing process can be annoying sometimes, the backup process should be considered crucial so that you always have a way to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod should anything go wrong.

With that said, there are a few limited situations where some users may want to disable the iTunes & iOS backup process completely, which is different than stopping iTunes from automatically syncing because it continues to allow for device syncing but minus the backing up aspect.

We’ll show you how to turn off backups, but we want to warn everyone this is not a good idea unless you know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, leaving this option best for select jailbreakers or just for demonstration purposes.

Disable iTunes Backups for iOS Devices

• Quit out of iTunes and launch the Terminal, then enter the following defaults write command:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled -bool YES

• Relaunch iTunes, connecting iOS devices will sync but without a backup copying over

With backups disabled nothing will be added to the local directory or iCloud, and anything already there can be deleted through iTunes or manually. Remember, disabling this feature removes the ability to restore an iOS device should you need to, which for 99.9% of people is a bad thing.

Re-Enable iTunes & iOS Backups

• Quit iTunes again and launch Terminal, entering the following defaults command:

defaults delete com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled

• Relaunch iTunes and connect an iOS device to confirm backups are working again

The instructions above are intended for Mac OS X, but Windows users can disable the device backups by launching iTunes with a flag attached to it, this can be executed from the Run menu or by right-clicking iTunes:

"%ProgramFiles%\iTunes\iTunes.exe" /setPrefInt DeviceBackupsDisabled 1

To reenable backups with windows, change the 1 to a 0 and run iTunes exe again.

Thanks to Jeremy for the tips.

iTunes carrier testing mode allows you to manually load signed .ipcc carrier files onto an iPhone or cellular iPad, these .ipcc files contain various carrier settings pertaining to voice mail, MMS and SMS, Personal Hotspot, APN settings, and other network-specific preferences. If you’ve used an iPhone on T-Mobile or even as a prepaid phone you may have experience with these files, but other than making network configuration easy they can also be used to forcibly enable features that are otherwise disabled by default, like Personal Hotspot on certain international iPad 4G devices. We’ll cover how to enable carrier testing mode, how to find ipcc files, and then how to use those IPCC files with either an iPhone or iPad with a cellular connection.

Enabling Carrier Testing Mode in iTunes

The process to enable carrier testing is a bit different for Mac OS X and Windows.

Mac OS X:

1. Quit out of iTunes
2. Launch Terminal from /Applications/Utilities/
3. Enter the following command at the prompt and then hit return:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes carrier-testing -bool YES

4. Relaunch iTunes

Windows:
If you happen to use an iOS device with Windows, iTunes carrier testing mode is enabled by launching iTunes as an exe with a flag attached to it:

%ProgramFiles%\iTunes\iTunes.exe" /setPrefInt carrier-testing 1

Finding & Downloading .ipcc Files
All signed ipcc carrier settings files are stored in an xml file on apple.com, you can access that gigantic list here:

http://iphonediags.apple.com/version.xml

Find the carrier file you want to use and then copy the URL and paste it into your browser address bar to download it directly from Apple. Save that file somewhere that it is easy to find for using with iTunes.

Loading .ipcc Files onto an iPad or iPhone with iTunes

Now that carrier mode is enabled, you can load carrier files onto the iOS device. In either OS X or Windows:

1. Connect the iOS device to the computer
2. Launch iTunes and hold the Option key while clicking on “Check for Update” to load an .ipcc file
3. Select the .ipcc file to sync the .ipcc to the iOS device
4. Disconnect the iOS device and reboot it for changes to take effect

We were sent this tip as a method to forcibly enable the Personal Hotspot wi-fi router on Australian 3rd gen iPads, which apparently ship with the feature disabled by default. The solution to that problem is apparently just a matter of loading an ipcc file and rebooting the iPad. Thanks to Jeremy for the tip info!

If you have several iPhones, iPads, or iPods that need updating to the latest version of iOS, you can use a nice trick to save some bandwidth and download a single iOS update file to apply to multiple devices from either Mac OS X or Windows. This is a perfect solution for a family that has multiple iPhones or iPads that need updating, particularly when you don’t want to download the same firmware multiple times.

To be clear, the iOS devices must be of the same type and model, meaning three different iPhone 4s can use the same firmware, but an iPhone 4 can’t use the same update file as an iPad 2 would, and an iPod touch can’t use an iPhone 4S update file, and so on. Same models use the same IPSW, different models need different IPSW.

How to Use a Single IPSW File with Multiple iOS Devices

To do this, you will need to download the iOS firmware files directly from Apple. Here are firmware links for iPad, iPod touch, iPhone if needed, once you have the file you place them into the folder where IPSW files are stored locally. Here’s the process for Mac OS X and Windows, and yes you can use an IPSW file downloaded on a Mac or PC to update an iOS device connected to a different PC or Mac, the files are platform agnostic.

For Mac OS X:

1. Quit iTunes
2. Hit Command+Shift+G to bring up “Go To Folder” and enter the following path, depending on your iOS device:

~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates
~/Library/iTunes/iPad Software Updates
~/Library/iTunes/iPod Software Updates

3. Drag and drop the downloaded IPSW file into the appropriate location
4. Launch iTunes and connect the iOS devices to the computer to initiate the upgrade

For Windows:

1. Quit iTunes
2. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the following directory, depending on the iOS device and version of Windows:

Windows XP:
\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates
Windows Vista & Windows 7:
\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates

3. Move the IPSW file into the appropriate Software Updates directory
4. Relaunch iTunes and connect the iOS device to the PC

That’s all there is to it, and here’s how it works; anyone can download the updates without iTunes by using direct firmware links from Apple’s servers. Once you have the firmware file you can either use the standard method of using .ipsw files with ALT/Option clicking Restore, or use the approach outlined above which fools the computer into thinking it downloaded the iOS update itself, which will then immediately unpack and start the iOS upgrade process upon the launch of iTunes.

Don’t forget about OTA updates either, which allow iOS to download and update only the changes between releases. The resulting OTA update can often be 1/12 the size of a full firmware file, and although they can’t be shared between multiple devices the small size of the on-device update can make it a valid choice for the bandwidth conscious.

Thanks to AJ & NeverEnuf for giving the idea for this great tip in our comments.

Without using iCloud, the iPhone, iPad, and iPod backups can take up a lot of local disk space on a computer. If you’ve moved the iPhone/iPad to sync with a new computer, sold an iOS device, or just want to potentially free up some disk space, you can easily delete these backups directly from iTunes.

1. Launch iTunes and open iTunes Preferences
2. Click the “Devices” tab to find the backup list
3. Select the backup(s) you wish to delete and click “Delete Backup”

This only removes the backups that are stored locally on the computer and it will not impact iCloud backups, which won’t even show up in the list. It’s generally a good idea to leave the most recent backup intact, in the event you need to restore and don’t have fast internet access.

Only do this if you have a recent backup available somewhere. You can make a quick manual iCloud backup directly on the iOS device itself or sync it with iTunes.

Each time you connect an iPhone, iPad, or iPod to a computer, iTunes launches and immediately begins to automatically sync all content between the iOS device and the connected computer. If you’re annoyed with the auto-syncing aspect or you just want to disable it on an auxiliary Mac, here is how to do so:

1. Launch iTunes and open “Preferences” from the iTunes menu
2. Click on the “Devices” tab
3. Check the box next to “Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically”



4. Click “OK” to exit out of Preferences

You do not need to have the iOS device connected to the computer to make this change within iTunes. The next time you connect any iPhone, iPad, or iPod though, you won’t start syncing automatically with iTunes.

For most users it is best to keep this enabled since it also serves as a backup for your iOS gear. If you decide to turn this off, get in the habit of manually backing up to iCloud or manually backing up to the computer through iTunes itself, otherwise you will be lacking a backup if something goes wrong and you need to restore the iOS device.

Update: Separately, you can also stop iTunes automatically launching when an iOS device is connected to the computer.

Do you want to join a group of songs together in iTunes to play together as a compilation, even when iTunes (or an iPhone, iPad, or iPod) is set to shuffle through a music collection? It’s easy, here is how to set this up:

• Open iTunes and select the songs you want to join together as a group with gapless playback
• Right-click on a song and choose “Get Info” to modify the group of songs
• Click on the “Options” tab, then set “Part of a compilation” to “Yes” and “Gapless album” to “Yes”
• Click “OK” to modify the track group

The selected songs are now linked together as a compilation and with gapless playback, meaning there won’t be any delays between one track ending and another starting. This also means if the song comes up in Shuffle, it will play as a gapless compilation rather than a single song.

Compiled songs will play together as groups even when synced to an iPod, iPad, or iPhone, and also when played through iTunes Home Sharing, though the individual tracks are not actually joined together into a single file.

This is a great setting to enable for albums or song groups that are meant to be played continuously where one song flows directly into the next, like Dark Side of the Moon.

Update: some users are having problems with this setting for whatever reason, apparently unchecking the “Part of a compilation” option fixes the gapless playback issue for many. This may depend on iTunes version, let us know what works for you in the comments!

Transferring photos from a computer to the iPad is very easy with the help of iTunes. To get started, you’ll need either a Mac or PC with iTunes, a USB connector cable for the iPad, and a folder containing the pictures you want to transfer over to the iPad.

The process is exactly the same in both Mac OS X and Windows, which is why it’s the easiest universal method to transfer photos to an iPad from any computer.

1. Create a folder containing images you want to transfer to the iPad
2. Connect the iPad to the computer, launch iTunes, and select the iPad from the devices list
3. Click on the “Photos” tab
4. Check the box next to “Sync Photos from” and select “Choose folder…”



5. Locate and select the folder you created earlier containing the pictures you wish to transfer over, click on “Choose”
6. Click on “Apply” to begin syncing the photos from the computer to iPad

The images will sync over and create a new album within the iPad Photos app that contains all the pictures. If the selected folder contains subfolders with pictures, those will transfer as well, but you can uncheck subfolders if you want them excluded.

If you need to do the reverse and get pictures off of an iPad or iPhone, transferring photos from iOS to a computer is also simple and can be done entirely outside of iTunes.

Finally, setting up iCloud gives access to the Photo Stream feature, which will automate the entire process of syncing pictures between a Mac and an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. If you haven’t signed up for the free iCloud service yet, you should do so.

The “Other” capacity in iTunes is supposed to estimate the size of system software, contacts, Messages data, and things that are not listed elsewhere in the capacities list. Sometimes other data will become mislabeled or misappropriated to the “Other” category, and suddenly it’s reported as being much larger than it actually is. Though this has no impact on device performance some people find it annoying, so here’s an easy fix:

1. Connect the iPad, iPod, or iPhone to a computer
2. Launch iTunes
3. Hold the Power and Home button until the device forcibly reboots

The Other space should recalculate to be a reasonable amount, though you may need to relaunch iTunes to see the change.

If the above method didn’t work for you, try the traditional approach to fixing a gigantic Other category size, you may need to restore the iOS device though.

Thanks to hironaka and alan for the tip