Backing Up The Camera In Ios

[tito_j]

Just started playing around with BT Sync, and it's going to take some serious RTFM to absorb it all. But I have one puzzle already, with apologies if I should already know the answer from the FAQ. A search came up empty.

 

To back up my iPhone photos, it appears that the only option is to send the phone's secret to my computer by email. If that's correct, it doesn't seem very secure. Perhaps I don't understand the workings yet; is the secret just a one-time key for the sync that is discarded and unusable after that? Or is it a permanent encryption key?

 

I used the QR code to sync the phone to a computer folder, which is a lot more secure, it would seem, than exchanging a key by email.

 

Maybe encryption isn't important for this specific purpose, but recent events have shaken any confidence I may have had that "you don't have to worry if you're not doing anything wrong."

 

Thanks.

[RomanZ]

tito_j,

 

The encryption key is derived from the secret. It is not temporary - you can use it as long as you wish. It is up to you to choose the most secure way to deliver key to the PC: you can send it over secure mail you trust, use a cable to transfer to PC or even type in manually (33 alphanumeric chars are not as long as they seem to be).

[tito_j]

OK. I was wondering if the secret were a one-time pad to encrypt the real key generator while in transit by email. I know now that it's not.

 

I'll take half a demerit for having to ask about sending the secret via insecure means, but I didn't realize that you could even view it until after reading your reply. In the app, the screen tells you to add it on your computer, but only seems to give you one choice -- email -- and doesn't show you the secret. Wasn't until I tapped the 'send secret' button that I saw it in the body of the email. It really did appear that ordinary email was the only option.

 

Finally, I'll just type the secret in, but how would you go about sending it by cable to the PC?

[RomanZ]

Saving it to file and reading it on the PC after connecting the phone. Pure phone-PC connection capabilities, no special functionality foreseen in BTSync.

[tito_j]

I know what the term means, but I don't know of any app on my phone that will create a file readable in Windows. But that's a minor point right now.

 

There seems  to be a bigger problem, though. I can sync files in the sync folder on my PC with the phone. Just did it. But I can't figure out how to backup the iPhone camera roll.

 

OK. Got a secret. Typed it into Notepad to save it, then started trying to download the phone photos. The second page of the two-page help file on the phone says, "Add a folder by using the secret from your mobile phone." (BTW, the illustration is useless. It's too small for my phone's screen to resolve it even with a magnifying glass.)

 

So in the PC BTSync program, I clicked on "add a folder," entered the secret in the top box and created a new folder for the photos.

 

So I now have two sync folders on the PC, both showing in the "My Sync" tab. But in that same tab, the "Connect mobile) button is grayed out, and the phone app is still telling me to add the secret on my computer. Back on the PC program, the "Devices" tab shows the name of the iPhone twice, once for the sync folder and once for the (I hope) repository for the backed-up phone photos.

 

So I'm stuck. What am I doing wrong?

 

Thanks.

[RomanZ]

tito_j,

 

I suggest that the very first step "Got a secret" means - you tapped "Enable backup" on your iPhone BTSync and delivered the secret provided by iPhone to PC.

 

If yes - you did it correctly, and there is one peculiarity about the iPhone app - you need to go to settings, privacy and allow BTSync to access your photo gallery. This might be an issue.

[tito_j]

Yes. In the BTSync settings on the phone, "camera backup" is on. And yes, the secret I put in the PC was the one from the iPhone. Double checked it just now to make sure I copied it correctly. But I was sure I had, because I can see both PC folders listed in the "My Sync" page of the phone app.  I also allowed BTSync to access my photos when I installed it, and double checked just now that it was that way in iPhone Settings.

 

Should the PC folder that I want to use to back up the phone photos appear in the phone folder list? Is there anything else that I can try?

[RomanZ]

tito_j,

 

You did all the steps correctly. The backup folder should not appear in the folders list on your iPhone, only in the folder list on PC. Do you see your iPhone in the devices list on PC?