iPhone Apps - Where Is User Data Stored?

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Level 2

289 points

iPhone Apps - Where Is User Data Stored?

Where is the user data associated with an iPhone app stored? Is it stored within the app's .ipa file? For example, I use Weightbot. Is all of my personal data stored within the Weightbot.ipa file, or is it stored elsewhere?

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009, Week 47), 3.06GHz, 4GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.6.2), iPhone 3GS (16GB), Apple TV (40GB)

Posted on Dec 28, 2009 8:36 AM

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Answer 1

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Dec 28, 2009 8:56 AM in response to Reuben Feffer

Two places: On your phone & your phone's backup. None stored in the .ipa file on your computer.

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Answer 2

Reuben Feffer Author

Level 2

289 points

Dec 28, 2009 10:32 AM in response to wjosten

Ok, right. So if you backed up an App's .ipa file to a USB Flash Drive, it wouldn't be backing up the data stored WITHIN that app. Right? It would simply backup the App itself, exactly as it's downloaded from the iTunes Store.

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Answer 3

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Dec 28, 2009 10:41 AM in response to Reuben Feffer

That's correct. App data is only stored on your computer in your phone's backup file. (You won't be able to transfer the app to another computer, if that's what you're thinking of doing. It won't work.)

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Answer 4

Reuben Feffer Author

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289 points

Dec 29, 2009 12:33 PM in response to wjosten

The reason why I bring this question up is, I've somehow lost 1GB of storage from my iPhone 3GS!

I've added up the data size of all the apps on my iPhone. I've got 61 apps in total, which take up 1947.38 GB of storage. However, the Capacity bar in iTunes is telling me that my 61 Apps are taking up 3.10 GB!

So, somehow I've lost over 1GB of storage on my iPhone. How can that be?

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Answer 5

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Dec 29, 2009 12:48 PM in response to Reuben Feffer

All apps store their data on the phone. Like I said, two places: on your phone & the phone's backup on your computer.

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Answer 6

Reuben Feffer Author

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289 points

Dec 29, 2009 12:50 PM in response to wjosten

So presumably some, or maybe just one, of my apps is taking up that extra 1 GB for their data. How do I find out which one is the culprit?

Message was edited by: Reuben Feffer

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Answer 7

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Dec 29, 2009 12:53 PM in response to Reuben Feffer

Some apps are data hungry, games, appsniper, anything with push, facebook, etc.

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Answer 8

Reuben Feffer Author

Level 2

289 points

Dec 29, 2009 1:07 PM in response to wjosten

I think I found the culprit. The Rotten Tomatoes (RT) app. I removed it from my iPhone 3GS and the Apps Capacity bar in iTunes went down from 3.10 GB to 2.16 GB! Incredible.

So, problem solved. Thanks for your help.

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Answer 9

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Dec 29, 2009 1:16 PM in response to Reuben Feffer

You're welcome, glad to help.

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